Demographics

Between the 26th and 28th of October 2013 1,107 members of the Fastask monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. All the respondents had done internet shopping, 59.6% of them were male, 13.1% in their teens, 17.0% in their twenties, 18.0% in their thirties, 18.0% in their forties, 17.0% in their fifties and 17.0% aged sixty or over.

I use coupons when shopping online, if available, but most of my shopping is merely for domain names. I don’t know exactly what my wife, a perhaps more typical shopper, uses though, although I think she regularly uses money-off coupons.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever used a discount coupon when doing online shopping? (Sample size=1,107)

Yes (to SQs)	64.7%
No	30.4%
Don’t know, can’t remember	4.9%

Q1SQ1: What kind of discount coupons have you used? (Sample size=716, multiple answer)

Discount from total price coupon	80.8%
Free delivery coupon	52.8%
Discount for specific items coupon	36.2%
Free gift coupon	18.4%
Other	0.8%
Don’t know, can’t remember	3.2%

Q1SQ2: What genres of items, services did you buy, reserve, etc using discount coupons? (Sample size=716, multiple answer)

Books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, game software	41.3%
Food, drink	35.1%
Clothes, underwear	30.8%
Computers, parts, peripherals	29.7%
Home electrical items	22.6%
Everyday items	21.0%
Cosmetics	15.8%
Diet goods, supplements, health goods	13.6%
Travel reservations, airline tickets	12.6%
Furniture, interior items	11.0%
Sports, outdoor items	9.8%
Contact lenses, spectacles	5.8%
Event, movie tickets	5.1%
Baby goods	2.7%
Other	8.7%
Don’t know, can’t remember	4.4%

Demographics

The survey was conducted over the 2nd and 3rd of September 2013 and 1,077 people completed a private web-based questionnaire. 51.0% of the sample were female, 24.5% in their teens, 24.8% in their twenties, 25.2% in their thirties, and 25.5% in their forties. Note that the score in the results refers to the relative number of votes for each option, not a percentage of the total sample. This survey was for the women in the sample only.

Talking of number 13, here’s staff getting over-familiar with Johnny Depp:

My pet hate is mobile phone shop staff, who are totally incapable of answering any even slightly technical question with anything other than “Have you tried turning off and on?” Well, one time when I asked about a crash, they recommended I delete some stuff as my low-end phone’s memory was getting full, but it was full mostly down to all the shovel-ware that they place on the phone and that cannot be deleted! Another time, I went at least thrice about a problem receiving SMS-like messages (docomo Message R, for those who are familiar with docomo) on my smartphone. They checked their computer, my account status, everything, and it wasn’t until about six months later there was a software upgrade to their mail program that finally enabled Message R reception by any smartphone in their range! I can’t really see how three different staff were not aware that such a common feature was not supported, even though they had been selling smartphones for at least two years at that point.

Ranking result

Q: What kinds of shop staff do you find too much bother to deal with? (Sample size=1,077)

Rank		Score
1	Ramen shop staff who complain about me not eating the “right” way	100
2	Electrical superstore staff who try to sell me loads of unwanted software after buying an expensive computer	82.7
3	Electrical superstore staff who try to sell me a low-end computer they cannot get rid of	79.5
4	Clothes shop staff who passionately try to sell me the same clothes as I’m wearing	65.8
5	Electrical superstore staff who try to get me to sign up for a store credit card by blabbering on about its good points	65.4
6	Clothes shop staff who on seeing me trying on an outfit, bring along other items to coordinate with it	64.0
7	Electrical superstore staff who get all flustered when I ask them questions about an item	62.4
8	Taxi drivers who say “I’m not yet too familiar with this area…”	53.1
9	Convenience store staff who look all confused when I give them small change along with a note to round things up (eg offering 103 yen for an 88 yen item)	52.2
10	Convenience store staff who even after I refuse on every visit still offer to make me a point card	49.2
11	Barkeeps with dull stories	46.5
12	Shop staff who cannot look up the price of items that don’t have bar codes	39.9
13	Over-familiar shop staff who chat about everyday things like last night’s television	36.4
14	Shoe shop staff who make comments like “Your feet are really big!”	34.2
15	Supermarket staff who cannot get the scanner to accept a bar code	32.3

Demographics

Between the 19th and 22nd of August 2013 1,002 members of the MMD monitor group who used a personal smartphone in a business setting completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The only demographic information provided was that they were all aged between 20 and 49 years old.

Our company’s policy is that BYOD is forbidden in general, but with special exceptions for reading email via a thin client-style application that ensures no messages are ever saved locally. However, this survey shows that there are very few companies with formal policies in place, which I strongly feel is a disaster waiting to happen.

Research results

Q1: What do you feel is effective about smartphone BYOD? (Sample size=1,002, multiple answer)

Raises my work effectiveness, speed	38.5%
Raises my information-gathering powers	32.7%
Becomes easier to communicate within the company	28.5%
There’s less to carry around	21.4%
Becomes easier to communicate with customers	20.3%
Increases the number of people, companies I am connected with	10.5%
Increases my knowledge about the industry	6.3%
Decreases overtime	2.7%
Other	0.5%
Don’t feel any effectiveness	28.5%

Q2: What work-related information is on your smartphone? (Sample size=1,002, multiple answer)

Intra-company contact information	73.1%
Customer contact information	48.8%
Work schedule	47.4%
Intra-company email	40.7%
Meeting memos	26.6%
Other company documents	13.2%
Business card data	13.0%
Meeting documents	11.4%
Customer transaction information	10.0%
Own company catalogues, introduction material, etc	9.1%
Other	1.5%

Q3: What security measures are in place for BYOD? (Sample size=1,002, multiple answer)

Password, screen lock is set	61.1%
Installed security software	40.3%
Remote lock facility	19.0%
Use screen filter to block peeking	13.9%
Remote wipe facility	12.2%
Use cloud services/thin client software to prevent data being stored on the device	12.1%
Other	0.9%
No particular security measures	19.3%

Q4: Have you ever lost, had stolen a smartphone you used for BYOD? (Sample size=1,002)

Yes, but recovered it later	15.7%
Yes, and never recovered it	4.8%
No	79.5%

Q5: Do you feel your employer needs to put in place security measures to address loss, theft, data leakage, etc from smartphone BYOD? (Sample size=1,002)

Yes	28.1%
Perhaps	35.5%
Not really	16.7%
Not at all	16.9%
Employer already has them in place	2.8%

Demographics

At some recent point in time 641 members of the Do House monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.9% of the sample were male, 40.6% were in their twenties or thirties, and 59.4% were in their forties or fifties. All lived in the vicinities of Tokyo, and all were in employment, including part time and casual work.

I have both my own My Bottle and my own My Cup; I fill the thermos with tea from a tea bag, and slowly top up my My Cup from my My Bottle as time goes by. It feels like about a quarter of the people in myoffice bring their My Bottle, but I’ve never asked them what is inside, but for some reason I imagine it must be miso soup, although that doesn’t feature as a distinct option in Q3.

For some reason people drinking out of their thermos irritates me – the unscrewing and clinking as they put the cap back on is not in itself a noise that gets on my nerves, but much like fan usage it just grates for some no particular reason.

Research results

Q1: What kinds of drink containers do you drink from at work? (Sample size=641, multiple answer)

These numbers are read off a graph, so they may not be exact. However, looking at the breakdown by sex and age group, younger men were the biggest can and plastic bottle drinkers (about 60% and 70% respectively), and older women the least likely to drink from them at work.

Q2 is probably the people from Q1 who used one or more My Cup or My Bottle in the office.

Q2: How often do you take your My Bottle, My Cup to the office? (Sample size=348)

Men in their twenties and thirties were the most likely demographic to bring their own drinking utensils every day, and conversely men in their forties and fifties were most likely to store them in the office.

Q3: What do you fill your My Bottle, My Cup with? (Sample size=348, multiple answer)

Q4 is probably the people from Q3 who drink tea or coffee either ready-made, or make themselves, the top three answers in Q3.

Q4: Where do you buy/prepare the drinks you drink at the office? (Sample size=299 and 260)

Demographics

Over the 27th and 28th of March 2013, 1,248 business persons living in Tokyo and Osaka and their surrounding areas were interviewed. The ages ranged from 20 to 59 years old, but no further information was provided.

I probably sweat the most in the office; my problem with commuting is usually far too cold a carriage!

This year I’m trying out Uniqlo’s AIRism underneath my work shirts. So far they feel great, and they stop my back sweat soaking into my shirt, but I’ll wait until it gets a lot hotter before delivering my final verdict. Its odour neutralising properties, however, are no match for my underarms!

Research results

Q1: What stresses do you feel regarding Cool Biz? (Sample size=1,248, multiple answer)

Worry about the smell of my own sweat	44.8%
Feeling all sticky with sweat	42.3%
Cannot concentrate in the heat	38.9%
Get irritable in the heat	32.3%
Worry about sweat stains	31.3%
Bothered by the smell of other people’s sweat	25.5%
Dark office	11.8%
I look all dishevelled	7.9%
Don’t know what to wear	7.9%
Other	1.0%
Don’t feel any particular stress	26.2%

Q2: Do you worrk about smells in business-related situations more than in causal ones? (Sample size=1,248)

Very much so	13.9%
Yes	50.0%
No	30.7%
Not at all	5.4%

Q3: During a summer day, at what point do you sweat the most? (Sample size=1,248)

Commuting	55.0%
In the office	18.6%
On returning home	10.2%
After 5 pm	6.5%
On waking	6.3%
After returning home	2.7%
Other	1.0%

Demographics

500 new starts who attended a Sanno Management School Entering the Workplace Seminar held between the 27th of March and the 10th of April were asked to fill out a questionnaire. 463 people supplied valid answers, from which 324 people, or 70.0%, were male.

I use an SNS every day, and if I got a friend request on Facebook from my boss I wouldn’t be too bothered as I use Facebook for little more than food pictures.

Research results

Q1: How often do you use an SNS? (Sample size=463)

	This year	Last year
Every day	66.4%	58.8%
Few times a week	14.2%	13.9%
Few times a month	3.7%	3.3%
Very rarely	8.3%	10.9%
Haven’t even registered	7.4%	13.1%

Q2: How would you feel if you were to get a friend request from your boss? (Sample size=463)

	All	Male N=324	Female N=139
Happy to receive	20.4%	23.5%	13.4%
Hate to receive	42.8%	35.4%	59.8%
Neither	36.8%	41.2%	26.8%

Research results

Between the 24th of May and the 3rd of June 2013 1,073 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.3% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.5% in their twenties, 21.2% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, and 27.7% aged fifty or older.

Just the last week there were some banner ads I saw that I wanted to click. They were for English lessons to improve one’s listening (I wish I could find an example again!) and one that sticks in my mind was a bartender passing a cocktail and saying “Oh ****! You *** cu*** tw**.”

Research results

Q1: Have you ever clicked on contextual advertisements in search results? (Sample size=1,073)

Yes	62.5%
No	24.0%
Don’t know	8.2%
Didn’t know there were advertisements in search results	5.2%

Q2: What kinds of internet advertisement would make you want to click? (Sample size=1,073, multiple answer)

Banner or movie, flash, etc	45.7%
Contextual text link in search	27.5%
Link in an email newsletter	24.8%
Promoted link (Amazon affiliate, etc)	24.6%
Contextual advertisement in blog, column	24.4%
Other	2.2%

Demographics

Between the 13th and 15th of May 2013 1,090 mobile phone (including smartphone) using members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private mobile internet-based questionnaire. 57.0% of the sample were female, 1.9% in their teens, 19.1% in their twenties, 36.7% in their thirties, 28.8% in their forties, and 13.5% aged fifty or older.

I’m in the never even accessed category; the survey was, I believe, focused on physical goods, not services, so buying from an App Store was not counted.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever done shopping from your mobile phone, smartphone? (Sample size=1,090)

Yes, often (to SQ1)	12.6%
Yes, sometimes (to SQ1)	31.8%
Yes, just once or twice (to SQ1)	22.8%
Visited sites but not bought	16.8%
Not even visited sites	16.1%

Q1SQ1: Do you have dissatisifactions with these mobile shopping sites? (Sample size=732)

Yes (to SQ2)	26.1%
No	73.9%

Q1SQ2: What dissatisifactions do you have with these mobile shopping sites? (Sample size=191, multiple answer)

Difficult to search for products	58.6%
Insufficient images	42.9%
Slow navigation	28.3%
Uneasy about security	27.2%
Difficult to understand how to use	10.5%
Few products	8.9%
Insufficient “my page” personalisation features	8.4%
Other	13.1%

Demographics

Between the 10th and 13th of May 2013 200 men and women in full employment living within Tokyo and aged between 20 and 59 completed an internet-based questionnaire.

I don’t really go much for Cool Biz, but I’m always relatively casual at work. I have heard other people say that wearing a vest or T-shirt under a normal shirt helps no end on sweaty Japanese summer days, so perhaps I’ll pick up a couple of Uniqlo T-shirts and give them a go.

Research results

Q1: What kinds of products would you like to wear as Cool Biz fashion? (Sample size=200, multiple answer)

Items with a dry feel that allow me to spend time comfortably	46%
Items that feel good on the skin that allow me to spend time comfortably	36%
Items with sweat smell suppressing function as I am bothered by such smells	32%
Items that are easy care	32%
Items with a dry feel that also dry quickly after washing	22%
Items that coordinate well	19%
Items with an anti-bacterial function	18%
Items that make people feel cool just by looking at them	18%
Items with sweat smell suppressing function so as not to make other people uncomfortable	18%
Items that hide sweat stains so as not to make other people uncomfortable	17%
Items that are made of sturdy materials	12%
Items that are colourful and lift my spirits	8%
Items that are colourful and lift other people’s spirits	5%

Q2: What kinds of Cool Biz fashion bothers you, dissatisfies you, or annoys you? (Sample size=200, multiple answer)

Just removing a tie for half-hearted Cool Biz	23%
Too casual style that looks slovenly	20%
Always the same style	16%
Worry about sweat smells	15%
Not enough Cool Biz-ness and looks uncomfortably hot	10%
Shows too much skin	9%
Worry about sweat stains	9%
Doesn’t go with dress shirts, polo shirts, etc	9%
Not suited to the TPO (Time, Place, Occasion)	8%
Feels unclean	6%
Worry about creases	4%

There was then a strange cross-reference between those who wanted to wear colourful Cool Biz items versus those who had expectations for Abenomics. 39% of the people who who were optimistic about Abenomics wanted to wear something colourful, whereas just 13% of the pessimists did. Conversely, just 6% of the optimists didn’t want to wear something bright, yet 12% of the pessimists didn’t.

The top reaction would be to just accept the company’s request and quit, with 63.7% doing so. However, 20.2% would say they would accept any position within the company, then 9.4% would fight the company through the courts. The remaining 6.7% had never worked, so couldn’t answer!