世論 What Japan Thinks

With the termination of the Eco Car subsidy being largely responsible for the recently-announced 1.1% drop in Japan’s GDP for the previous quarter, this seems a good time to look at how the public perceived the scheme through the results of a survey from DIMSDRIVE Research.

Demographics

Between the 21st of October and the 5th of November 2010 7,681 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 0.7% in their teens, 10.6% in their twenties, 29.9% in their thirties, 32,5% in their forties, 17.6% in their fifties, and 8.7% in their sixties.

From an economic standpoint, the Eco Car scheme was good for opening wallets and getting money circulating, the biggest issue these days in the Japanese economy. From an environmental standpoint, however, a lot of cars were upgraded earlier that they needed be, the life and recycling of the batteries in hybrids is still an open question, and due to the way the scheme was structured, a lot of cars were not really that ecologically sound. A good diesel, such as on a Volkswagen, can outrun most other cars, although diesel does not have a good image in Japan.
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Given that Microsoft started last year giving away the rather useful Microsoft Security Essentials and that this survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com into anti-virus software found that price was the biggest factor when choosing a package, one would have thought that the percentage of paid software users would have been lower.

Demographics

Between the 5th and 11th of January 2011 1,081 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the survey were male, 16.4% in their teens, 18.0% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.5% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

One key reason for the high rate of paid software is, I suspect, heavy television advertising by at least two or three vendors raising awareness of the need to buy amongst users. However, I would admit that it is also possible that it is the high rate of payers that spurs the advertising market rather than the other way around.

As mentioned above, I now use Microsoft Security Essentials which does everything I need. I used to use Avast!, but it started nagging me in the autumn to upgrade to the paid version but didn’t seem to have any obvious way to turn off the warnings.
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With all the cold weather recently, this survey from DIMSDRIVE Reseach may help you choose what kind of thermal underwear is best.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 16th of December 2010 5,915 members of the DIMSDRIVE monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.2% of the sample were male, 0.7% in their teens, 9.8% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 33.3% in their forties, 16.3% in their fifties, and 9.7% aged sixty or older.

When I was a kid the only thermal underwear was Damart, which still look as naff as I remember from then! Now, however, new materials such as UniQlo’s Heattech mean that clothes can be both fashionable and warm. My wife has a good number of their turtleneck tops, but all I have are two cheap-and-nasty last-generation U-neck inners. Note that this survey is only concerned with these new kinds of material.
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Although there is still some time for the Eco Point award system for digital televisions, air conditioners and refrigerators to run, from the start of this month the points have been halved, so now seemed a good time for goo Research to take a look at what people thought of the scheme, in a survey reported on by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

From the 3rd to 6th of December 2010 1,089 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 16.4% in their teens, 18.4% in their twenties, 21.7% in their thirties, 16.0% in their forties, 15.7% in their fifties, and 11.8% aged sixty or older.

I think the scheme has been effective from a financial point of view, prising open Japanese wallets to get some money circulating. From an environmental point of view, it will help reduce household electricity consumption by replacing old inefficient equipment, but looking at the overall carbon cycle there’s less of a clear benefit. For my part, we upgraded our 28 inch CRT television to a 42 inch plasma, but looking at the power consumption the old one was rated at around 200 watts but the new one is 330 watts. Oops.

If they want new products to promote, I’d like to see fluorescent and LED light bulbs being chosen, as lighting uses more that televisions or fridges, and none of the current Eco Point products can compare to the savings from LED.
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goo Research recently conducted their thirteenth regular survey into internet advertising, with japan.internet.com reporting on the results.

h3>Demographics
Between the 19th and 22nd of November 2010 1,036 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.8% in their teens, 18.1% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 15.9% in their forties, and 27.6% aged fifty or older.

To try to catch the third of you who click on contextual affiliate adverts, I’ll mention that if you are running under Windows AdMuncher by Murray Hurps is an excellent blocker for 99% of all advertisements and works with any browser. It’s not free, but it’s great value and might even pay for itself if you surf using a 3G connection. It’s blocked about 200 adverts a day on my netbook, and makes for a much more pleasant experience as valuable screen space isn’t consumed by huge adverts. Once again, buy AdMuncher by Murray Hurps through this link and help out What Japan Thinks!
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A recent survey from iShare took a look at strong and cool Japanese women, a follow-on from looks at guys earning more than 10 million yen and guys with more than 10 million in the bank. They’ll be a look at strong and cool men later this week.

Demographics

Over the 18th and 19th of October 2010 2,122 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service in full-time employment and with a driving license completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 84.9% of the sample were male, 4.1% were in their twenties, 49.2% in their thirties, and 46.7% in their forties.

I find it interesting to note that in Q16, the top two strong and cool women both used to be men in Takarazuka Theatre, as was the woman in sixth place.

Oh, and don’t ask me to explain the fashion styles in Q17 any further as I haven’t a clue what they are.
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A recent survey from iShare took a look at strong and cool Japanese women, a follow-on from looks at guys earning more than 10 million yen and guys with more than 10 million in the bank. They’ll be a look at strong and cool men later this week.

Demographics

Over the 18th and 19th of October 2010 2,122 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service in full-time employment and with a driving license completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 84.9% of the sample were male, 4.1% were in their twenties, 49.2% in their thirties, and 46.7% in their forties.

I’m going to be a bit busy tomorrow, so I’ll stretch this one out over two days. I’m not really sure I can picture a strong and cool Japanese woman right now… except maybe my wife – see part two for why!
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With Skype already available on many smartphone, and indeed with Japan’s second-largest carrier, au, now preloading it onto many phones, this survey from goo Research looks at awareness of Skype and other associated issues.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 17th of November 2010 1,070 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.9% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their teens, 18.3% in their twenties, 21.8% in their thirties, 16.1% in their forties, 15.4% in their fifties, and 12.2% aged sixty or older.

In Q2, I’m not sure if people were fully aware that Skype to Skype may be free (excluding packet charges), but Skype to non-Skype mobile phones requires payment. Furthermore, in Japan public wireless is rather thin on the ground, so even if the majority of mobile phones in Japan have it installed, calls are still going to have to be paid for more often than not.
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After looking at if people who quit stayed smoke-free due to the recent massive tax hike, here we have iShare looking at the overall population to see who quit smoking due to the price rise. As most people predicted, the long-overdue price rise wasn’t matched by a similar reduction in smoking rates.

Demographics

Between the 4th and 8th of November 2010 661 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.1% of the sample were male, 25.6% in their twenties, 33.4% in their thirties, and 41.0% in their forties.

One slight problem with the data here is that the smoking population at 21.3% of men and 8.3% of women is about half of the usually-accepted figures, although I don’t know why this sample would differ from the general population.
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An interesting survey from goo Research, conducted in conjunction with President magazine, looked at time management, and this extract highlighted the differences in habits between the rich (over 15 million per year salary) and the average (between 4 and 5 million per year).

Demographics

There was little demographic information, just that there were 311 people in each of the two salary ranges, all of them business people.

I’m a “not at all” for four of them, and a “very much so” for Q4 if writing for the blog qualifies doing something productive while commuting
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