Archive for January, 2008
Internet and mobile devices allow people to conduct surveys quickly and easily. You can get research data the day after completion of surveys, whereas it used to take 2 – 3 weeks to get data using postal surveys. Online surveys are one of main data collection methods in the market research industry today. You can select four or five online research service vendors for a quote.
Many marketing and market research companies secure a pool of people who can cooperate in their surveys. In this way, they can send out survey questionnaires to their registered respondents and get their responses with a quick turn around time. However, this generates some concerns about the research - are all Japanese really so cooperative in completing surveys? Do they really answer these surveys honestly?
INSIGHTS OUT – Survey respondent as a part-time job
Being a respondent for survey research is a good way of making money. When you visit Japanese websites, you may notice the following advertisements:
“Let’s become an online survey panelist, and earn money!”
“Get income as an internet monitor (online research panelist)!”
The system works like this: you find the advertisement asking for panelists on the website and apply for it by filling out the form. After that you are registered as a research panelist and you get invited to complete surveys. After participation in the survey you receive a reward from the research company such as a voucher or cash deposit into your bank account. Some people are registered as research panelists for multiple companies, and such people can be called ‘professional respondents’.
Casting bias on research data
Professional respondents can create bias and inaccuracies in research. You may look at the research data and assume that the respondents gave you fresh opinions, even though some professional respondents may have answered. Such situations apparently jeopardize the quality of research and can lead businesses in the wrong direction.
Of course, research companies are aware of the presence of professional respondents and set stringent recruitment criteria and thoroughly check the accuracy of their research data. However, people may participate in surveys just for the financial incentives – what they need to do is answer the survey questions accurately.
What we should do?
There are many ways to avoid professional or experienced respondents. You could always recruit fresh respondents who have never participated in any surveys or interviews. You could also use other research methods other than online surveys, such as observational research. The reward system for participating in surveys could also be reviewed so that research participants are willing to cooperate in the research, but not as part of their job.
January 25 2008 | Research | No Comments »
By just walking on the streets, with all their glittering lights, you may not believe that poverty exists in Japan. The working poor have received a lot of media attention, especially last year when NHK broadcasted a series of special television programmes about the working poor. The working poor have had the public’s attention again due to the recent economic anxieties in Japan.
Increase of working poor, little by little
The working poor, who are also called ‘Wa-kingu pua’ in Japanese, are individuals and families who maintain their employment, but remain in poverty because they receive a low income. There are no official definitions of poverty in Japan. However, low average income is often used as one of the measures of poverty. According to the National Livelihood Survey, in 2006 18.9% received 2 million yen as their annual income, where the average annual income was 5,64million yen.
More income inequality between the poor and the rich
While there has been an increase in the population of those on a low income, the population of rich people has increased, especially after the economic bubble burst. According to the OECD working paper published in 2007, the Gini coefficient, which is a common measure of household income inequality, rose for the total Japanese population by 9.4 percentage points from the mid-1980s to 2000, a large increase compared to the OECD average of 4.3 percentage points. This means that the saying ‘all Japanese have money’ is not true anymore.
Insights out – More marketing attention to the rich, but likely to be little to the poor
Many companies have been focusing on the rich, and/or Baby Boomers, who have a large amount of retirement money. Many financial institutions provide asset management consultation services, such as private banking services for ‘fuyuusou’ (the rich). There also many marketing services that target the rich, such as ‘YUKASEE’, the premium SNSs limited for the rich, and direct market services for companies who target the rich. The market for the rich seems to be getting overcrowded. However, do business opportunities exist just for the rich?
Paradox shift – Not economic burden but potential business opportunities
Those on a low income could provide potential opportunities for wealth creation in Japan. As C. Prahalad indicated in the book ‘The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits’, we should stop thinking that the poor are victims, rather they are ‘value-conscious consumers’. There may be various approaches that companies could take, particularly as part of their corporate social responsibilities.
The working poor are not just a matter for the government and public sectors to deal with. I believe that companies who succeed in the market could benefit from the working poor not only financially, but also socially.
January 18 2008 | Economy | 2 Comments »
I recently received an e-mail from a seminar organizer, as follows:
Dear Noriko-sama,
Thank you for subscribing to our e-mail newsletter. This is xxxx from Nippon Hanako(^-^). Only a few days remain this year. Thank you very much for your attention to our services throughout this year. (Note: the original letter was written in Japanese; the sender’s name was changed to protect the privacy.)
Isn’t it cute? The sender expresses her smiles by adding (^-^) at the end of the sentence. Actually, I have neither met her (the sender is a woman) nor talked to her. But I at least let down my guard against the e-mail from a stranger.
There are various pictures for expressing your smiles. The other day, I received a thank you mail from my rental office manager with a shy smile: (#^_^#).
Advanced Picture Communications by Mobile Phones
Japanese mobile e-mail systems are easy to use for sending pictures. Mobile phone carriers such as DoCoMo and AU have been offering HTML message services, such as HTML templates and pictures, to their users. DoCoMo has the Deco-mail (abbreviation of decoration mail) service for their users to decorate i-mode mails by changing the colors and fonts, and by 
attaching to them images and even animations, which is shown on the left-hand side:
INSIGHTS OUT
Picture/Image is worth a thousand words for personalizing your messages.
Using images could complement text messages. For example, using a floral background with your e-mail could carry a feminine image when you send your message to your e-mail recipient. The manga could also soften the contents of your message for your recipient.
Furthermore, it may be convenient for Japanese to use images for communication, since the Japanese language is not as descriptive as English, and Japanese are pretty familiar with manga.
Mobile mails becoming the main communication tool for Japanese
Not surprisingly, the easy-to-use mobile e-mail services have surpassed the e-mail usage from PCs. Indeed, e-mail usage from mobile phones was higher than from PCs at the end of 2005, according to the Institute for Information and Communication Policy (IICP).
Internet service providers such as NIFTY also provide templates for Deco mails so that they can attract and maintain their users even with the mobile phone services.
Caution about to whom you send the pictures
Some Deco mail pictures are appropriate for some age groups, but they are not for everyone. For instance, I would be speechless when I received an e-mail from someone for the first time. How about you? Do you like it?
Thank you for reading my blog to the end! (^_-)-*
January 11 2008 | Communication | No Comments »
“Bargain sales start January 1!” “Winter Bargain Sales!!”
There are many hanging posters on Tokyo’s trains and subways advertising winter bargain sales. When you turn on TV programs, you see commercials about bargain sales at least once a day.
Boosting consumer consumption by bargain sales
It was not that way a couple of years ago. Department stores and shopping centres were closed for the first three days of the New Year. The department stores held bargain sales in February.
One of the main reasons for the bargain sales now is that retail stores are trying to stimulate consumers’ appetites to purchase items during the New Year holidays. Boosting sales is particularly important this year; consumer consumption confidence in November was a record low since April 2003, according to the consumer confidence survey by the Cabinet Office.
Yes, winter bargain sales attract people
Regardless of the volume of sales, these bargains attract people. For example, I saw a large crowd at the Makuhari Gargen Walk Outlet Mall in Chiba on the morning of January 1! (I was one of them, of course.) As you can imagine, the majority of customers at the shopping malls and department stores were females. Men and children accompanied their wives or girlfriends.
INSIGHTS OUT –
Price sensitivity increases
Along with economic concerns, Japanese consumers have become more sensitive to prices even for clothes. According to consumer surveys in 2005 by the Japan Apparel Industry Council, more women considered reasonable prices were important for selecting clothes than in 1999. Conversely, good quality in clothes became less important for the purchase.
Bargain sales are part of the New Year events
Almost all of the shopping malls and department stores hold the New Year events for the first three days of the new year. Main New Year attractions include sales of “Fukubukuro” (lucky bag) and traditional performances such as “Shishimai” (Lion dance), and “Mochi tuki” (Mochi pounding). Husbands walk around the stores while their wives shop for clothes for themselves and their children; they also dine together at restaurants.
The bargain sales are held at most shopping centres for at least the first three days of the New Year. I am curious about how many people shop around the bargain sales. I admire the power of customers (probably women) who do so. I would also like to say “Otukare sama” (good job) for the husband who accompanies his wife for all of her shopping…
January 04 2008 | Retail Business | No Comments »
