Japanese senior computer and surfing habits: part 2 of 3

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]

This extremely detailed survey from goo Research in conjunction with the NTT DATA Institute of Management Consulting, Inc looked at old people and computer and internet usage, and comparing these habits with that of younger people.

Demographics

Between the 12th and 16th of September 2008 1,064 members of the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 67.5% of the sample were male, 0.9% in their teens, 7.0% in their twenties, 17.4% in their thirties, 12.5% in their forties, 6.0% in their fifties, and 56.1% aged sixty or older. Note that everyone in the sample had access to a computer and has signed up to goo Research as a monitor, so please be aware of that before extrapolating the behaviour observed here to the general population of Japan.

In Q10 I an very surprised to see the majority of people use a spreadsheet on their home computer, and I wish I knew what sorts of uses they put it to. However, having observed at work how we get everything from databases to memos (yes, our middle-manager meeting minutes come delivered every week as a huge text box drawn in the middle of an otherwise blank spreadsheet) get delivered in Excel I cannot begin to guess what they are doing. The other surprising thing about the figure is that that many have Office installed; I’ve not seen any surveys that suggest anything other than a Microsoft monopoly at work, so why not at home too? Open Office or other free alternatives do not have the penetration in Japan.

Research results

Q7: About what percentage of friends, family of the same generation have home computers? (Sample size=1,064)

	Sixty or over N=597	Under sixty N=467
90% or more	17.6%	43.3%
70 to 80%	29.2%	36.4%
50 to 60%	24.3%	12.4%
30 to 40%	13.4%	4.9%
20% or less	15.6%	3.0%

Q8: About how often do you use your home computer? (Sample size=1,064)

	Sixty or over N=597	Under sixty N=467
Every day	94.8%	95.5%
Three or more days a week	4.4%	3.0%
One or two days a week	0.7%	1.3%
Less than one day a week	0.2%	0.2%

Q9: What do you often use your home computer for? (Sample size=1,064, multiple answer)

	Sixty or over N=597	Under sixty N=467
Hobbies, entertainment	92.8%	97.2%
Address book, budgeting	40.0%	32.8%
Work	26.5%	41.8%
Local activities	18.4%	4.9%
Other	5.5%	1.9%

Q10: What kinds of software do you use on your home computer? (Sample size=1,064, multiple answer)

	Sixty or over N=597	Under sixty N=467
Electronic mail	95.3%	93.2%
New year postcards, address labels	71.9%	57.6%
Word processing	71.7%	54.0%
Web browsing	62.1%	81.8%
Spreadsheet	60.6%	56.1%
Game	31.5%	37.5%
Budget management	14.2%	13.3%
Other	6.0%	6.4%

Q11: What device do you most often use to connect to the internet? (Sample size=1,064)

	Sixty or over N=597	Under sixty N=467
Computer	98.8%	97.6%
Mobile phone	0.8%	2.1%
PDA	0.2%	0.2%
Games console	0.2%	0.0%
Other	0.0%	0.0%

Q12: What other devices do you use to connect to the internet? (Sample size=1,064, multiple answer)

	Sixty or over N=597	Under sixty N=467
Mobile phone	33.7%	58.9%
PDA	5.0%	7.3%
Games console	3.0%	10.1%
Computer	0.5%	1.5%
Other	0.8%	0.6%
None others in particular	59.0%	31.5%

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3]