By Ken Y-N ( February 26, 2011 at 01:26)
· Filed under Business, Lifestyle, Polls
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Home use water coolers, or water servers as they are known in Japan, directly importing a less-popular English term for them into Japanese, were the subject of a recent survey from DIMSDRIVE Research.
Demographics
Between the 19th and 25th of January 2011 a massive 89,713 people completed a public internet-based questionnaire. 53.3% of the sample were male, 10.7% in their twenties, 29.3% in their thirties, 31.5% in their forties, 19.4% in their fifties, and 9.1% aged sixty or older. From that group 50 people with each of the top ten brands of water server were chosen to answer further questions between the 25th and 27th of January 2011. This sub-sample consisted of 60.4% male, 13.0% in their twenties, 30.0% in their thirties, 27.2% in their forties, 21.4% in their fifties, and 8.4% aged sixty or older.
I’ve not seen a home-use water cooler in Japan, although looking at the web sites linked in Q1SQ below, they all look just the same as office-use ones. Also, given the average Japanese home size, it would be difficult to find a place for one in many homes, I suspect.
Looking at two of the web sites for prices, I see that the water works out at around 100 yen per litre, which is if anything slightly more expensive than standard two-litre bottles of water from a supermarket, and definitely dearer than buying mineral water by the case, then of course there is the rental on top of that.
Anyway, I have a built-in water purifier which is good enough, and on hot summer days I just put a jug of it into the fridge.
Research results
Q1: At your home, do you have a home-use water cooler? (Sample size=89,713)
| Currently have one (to SQ) |
3.3% |
| Used to have one |
3.9% |
| Never had one |
89.2% |
| Don’t know what it is |
3.6% |
Q1SQ: Which brand of home-use water cooler do you have? (Sample size=1,648)
The following questions were for 50 people who used each of the top ten brands above.
Q2: When did you first get a home-use water cooler? (Sample size=500)
| 2011 |
4.6% |
| 2010 |
35.2% |
| 2009 |
23.4% |
| 2008 |
14.8% |
| 2007 |
7.0% |
| 2006 |
4.4% |
| 2005 or earlier |
10.6% |
Q3: How do you use your home-use water cooler? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)
| Drinking as cold water |
93.0% |
| Making coffee, tea, green tea, etc |
77.0% |
| Drinking as hot water |
49.2% |
| When taking medicines, supplements |
37.4% |
| Making cup noodles, soup, other instant food |
37.4% |
| Mixing hot or cold with spirits |
35.8% |
| Cooking use |
30.6% |
| Making rice |
28.4% |
| Making baby formula milk |
12.0% |
| Pet use |
6.6% |
| Other |
1.0% |
Q4: What style of bottle delivery do you use? (Sample size=500)
| Disposable bottle |
37.8% |
| Returnable bottle |
55.2% |
| Other |
1.2% |
| Don’t know |
5.8% |
Q5: How do you get your water delivered? (Sample size=500)
| Regular delivery |
47.2% |
| As needed |
48.8% |
| Don’t know |
4.0% |
Q6: How did you come to decide to get a home-use water cooler? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)
| Wanted to drink tasty water |
28.2% |
| Going to buy water (mineral water, etc) was a bother |
27.6% |
| When I was worried about tap water (to SQ) |
26.6% |
| Wanted it after seeing it at friend’s, relative’s home |
23.8% |
| Wanted it after seeing a television, other advertisement |
22.8% |
| Wanted to drink natural water |
21.8% |
| Was cheaper than I thought |
15.8% |
| Used it at work, so wanted it for home too |
13.8% |
| Wanted it after seeing it at beauty salon, sports club, other shop |
9.2% |
| Wanted to reduce plastic bottle rubbish |
7.4% |
| When I was pregnant, had a baby |
7.2% |
| Relative, friend recommended it |
6.8% |
| Wanted to make the room more elegant |
6.4% |
| Lifestyle changed after moving, etc |
4.8% |
| For use in emergencies |
3.6% |
| Got married |
2.8% |
| Other |
6.0% |
| Don’t remember |
5.6% |
Q6SQ: What sort of image do you have of tap water? (Sample size=133, multiple answer)
| Not tasty |
67.7% |
| Worried about the safety aspect |
54.1% |
| Worried about the cleanliness |
51.9% |
| Seems to be lots of foreign matter in it |
48.9% |
| Worried about the management |
31.6% |
| Lack of minerals, etc |
15.8% |
| Expensive |
9.8% |
| Other |
0.0% |
Q7: What points are important when selecting a home-use water cooler brand? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)
| Price |
43.0% |
| Water type (minerals, hardness, etc) |
36.8% |
| Taste |
33.6% |
| Delivery type (disposable or returnable bottles, etc) |
23.6% |
| Safety |
22.4% |
Q8: How satisfied are you with each of the following issues surrounding your home-use water cooler’s water? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)
| |
Very satisfied |
Satisified |
Can’t say |
Dissatisfied |
Very dissatisfied |
| Taste |
32.4% |
55.4% |
11.2% |
1.0% |
0.0% |
| Safety |
28.2% |
50.6% |
19.6% |
1.6% |
0.0% |
| Delivery staff |
24.0% |
45.0% |
28.2% |
2.8% |
0.0% |
| Bottle, cooler size |
20.6% |
46.8% |
25.2% |
5.8% |
1.6% |
| Maintenance service |
20.4% |
40.8% |
32.4% |
5.6% |
0.8% |
| Price, cost |
14.2% |
36.2% |
34.2% |
11.8% |
3.6% |
Q9: What points are you dissatisfied about, what desires do you have regarding your home-use water cooler? (Sample size=500)
| Cooler is too big, want smaller one |
16.2% |
| Expensive cooler rental fee |
14.6% |
| Cooler is noisy |
12.4% |
| Insufficient member benefits, want sufficient benefits |
11.0% |
| Delivery timing is poor, cannot specify time |
9.4% |
| Poor cooler design |
6.8% |
| Poor bottle design |
6.8% |
| Want different ways to order (internet, email, telephone, etc) |
6.8% |
| Don’t feel the water quality is good |
6.0% |
| No just right size of bottle |
6.0% |
| Want different ways to pay (credit card, direct debit, etc) |
4.2% |
| No hot water option |
4.0% |
| Poor customer service |
3.2% |
| Not nice-tasting water |
2.6% |
| Poor maintenance response |
2.6% |
| Other |
7.6% |
| Not particular dissatisfactions or desires |
40.8% |
Read more on: dimsdrive research,
water cooler,
water server
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