Home use water coolers, or water servers as they are known in Japan, directly importing a less-popular English term for them into Japanese, were the subject of a recent survey from DIMSDRIVE Research.
Demographics
Between the 19th and 25th of January 2011 a massive 89,713 people completed a public internet-based questionnaire. 53.3% of the sample were male, 10.7% in their twenties, 29.3% in their thirties, 31.5% in their forties, 19.4% in their fifties, and 9.1% aged sixty or older. From that group 50 people with each of the top ten brands of water server were chosen to answer further questions between the 25th and 27th of January 2011. This sub-sample consisted of 60.4% male, 13.0% in their twenties, 30.0% in their thirties, 27.2% in their forties, 21.4% in their fifties, and 8.4% aged sixty or older.
I’ve not seen a home-use water cooler in Japan, although looking at the web sites linked in Q1SQ below, they all look just the same as office-use ones. Also, given the average Japanese home size, it would be difficult to find a place for one in many homes, I suspect.
Looking at two of the web sites for prices, I see that the water works out at around 100 yen per litre, which is if anything slightly more expensive than standard two-litre bottles of water from a supermarket, and definitely dearer than buying mineral water by the case, then of course there is the rental on top of that.
Anyway, I have a built-in water purifier which is good enough, and on hot summer days I just put a jug of it into the fridge. Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 28th of January and 1st of February 2011 1,094 members of the goo Research oonline monitor group completd a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.1% of the sample were female, 20.1% between 18 and 29 years old, 20.1% in their thirties, 19.7% in their forties, 19.9% in their fifties, and 20.1% aged sixty or older.
Note that this survey is more a measure of how well companies are projecting their green image, not of how well they are actually enacting policy; my employer features high on the list and … no, I’d better not say!
You’ll notice Japan Tobacco in 11th place overall, which might seem strange, but JT are very clever with their advertising and have persuaded the average person on the street that being downwind of a smoke cloud, accidentally poking kids with ciggies on busy roads, and chucking butts down the drain are the most serious hazards of smoking, thus their awareness campaign plays on the greenness of not doing the above. Japan must be just about the only country in the world where more local governments have enacted measures against smoking on busy streets versus the much more unhealthy aspect of smoking in enclosed spaces.
Finally, note that in the second ranking Apple makes an appearance as the only foreign company in either list. Read the rest of this entry »
goo Research recently took a look at online language study services. The results of this survey were reported by japan.internet.com.
Demographics
Between the 3rd and 5th of February 2011 1,088 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were male, 16.8% in their teens, 17.5% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.5% in their forties, 15.4% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.
I must at this point mention my online pal Koichi at Tofugu and TextFugu, where he runs a Japanese-language study course. It’s not free, and although I’ve never used it it does seem to be very highly rated, and he even offers a 110% moneyback guarantee! Read the rest of this entry »
After skipping a day yesterday (I had the runs from a white chocolate overdose, if you must know!) here we go with the third of three mini-surveys; this time it is iShare looking at what not to put on your rice.
Demographics
Between the 21st and 24th of January 2011 413 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.0% of the sample were male, 31.0% in their twenties, 31.5% in their thirties, and 37.5% in their forties.
Although this is a single answer survey, a favourite rice warning for foreigners in Japan, not to put soy sauce on top, gets a big fat zero, and I’m glad to see that over a third are relaxed enough not to be bothered.
Here’s a disgusting rice topping from The Infatuated on flickr:
Between the 17th and 20th of December 2010 2,766 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 56.6% of the sample were male, 14.6% in their twenties, 37.3% in their thirties, and 48.1% in their forties.
I didn’t have a clue about the measure, but it would have been interesting to see how many of the people from Q2 who reported mild hayfever were actually moderate. Read the rest of this entry »
To celebrate the Day of the Cat in Japan (22/2 can sound like nyan-nyan-nyan, Japanese cats’ onomatopaeic meow) goo Ranking asked which member of AKB48 looks most like a cat.
Demographics
Between the … Oh, bugger this! I am not the least interested in AKB48, a stupid pop group with 48 members that in no way appeals … Oh, bugger this again! I’m not even interested in describing who they are, nor, to get back to the survey, looking up the readings of all 48 of their names. I’m not even interested in trolling for visitors by having a title involving AKB48 and pussies, especially as if I did I’d probably be put on some kiddie-fiddler database somewhere.
Instead, here’s the first Japanese cat video from a Google search:
Over the 20th and 21st of December 2010 1,128 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 65.4% of the sample were female, 11.9% in their teens, 17.2% in their twenties, 30.2% in their thirties, 23.2% in their forties, 10.0% in their fifties, and 7.4% aged sixty or older. 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 women only.
I suppose I could only manage numbers 3, 6 and 23, and since getting married only number 2 has improved…
I’d also rate number 26 as a minus, not a plus, and it’s interesting to note that what men rated as 21, women placed it higher at 13. Read the rest of this entry »
This survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com was the 24th regular monthly survey into mobile phone users’ computer use.
Demographics
Between the 7th and 13th of February 2011 exactly 1,000 mobile phone using members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private mobile phone internet-based questionnaire. 54.1% of the sample were male, 3.3% in their teens, 22.7% in their twenties, 40.1% in their thirties, 25.3% in their forties, and 8.6% aged fifty or older. Note that all monitor members have to be computer users to sign up, so by implication all 1,000 users should also have computers.
I’m translating this mail right now thanks to a mobile phone email from Mister Donut, which contained a 20% off coupon for a very nice crunchy chocolate Pon De Ring and enough coffee to get me to the end of this translation.
I am on about two other mobile phone mailing lists – one for my mobile phone shop (once a month and I delete it immediately) and one from my mobile phone provider’s credit card company, which I don’t think I’m allowed to unsubscribe from! Read the rest of this entry »
Between the 11th and 15th of November 2010 480 members of the goo Research online monitor group who used a corporate Twitter account as part of their job completed a private internet-based questionnaire. Sex and age demographics were not reported as they were not particularly significant; instead company size was reported. 34.2% worked in companies of under 10 employees, 20.8% between 10 and 99 employees, 26.9% between 100 and 999 employees, and 18.1% with 1,000 or more employees. Furthermore, 64.0% were consumer-oriented companies (B2C), 23.5% public or private-sector oriented (B2B), and 12.5% were both B2C and B2B.
My employer just recently got ranked in the top ten social media-using corporations in Japan according to Agile Media Networks. The results first Coca-Cola, second Suntory, third Sega, fourth Panasonic, fifth Lawson’s, sixth Ajinomoto, seventh Nike, eighth Sony, ninth Universal Studios Japan, and tenth Unilever. Surprisingly, Uniqlo were not in the top fifty. Perhaps I should translate that result soon? Read the rest of this entry »
With one of the biggest cinema chains in Japan, Toho Cinemas, announcing that from next month (March 2011) they will cut the price of an adult ticket from 1,800 yen to 1,500 yen, iShare decided it would be a good time to conduct a survey to see what people thought about multiplex ticket prices.
Demographics
Between the 21st and 24th of January 2011 a mere 284 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.5% of the sample were female, 32.0% in their twenties, 32.4% in their thirties, and 35.6% in their forties. All had watched a movie at a multi-screen theatre, although it would have been useful to see the percentage of people who had been to the cinema.
As I always say, if you’re regularly paying 1,800 yen for the cinema you’d doing it wrong! The first of the month is 1,000 yen, Toho Cinemas have a loyalty card that gives you one free for every six watched, late shows are 1,200 yen or so, advance tickets are usually 1,300 yen, and ticket shops around cinemas often have left-over advance tickets on sale or other discount passes.
I’d like to see them do something about 3D surcharges; Toho Cinemas started off charging 300 yen extra, but last autumn they bumped it up to 400 yen. I’d watch more 3D (actually, I’ve given up now) if it was just 200 yen, or my loyalty card gave me a discount, or if I could buy my own pair.
Home use water coolers, or water servers as they are known in Japan, directly importing a less-popular English term for them into Japanese, were the subject of a recent survey from DIMSDRIVE Research.
goo Research recently took a look at 
This survey from goo Research and reported on by japan.internet.com was the 24th regular monthly survey into 
This recent survey from goo Research, in conjuction with social media consultants 
With one of the biggest cinema chains in Japan, Toho Cinemas, announcing that from next month (March 2011) they will cut the price of an adult ticket from 1,800 yen to 1,500 yen, iShare decided it would be a good time to conduct a survey to see what people thought about 
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