世論 What Japan Thinks

With the economy going down the toilet and quite a few interesting in earning a bit on the side, this recent survey from goo Ranking takes a look at what side jobs people would like to try.

Demographics

Between the 20th and 22nd of January 2010 1,071 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 51.1% of the sample were female, 19.9% in their teens, 29.5% in their twenties, 30.5% in their thirties, and 20.1% 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.

Since everyone completing the survey is already a questionnaire monitor, although for just a nominal reward, the number one answer is either completely predictable or is implying that people would really want to answer questions for money.

Which reminds me, Get paid to take surveys! Join for free now! Just follow that link and you too can earn money by answering questionnaires, but more importantly I can earn money doing job number two…

This very comprehensive study by DIMSDRIVE Research into convenience store usage found out many interesting facts, such as almost two-thirds of those living alone frequent them quite frequently.

Demographics

Between the 2nd and 17th of September 2009 8,317 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.4% of the sample were female, 0.8% in their teens, 12.0% in their twenties, 33.2% in their thirties, 31.6% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 6.6% aged sixty or older.

I pop into a convenience store about two or three times a week, usually ones inside stations run by the railway company, although I don’t know if they were in scope of this survey or not. The other times I use convenience stores it’s mostly to pay bills or to use the photocopier or occasionally to pick up tickets.
Read the rest of this entry »

iShare recently took a look at free samples, in particular those applied for over the internet. This survey was conducted in conjuction with the affiliate marketing service Affiliate B.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 3rd of February 2010 983 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private interent-based questionnaire. 59.2% of the sample were male, 31.6% in their twenties, 32.6% in their thirties, and 35.8% in their forties.

My wife’s a bit of a free sample addict; every other week or so she’s getting a trial sample of some cosmetic or other. It always does seem rather odd that the companies usually seem to have lotteries to choose who gets a free sample rather than giving it to the first few hundred applicants, but I’m sure there must be a good reason.

I also guess given the cooperation with an affiliate company that there must be some monetary incentive for getting sign-ups. Q1SQ2 seems to suggest they also do pay-per-post campaigns – indeed, examining their site they seem to be a link broker.
Read the rest of this entry »

Having seen at the end of last year that over three in four are hurting financially, iShare followed up with a look at taking on a second job.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 7th of January 2010 495 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 55.4% of the sample were male, 33.5% in their twenties, 31.9% in their thirties, and 34.5% in their forties.

16.1% of the men unemployed seems a very high percentage, and with only 4% between the figures for those in their twenties versus those in their thirties and forties, one cannot really say it is due to student numbers. I’d love to see the age figures broken down by sex just to see if there’s a trend.

I suppose I should count What Japan Thinks as my second job, and I wish I could say that I’m using the earnings to save for travel, but sadly it barely makes enough to cover my living expenses gap…
Read the rest of this entry »

One of the highlights of New Year shopping in Japan is buying a fukubukuro, which literally translates to “lucky bag”, so goo Research conducted a survey, reported on by japan.internet.com, on this very subject.

Demographics

Between the 6th and 11th of January 2010 1,089 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 16.5% in their teens, 18.4% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, 15.8% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

My lucky bag purchasing this year was limited as usual to a Mr Donuts one. For 1,000 yen I got my own selection of any ten doughnuts or pies, plus a wall calendar, a Pon-De-Ring lion cellphone strap, a blanket, and a Honey Shippo squirrel stuffed toy. They used to be better with a plate or mug and a diary, however.

I also managed to sell two Strapya Fukubukuro – hurry, there’s still some left!

Oh, and in Q1SQ2 I’d love to know who spent over a million yen on a fukubukuro over the internet.
Read the rest of this entry »

Thinking about your New Year Resolutions? This recent ranking survey from goo Ranking into what people wish they’d put more effort into this year might give you a hint or two.

Demographics

On the 19th of November 2009 1,166 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 59.9% of the sample were female, 13.4% in their teens, 20.6% in their twenties, 28.2% in their thirties, 23.2% in their forties, 8.3% in their fifties, and 6.3% aged sixty or older.

I think last year I did pretty well with networking outside the company by putting more effort into LinkedIn, but internal networking could be improved, but given the average corporate drone in the office, the motivation is just not there!
Read the rest of this entry »

In Japan, Yahoo! Auction rules the roost, and this recent survey from Media Interactive (iResearch) into Yahoo! Auction showed that they also had the payment side of the auction well-covered too.

Demographics

Between the 7th and 9th of December 2009 1,400 people who had won auctions on Yahoo! completed a private internet-based questionnaire, although how exactly they found the 1,400 winners was not described. 52.1% of the sample were male, 0.6% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 35.6% in their thirties, 31.2% in their forties, 13.1% in their fifties, and 4.1% in their sixties.

Yahoo! Simple Checkout is not like the standard for Ebay auctions, PayPal, in that it is not a bank-like entity but instead a trusted go-between so that there is no direct exchange of banking details. Yahoo! Simple Checkout can also be used when shopping through Yahoo! services, so there is no need to give your credit card details to the shops, just your Yahoo! Simple Checkout details.
Read the rest of this entry »

I have zero interest in brand bags, and fortunately my wife grew out of her habit long before we met, but looking at this recent survey from iShare into second-hand, pawned and rental brand bags I see there are still a lot of addicts out there!

Demographics

Between the 19th and 25th of November 2009 502 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.2% of the sample were male, 33.5% in their twenties, 33.5% in their thirties, and 33.1% in their forties.

It’s quite amazing to see that just about one third of the younger Japanese female population has bought a brand bag and another fifth have had one bought for them, but then again when out and about at the weekend it does seem like half the girls are carrying an LV tote…
Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently there has been somewhat of a trend regarding men becoming more interested in skin care, so this survey from iShare took a look at giving and receiving of make-up kits.

Demographics

Between the 11th and 16th of November 2009 514 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.0% of the sample were male, 33.9% in their twenties, 30.0% in their thirties, and 36.2% in their forties.

I only use my wife’s left-over hand cream during the winter, as my skin does try out very easily this weather. I don’t think I’d really be that happy to receive a make-up pouch for my Christmas, though.

In Japanese, they use a Japanicised version of the French term coffret to describe such a skin care or make-up set.
Read the rest of this entry »

In Japan, there’s always some brand or other of soft drink in particular that has a free collectable gift attached to it, such as figurines, mobile phone straps, or even once plant seeds! These food items collectable gifts were the focus of a recent survey from iShare. Oh, a long time ago I did a similar DIMSDRIVE survey.

Demographics

Between the 30th of October and the 5ht of November 2009 537 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 57.5% of the sample were male, 35.8% in their twenties, 30.5% in their thirties, and 33.7% in their forties.

The last nice collectable set I got was Snoopy lying on various delicacies from around the country, given away free with Pepsi. I’ve never gone out of my way to collect such items, but they do influence my wife’s buying habits to some degree.

A friend of mine once bought a whole case of collectable cards that came with a tiny sweet, so it looked more to me like buying a card that came with a free ebidle item, not the other way round!
Read the rest of this entry »