世論 What Japan Thinks

An interesting survey from Media Interactive iResearch took a look at coffee drinking habits.

Demographics

Between the 24th and 25th of August 2010 500 members of the iResearch monitor group in their twenties, thirties or forties and who drunk at least one coffee per week completed a private internet-based questionnaire. No further demographic breakdown was given.

I drink probably just under the one cup per week threshold. Coffee caffeine affects me much more than chocolate or tea, so I don’t as a rule drink it, limiting it to when eating out or sometimes when popping into cafes. My biggest exception is Mr Donuts, as they have unlimited refills for their hot coffees, so when I go I always make sure to have at least three cups, and damn the shakes!

Research results

Q1: When you take a short break, what do you want to drink? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

Coffee	87.6%
Green tea	39.2%
Black tea	38.8%
Fizzy drink	32.4%
Fruit juice	26.2%
Mineral water	17.0%
Energy drink	11.4%
Other	1.2%

The sample were then asked on average how much coffee they drink per week. The average was 8.3 cups (or cans or bottles), with the biggest addict managing 50 per week, or over 7 a day. Interestingly, housewives managed 8.9 cups per day, versus 8.0 per company employee.

Q2: Where do you most often drink coffee? (Sample size=500)

At home	56.6%
Work, school	32.6%
Cafe	7.6%
Restaurant	1.4%
Fast food shop	1.0%
Other	0.8%

89.5% of housewives drunk most coffee at home, with cafes being their second favourite location. Conversely, 54.0% of company employees drunk most often at work, then 35.6% at home.

Q3: When do you usually have a coffee? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

Before 7 am	16.6%
7 am to 9 am	46.2%
9 am to noon	38.2%
Noon to 2 pm	43.6%
2 pm to 5 pm	51.0%
5 pm to 10 pm	39.0%
10 pm to midnight	19.2%
After midnight	5.2%

Housewives most often had a coffee in the afternoon, followed by breakfast time. Company employees most often had a coffee at lunch or the afternoon.

Q4: What day do you drink the most coffee? (Sample size=500)

Monday	30.6%
Tuesday	3.8%
Wednesday	5.2%
Thursday	4.6%
Friday	8.2%
Saturday	19.8%
Sunday	27.8%

Q5: What sort of mood makes you want to have a coffee? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

When I want to relax	81.0%
When I want to shake off tiredness	51.4%
When I’m tired	36.4%
When I want to concentrate	22.0%
When I’m irritated	17.6%
Other	5.4%

Housewives most often used coffee to relax, then when tired. Company employees also most often used coffee to relax, then to shake off tiredness.

There next followed a table correlating days of the week versus coffee moods, which had highlighted the statistic that Thursday was the peak day for drinking coffee when tired.

Finally, in two questions about coffee price, per week spending on coffee averaged 835.3 yen, with the largest amount 5,000 yen. Housewives spent 623.8 yen per week on their habit, versus 871.2 yen for company employees, perhaps reflecting the fact that housewives have easy access to instant or ground coffee, whereas many workers have to buy their coffee in cans or cups.

When going out, the average price paid for a coffee (excluding canned) was 229.9 yen per cup, with 200 yen the most common price. Housewives paid 248.8 yen per cup, while company employees paid 217.5 yen. However, employees in sales managed to pay just 189.7 yen per cup, although no reason for this was given.