世論 What Japan Thinks

This recent survey from iShare looked at air purifier and ioniser purchasing intentions. Note that although it is unseasonal for buying air purifiers as they tend to have an image of being useful for hayfever sufferers, ionisers (or indeed air purifiers with built-in ionisers) are in laboratory tests effective against cleaning influenza and other viruses out of the air.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 8th of November 2010 590 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.6% of the sample were male, 26.9% in their twenties, 33.6% in their thirties, and 39.5% in their forties.

I have an air purifier that we use every night, and it comes complete with a built-in “Plasma Cluster” ioniser. It’s the sort of thing that’s impossible to tell if it has any benefit in real life, I think, but it seems to work in the lab at least.

Research results

Q1: Do you have an air purifier at home? (Sample size=590)

	All	Male N=328	Female N=262
Yes	31.2%	32.9%	29.0%
No	68.8%	67.1%	71.0%

Q2: Would you like to buy an air purifier for home use in the future? (Sample size=590)

	All	Male N=328	Female N=262
Really want to buy one (to SQ)	7.1%	6.1%	8.4%
Might buy one (to SQ)	46.9%	44.2%	50.4%
Don’t want to buy one	45.9%	49.7%	41.2%

Those who already had one were more likely (63% versus 50%) to make a purchase than those who didn’t.

Q2SQ: When you would buy a home use air purifier, what is the function you want the most? (Sample size=319)

	All	Male N=165	Female N=154
Allergen elimination (pollen, mould, mites, etc)	46.1%	40.0%	52.6%
Influenza virus elimination	14.1%	14.5%	13.6%
Quietness of operation	13.5%	15.2%	11.7%
Deodourisation	8.2%	9.1%	7.1%
Humidification	6.6%	6.7%	6.5%
Harmful chemical elimination	5.3%	8.5%	1.9%
Design	2.8%	1.8%	3.9%
Maker	1.3%	1.8%	0.6%
Formaldehyde elimination	0.6%	1.2%	0.0%
Other	1.6%	1.2%	1.9%

Q3: Do you have a stand-alone ioniser at home? (Sample size=590)

	All	Male N=328	Female N=262
Yes	9.0%	8.8%	9.2%
No	91.0%	91.2%	90.8%

Q4: Would you like to buy an ioniser for home use in the future? (Sample size=590)

	All	Male N=328	Female N=262
Really want to buy one	4.6%	3.7%	5.7%
Might buy one	38.5%	37.2%	40.1%
Don’t want to buy one	56.9%	59.1%	54.2%

Those who already had one were more likely (81% versus 39%) to make a purchase than those who didn’t.