Demographics

Between the 5th and 7th of November 2013 1,079 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private mobile phone and smartphone-based questionnaire. 57.7% of the sample were female (note, this figure is higher than usual due to this being a mobile survey verses the computer-based surveys that bias towards men), 2.3% were in their teens, 20.9% in their twenties, 35.2% in their thirties, 29.6% in their forties, and 12.0% aged fifty or older.

Research results

First, people were asked which kinds of electronic text communication they used. Top was 89.5% who used their mobile phone’s carrier email, 53.5% used web mail, 51.8% SMS, 39.2% message functions in voice-capable app (Skype, LINE, etc), 37.7% SNS messaging function and so on.

The 39.2% (423 people) who used message functions in voice-capable apps were asked the following:

Q1: On which devices do you use message functions in voice-capable apps? (Sample size=423, multiple answer)

Feature phone	12.5%
Computer	22.5%
Smartphone	83.2%
Tablet	6.6%
Other	0.2%

The 37.7% (407 people) who used SNS messaging function were asked the following:

Q2: On which devices do you use SNS messaging function? (Sample size=407, multiple answer)

Feature phone	24.3%
Computer	65.1%
Smartphone	74.0%
Tablet	8.6%
Other	0.0%

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

Between the 15th and 18th of October 2013 1,078 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.0% of the sample were male, 13.8% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 21.2% in their thirties, 17.2% in their forties, 14.8% in their fifties, and 17.5% aged sixty or older.

Looking at the sites in Q1SQ1, they seem to be a mix of work-related networking, expanding one’s circle of friends through shared hobbies and interests, and just plain old dating. I could be interested in the second option myself, and perhaps the first, but I don’t really have the free time or more particularly energy to do that.

Research results

Q1: Do you know about Social Matching Services? (Sample size=1,078)

Know it well (to SQs)	6.1%
Just heard about it	32.2%
Don’t know it at all	61.7%

Q1SQ1: Which of the following Social Matching Services do you know? (Sample size=66, multiple answer)

Social Lunch	74.2%
CoffeeMeeting	21.2%
Hirukatsu (Lunch activity)	19.7%
Supotomo (Sports friends)	15.2%
Ultema	12.1%
Nikukai (Meat meeting)	12.1%
Other	6.1%

Q1SQ2: Have you actually used any of these Social Matching Services? (Sample size=66)

Yes (to SQ3)	18.2%
No	81.8%

11 out of the 12 people who had used or were still using these services had used Social Lunch; four people went to activities at least once a week, another 4 twice or thrice a month, one once every two or three months, one every six months, and one once a year or so. When asked about dissatisfactions, eight people reported that people were different in real life compared to their online self. Others complained that sometimes the meetings didn’t go smoothly or they often got hurt by their encounters.

Q1SQ3: Are you maintaining your relations with people you met through Social Matching Services? (Sample size=12)

Yes, still maintaining all of them	5
Still maintaining some, but quit others	5
No, quit all	2

Demographics

Between the 24th and 26th of September 2013 1,118 members of the MMD Labo monitor group completed a private internet questionnaire. The sample was of both sexes and ages ranged from 20 to 59, but no further details were given.

I think I’ve had most of the problems listed in Q2SQ1! One other one I had was that I wanted to cancel a web hosting service, but in order to do that you had to send a letter (Fax would not do!) at least a set number of days before a billing cycle. I’d tried to get in touch with customer service to sort out a few matters, but as the date rolled round I just cancelled my credit card payment. They sent me payment reminders for about six months, but I just ignored them all and they eventually gave up. I had paid for all the services I used, and they had tried to charge me an extra month or two for services I couldn’t use because they had suspended my account.

Research results

Q1: How safely do you think you can use the internet? (Sample size=1,118)

Know how to use safely	36.3%
Know to some degree how to use safely	49.9%
Don’t really know how to use safely	12.3%
Don’t know at all how to use safely	1.5%

Q2: Have you ever had problems using the internet? (Sample size=1,118)

Yes (to SQs)	37.9%
No	62.1%

Q2SQ1: What kinds of problems have you had using the internet? (Sample size=424, multiple answer)

Forgot my user name, password and couldn’t use a service	37.7%
Got loads of spam	35.1%
Got addicted and wasted lots of time on the internet	18.4%
Got a computer virus	13.9%
Got slandered on the internet	12.7%
My personal information leaked	12.3%
Got registered for a site I didn’t know	12.0%
Paid for services, goods but never received them	11.3%
Got a bill for services I didn’t remember using	9.2%
My ID, password got stolen and I could no longer use a service	6.6%
People close to me found out about a hobby, other information I didn’t want them to see	6.1%
Got defrauded at an auction	5.2%
Other	10.4%

Q2SQ2: On what kinds of sites did you have problems? (Sample size=424, multiple answer)

SNS site	22.6%
Portal site	19.8%
Video sharing site	19.1%
Electronic commerce site	15.6%
Auction site	15.3%
Search site	15.1%
Bulletin board site	13.0%
Blog site	8.5%
Free web page site	7.3%
Travel site	6.4%
Online banking site	5.9%
News site	5.4%
Word of mouth site	5.0%
Online share-dealing site	4.2%
Online dictionary site	2.1%
Other site	12.3%

Q3: Where did you first come to learn about flame wars? (Sample size=1,118)

Internet	55.0%
Television	34.1%
Friends	3.3%
Newspaper	1.2%
Magazine	1.2%
Radio	0.4%
Other	0.4%
Don’t know what a flame war is	4.6%

Demographics

Between the 4th and 8th of October 2013 1,076 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.4% of the sample were male, 13.7% in their teens, 15.5% in their twenties, 21.4% in their thirties, 17.3% in their forties, 14.8% in their fifties, and 17.4% aged sixty or older.

This mistake sending physical email tickled me:

I’ve made all the email errors (mostly more than a few times each!) bar the CCing instead of BCCing, although I have been on the receiving end of them. I don’t use chat enough to make any of the errors listed however, but I have been on the receiving end of messages sent to the wrong group, but sadly no juicy information was disclosed!

Research results

Of the 1,076, 916 people or 85.1% usually used email. They were asked the following.

Q1: Which of the following mail sending errors have you made? (Sample size=1,076, multiple answer)

Sent mail while still halfway through writing it	46.9%
Forgot to attach a file	37.9%
Sent to the wrong address	28.1%
Attached the wrong file	11.2%
Did CC instead of BCC	9.7%
Forgot to encrypt a file	2.3%
Other	0.7%
Never made such a mistake	30.6%

Of the 1,076, 369 people or 34.3% usually used chat apps (this implies on smartphones). They were asked the following.

Q2: Which of the following chat sending errors have you made? (Sample size=369, multiple answer)

Sent the wrong stamp emoticon	37.4%
Sent to the wrong person, group	19.2%
Sent the wrong file (picture, etc)	9.5%
Other	2.4%
Never made such a mistake	47.7%

Demographics

Between the 26th and 29th of August 2013 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.7% of the sample were male, 13.8% in their teens, 15.5% in their twenties, 20.9% in their thirties, 17.5% in their forties, and 32.2% aged fifty or older.

I must apologise for things being slow here recently – I’ve been rather busy at work on a new and interesting project, so I haven’t really had much time or energy for blogging when I get home! I meant to post this last night, but I fell asleep at the keyboard…

Back on topic, I’ve never used an auction – I may have once in the distant past registered with eBay to try out something. However, I keep thinking about signing up to sell some stuff I have, in particular a McVities biscuit Licca-chan (Japanese Barbie) doll that I won in a competition, a limited edition that I’m sure collectors would love to get their hands on.

Research results

Q1: How do you use net auctions? (Sample size=1,074)

Use it to sell stuff	2.7%
Use it to buy stuff (to SQ)	19.5%
Use it both to buy and sell (to SQ)	10.9%
Used to sell stuff, but don’t use any more	1.6%
Used to buy stuff, but don’t use any more (to SQ)	8.8%
Used to both buy and sell stuff, but don’t use any more (to SQ)	3.5%
Not used, but have an account	4.1%
Used to sell stuff, but deleted my account	0.7%
Used to buy stuff, but deleted my account (to SQ)	2.7%
Used to both buy and sell stuff, but deleted my account (to SQ)	1.1%
Never registered	44.3%

The following question was for the 46.6% who had had the experience of buying from an online auction.

Q1SQ: Why do, did you buy stuff from internet auctions? (Sample size=500, multiple answer)

Can buy stuff cheaper than in shops	71.6%
Can get my hands on difficult to obtain items	39.6%
Can get my hands on odd stuff that isn’t sold in shops	35.6%
Enjoy bidding against other people	5.0%
It’s good to know who the previous owner was	2.6%
Can buy hand-crafted items	1.4%
Other	1.0%

Demographics

Between the 15th and 22nd of August 2013 1,086 members of the goo Research online monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.8% of the sample were male, 13.8% in their teens, 15.3% in their twenties, 21.1% in their thirties, 17.5% in their forties, and 32.3% aged fifty or older.

I was going to say that I only use SNS to keep in touch with existing friends, but then I realised most of the friends I have there are purely internet friends, so I suppose I do use SNS to make new friends.

Research results

Q1: Do you have an account with any SNS? (Sample size=1,086)

Yes (to SQ)	63.2%
No, never registered	31.7%
Had, but deleted them	5.2%

For those registered with SNS, the top three were Facebook on 39.1%, Twitter on 36.4% and mixi on 28.4%. I think these percentages are from the 686 registered with an SNS, not the 1,086 total sample, although the text is not too clear on which it is.

Q1SQ: Why do you use the SNS you use the most? (Sample size=686, multiple answer)

Lots of friends use it	42.0%
Friends I want to keep in touch with use it	34.1%
Can obtain useful information from it	32.8%
Offers a service, function I am interested in	27.3%
Can widen my circle of friends	14.9%
Other	6.9%

Demographics

Between the 28th of June and the 2nd of July 2013 1,065 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 54.1% of the sample were male, 13.7% in their teens, 15.4% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 17.1% in their forties, 15.0% in their fifties, and 17.2% aged sixty or older.

I have three sort-of active accounts, all three tied to different blogs for autoposting only; @WhatJapanThinks is the one to follow for this blog.

Research results

First of all, 35.5% of the sample, or 378 people currently used Twitter. They were asked the following:

Q1: When did you start using Twitter? (Sample size=378)

This week	1.6%
This month	1.1%
Within the last six months	6.1%
Within the last year	16.4%
Within the last three years	52.4%
More than three years ago	22.5%

Q2: How many accounts do you have? (Sample size=378)

One	77.5%
Two (to SQ)	12.7%
Three or more (to SQ)	9.8%

Q2SQ: Why do you have multiple accounts? (Sample size=85)

For distinct use in different communities	56.5%
To effectively get information I want	41.2%
To separate work and private matters	24.7%
Have hobby-related bots	17.6%
Other	4.7%

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%