世論 What Japan Thinks

Having had a rather negative look at SNS obsessions earlier this week, today we turn round 180 degrees with a report on japan.internet.com about a survey conducted by Just Systems into how things are between married couples since they started using LINE, a free text and voice chat service that is taking Japan by storm.

Demographics

Over the 11th and 12th of January 2013 800 married men and women (400 of each sex, but it is not clear if they are 400 couples) who both talk with each other on LINE completed a private internet-based questionnaire. They were aged between 20 and 49 years old, but no further demographics were provided.

Note that “talk” in the questions below covers both text and voice chat. In Q2, I don’t know if the imbalance in the sexes indicates that it was not couples married to each other who completed the survey, or if women don’t reply sometimes, or people are poor at estimating, or some combination of these or other factors.

Research results

Q1: Has your relationship improved since starting LINE? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Yes	8.6%	7.5%	9.8%
Perhaps yes	20.8%	19.0%	22.5%
Can’t say	48.3%	50.3%	46.3%
Perhaps no	8.9%	7.5%	10.3%
Not at all	13.5%	15.8%	11.3%

Q2: About how often per day do you exchange messages with your spouse on LINE? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Once or less	40.4%	38.0%	42.8%
Twice to five times	44.0%	43.5%	44.5%
Six to ten times	8.9%	10.8%	7.0%
More than ten times	6.8%	7.8%	5.8%

Q3: Does it bother you not knowing whether messages you have sent to your spouse have been read? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Bothered	65.5%	60.8%	70.3%
Not bothered	30.1%	33.5%	26.8%
Don’t know	4.4%	5.8%	3.0%

Q4: Do you more often write words of reward your spouse for their work on LINE? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Yes	9.8%	7.5%	12.0%
Perhaps yes	24.9%	25.3%	24.5%
Can’t say	35.8%	36.0%	35.5%
Perhaps no	13.0%	12.8%	13.3%
Not at all	16.6%	18.5%	14.8%

Q5: Do you more often discuss worries with you spouse on LINE? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Yes	6.4%	7.0%	5.8%
Perhaps yes	12.5%	10.8%	14.3%
Can’t say	42.8%	44.3%	41.3%
Perhaps no	17.5%	15.8%	19.3%
Not at all	20.9%	22.3%	19.5%

Q6: Do you more often write words of thanks to your spouse on LINE? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Yes	7.8%	6.8%	8.8%
Perhaps yes	24.4%	24.0%	24.8%
Can’t say	37.5%	37.8%	37.3%
Perhaps no	13.0%	12.5%	13.5%
Not at all	17.4%	19.0%	15.8%

Q7: Do you more often moan at your spouse on LINE? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=400	Female N=400
Yes	4.0%	4.3%	3.8%
Perhaps yes	12.4%	12.5%	12.3%
Can’t say	40.4%	39.8%	41.0%
Perhaps no	19.4%	16.8%	22.0%
Not at all	23.9%	26.8%	21.0%