世論 What Japan Thinks

One great feature of many Japanese supermarkets and department store food floors is that they often have tasting corners, the subject of a recent survey from iShare.

Demographics

Between the 26th of November and the 1st of December 2009 542 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were male, 30.3% in their twenties, 33.6% in their thrities, and 36.2% in their forties.

Whenever there’s free sweets, cake or fruit I’m always sure to grab a bite or two, and will occasionally partake of other free samples. One always hears stories about people effectively having full meals by circulating around the free sample locations, but I’ve never tried it for myself. A lot of the posh department stores also have alcohol tasting corners – I wonder if it’s possible to drink enough to get drunk? I’ll have to try one day…

Research results

Q1: Do you like nibbling a little bits of food, sweets one after the other? Or do you like eating everything in one go at a regular time? (Sample size=542)

	All	Male N=290	Female N=252
Nibbling little bits	24.7%	24.8%	24.6%
Eating all in one	39.9%	44.5%	34.5%
Like both	35.4%	30.7%	40.9%

Q2: If you come across a tasting corner do you have a nibble? (Sample size=542)

	All	Male N=290	Female N=252
Always have a nibble (to SQs)	2.4%	1.7%	3.2%
Often have a nibble (to SQs)	20.8%	21.0%	20.6%
Rarely have a nibble (to SQs)	53.9%	47.9%	60.7%
Never nibble	22.9%	29.3%	15.5%

Q2SQ1: What kinds of items do you most often eat at a tasting corner? (Sample size=418)

	All	Male N=205	Female N=213
Something tasty-looking that catches my eye	65.3%	65.9%	64.8%
Whatever they’ve got	19.4%	20.0%	18.8%
Just-released new products	4.5%	3.4%	5.6%
Rare items that I don’t usually eat	4.3%	4.4%	4.2%
Something I’ve been wanting to try	3.8%	3.9%	3.8%
Stuff I usually buy	1.4%	2.0%	0.9%
Other	1.2%	0.5%	1.9%

Q2SQ2: Have you ever ended up buying something you didn’t plan to after trying it at a tasting corner? (Sample size=418)

	All	Male N=205	Female N=213
Yes	75.4%	70.7%	79.8%
No	24.6%	29.3%	20.2%

Q2SQ3: Have you ever kept nibbling until you pigged out? (Sample size=418)

	All	Male N=205	Female N=213
Yes	7.2%	5.9%	8.5%
No	92.8%	94.1%	91.5%

Q3: Do you feel attracted to tasting corners? (Sample size=542)

	All	Male N=290	Female N=252
Really feel so	14.4%	13.8%	15.1%
Feel so to some degree	53.0%	49.0%	57.5%
Don’t particularly feel so	32.7%	37.2%	27.4%