Research Panel Asia Blog

Now Hiring - Senior Manager

2011-08-19T13:17:00.001+09:00

Senior Manager
Global Operation Team| Metro Manila, Philippines

Research Panel Asia (RPA) is now hiring a senior manager of our global operation team in Manila, Philippines. Would you like to join our global and diverse work environment and make momentum together?

Why Join Us?
Without a doubt, Asia is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. It is very exciting to work in an emerging market with our motivated and talented staff.
At RPA, we value individuality and diversity. We hold every person's opinions in high regard and believe in the power of having unique individuals strive for a common goal. We not only work together but also grow together.

Job Responsibilities:
• Plan and implement RPA’s operation strategy
• Build and improve RPA’s operation platform to manage global research projects
• Lead, train, and motivate the team to achieve higher goals
• Work closely with Sales and Product Development teams

Characteristics:
• Has passion and persistence to achieve a high business goal
• Willing to work with a small team and build something from scratch
• Has a strong leadership and communication skills
• Is sincere and open minded
• Is able to work in a team

Qualifications:
• Bachelor degree or higher
• At least 5 years of working experience and 2 years of managerial experience.
• Intermediate or higher English verbal and written communication skills
• Good organizational and time management skills

Benefit and Welfare
Working Visa, Medical insurance, Paid vacation, Transportation allowance, and so on.

Preferred:
• Experience in Marketing Research industry

For inquiry, send an email to; contact@researchpanelasia.com

What Exactly Happened in the Japanese MR Industry after Tohoku Earthquake?

2011-05-05T03:08:00.001+09:00

Since the massive earthquake struck

Japan

on March 11, 2011, we have been asked by many of our clients about the situation in

Japan

market. What are the issues when running research projects in

Japan

now? How has the response rate changed after the disaster? How would the whole situation affect Japanese consumers in a long run? Regardless of those concerns, we'd say that things are settled enough to run surveys in Japan and we don't see any serious problem with our currently running Japan projects so far.

What exactly happened in the Japanese Marketing Research industry after the Tohoku earthquake?

After the tragedy occurred on March 11th, JMRA (Japan Marketing Research Association) and the registered marketing research firms in

Japan

have decided to put all projects on hold in respect to the affected area and the victims. Meanwhile we got hold of how and exactly where this disaster affected our panelists.

On March 15th, RPA re-started sending survey invites to our Japanese panel, but we decided to exclude the 7 major damaged prefectures, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Fukushima, and Ibaraki. This was at the same time in accordance with the official determination of JMRA.

With regards to the current situation, since April 8th, we have re-started sampling in those 7 prefectures as well, however still excluding most damaged cities such as Kesennuma and Rikuzentakata city.

How are the recent response rates and are there any issues when running projects now in Japan?

Since we re-started sampling on March 15th, we’ve run projects in all B2C, B2B, Medical, and Ailment categories. The response rate of our panelists did drop compared to normal level at around 5% for a few weeks, especially in the Tohoku region. However, as of April 29th, the response has picked up to the pre-earthquake level and we don't see any critical issues at least in terms of online sampling in Japan.

How is it going to affect Japanese consumers in a long run?

Based on a recent research on Japanese consumer behavior after the disaster, it seems there has been no massive negative or positive change in terms of consumer spending level. On the other hand, people are concerned about the aftermath of the quake and Tsunami and the still unsolved problem of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant accident. It is still unclear how the Japanese market would be affected by this disaster, and we would need to keep our eyes on the market.

As we are communicating with clients, there are many companies that would like to run surveys in

Japan

but don't know if it's "okay" to do so. As mentioned above, our panel response rate has been back to the normal level and we are running project in

Japan

without any negative feedback. However, we do understand each project is different in terms of project specs, quotas, fieldwork period and so forth. If you are considering running projects in

Japan

in the near future, please do not hesitate to consult with us. Our dedicated Japanese staffs are more than happy to support you and provide local market insight.

For any inquiry, please contact us at contact@researchpanelasia.com.

We are looking forward to serving you.

Re-start Sampling in Tohoku Region

2011-04-08T14:51:00.001+09:00

Since a massive earthquake hit Tohoku region, Northeast of Japan on March 11, 2011, we have suspended sending invites to our respondents who live in the following regions.

Aomori Prefecture

Iwate Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture

Akita Prefecture

Yamagata Prefecture

Fukushima Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture

However, thanks to support from all over the world and many dedicated volunteers working in this devastated area, things are getting stabilized day by day. Today, we'd like to announce that we have re-started sampling respondents who live in Tohoku regions..

It's a tough time and the situation is very complicated. But if you are considering to run any Japan project soon, please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Our local staffs will assist you with the projects.

You can either contact us at contact@researchpanelasia.com or send a quote at quote@researchpanelasia.com

Approach the kids market correctly - Running online research in Asia : 4

2011-03-28T17:03:00.001+09:00

< Unstoppable lowering birthrate, aging society >
< Popularization of much higher education >
< "Parachute kids" booming - tween aged kids to start studying abroad >

These are some keywords relating to the children market and its real trend in the three now developed, main countries of Asia - Japan, China, South Korea.

Seeing various research conducted by our clients that seems to catch this wave and opposed to that, well, to be frank those that are "not following" this reality as well, we realize how the scene and situation in Asia is still an incomprehensible market especially in this category of kids and teens.

To be specific the major categories we see demand in this age group are definitely entertainment and education. While there are increasing amount of direct kids surveys and kids/parent pair surveys from our global clients, we strongly encourage to consider the following points.

1. Please make sure to clarify that the survey is for children, not the intial recipient. This note tends to be skipped, but remember that we are not able to send out directly to the kids, and by lack of the note our clients encounter massive amount of inintended screen outs.

2. Please expect there would be drop outs due to passing on from parents to kids. This cannot be helped as this method is the closest we could get to to approach kids on online surveys.

3. Please make sure to have the questionnaire translated into child-friendly language manner. For instance in Japanese, there are roughly two types of letters - Kanji(complicated Chinese characters) and hiragana/katanakana(simple syllabary characters). Kids start to learn Kanji from elementary school so do factor this into account.

According to our past feedback from various clients, we are very confident with our kids/teen survey data quality, however we'd really need our clients to work together in order to maintain the accuaracy.

Announcement in regards to the re-start of sampling in Japan

2011-03-15T16:26:00.001+09:00

Thank you very much for all your support and understanding to the difficult situation on-going in Japan.

We'd like to announce that we will re-start sending invites to our Japanese panel from today - Tuesday, March 15th JST.

However, for the mainly afflicted areas as follows we will refrain from sending out any invitations until we are able to confirm that the situation is settled down to normal. This is in accordance with the official determination of the national research association.

Aomori Prefecture

Iwate Prefecture

Miyagi Prefecture

Akita Prefecture

Yamagata Prefecture

Fukushima Prefecture

Ibaraki Prefecture

For concerns or questions on any point with this arrangement, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.
Again we truly appreciate your continuous consideration given and to the understanding.

Second announcement due to the earthquake disaster in Japan

2011-03-14T17:47:00.003+09:00

It has been three days since the massive earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan, however yet now, Japan is still facing threat of aftershocks and other secondary disasters caused by them.

Considering the situation, we have decided to hold from sending any invitation to our panelists in Japan today, Monday, March 14. Future policies of survey delivers will be determined among the marketing research industry of Japan, and we will make sure to send out an update for anything moving forward.

Our pricing and project management in the Philippines are operating as usual (24H for pricing/ 9AM-9PM JST for PM) and there will be no negative impact on the projects of other Asian countries we cover.

If you have any concerns or questions on any point, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

Thank you so much for your understanding, and we truly hope things will settle down soon to focus in recovering of Japan.

Announcement due to the earthquake disaster in Japan

2011-03-12T16:20:00.004+09:00

As been reported, a massive earthquake hit the Tohoku region of Japan on Friday, March 11th afternoon local time. As of now yet, the whole country including the Tokyo metropolitan area is under threat of continuous aftershocks and Tsunami caused by them.

However first we would like our clients and partners to know that we have confirmed the safety of all our staffs now based in our Tokyo Headquarter office.

We are still trying to get a handle of the situation, but in regards to the assumed impact to our services, we do need to make it clear that there is a very high possibility of delaying in progress of any projects now in field or those scheduled to be launched soon. In respect to our panelists and considering the situation, we will be holding from sending out any new survey invitations at least for the weekend, and for the policies from next Monday we will be determining according to the circumstances.

Our pricing team and project management team in Manila, Philippines will be operating from Monday as usual, and we'd like to assure that there will be no negative impact to the projects of other Asian countries we cover (including our proprietary panel in China and South Korea).

Whenever we have further update in the situation of Japan, we will make sure to announce again. For any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us directly.

We truly appreciate all your kind consideration given and thank you for your understanding.

LifeStyle Index - Instant Access to Chinese and Japanese Consumer Data

2011-02-16T02:00:00.006+09:00

Though the Asian market is indeed one of the fastest growing markets in the world, it seems that only few researchers know what is actually going on in this unique region in terms of market insight. Therefore, it is always nice and helpful to have Asian partners who can provide you with vast local insight and market know-how. However, when you prepare a proposal and need those insights right away, it is often difficult to work with the partners on the other side of the globe mostly due to the difference in time zones, among other factors.

To solve this issue, Research Panel Asia (RPA) has released “LifeStyle Index,” an ASP service which in no time, allows its users to access, pull out, and analyze the data of consumers in Japan and China – the top two Asian markets. It enables users to have 24/7 data access on the consuming attitude, preference, and purchase behavior of the Japanese and Chinese consumers. In addition, it also lets its users to conduct a comparative research between these two countries. It is truly a helpful service, especially if you have projects in the Asian market.

LifeStyle Index, with its broad range of perspectives and useful functions, provides the research results on the lifestyle of Chinese and Japanese consumers. It is based on the results of RPA’s original surveys which were run using its proprietary panels. It contains the data of Chinese consumers located in the main cities (Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou) with over 180 attributes, as well as newly released Japanese date with over 240 attributes. Additionally, LifeStyle Index allows users to create segments of consumers based on their target specifications, and make a comparison between these multiple segments. Simply put, it gives users a quick insight and valid market data to support your proposal in no time.

Currently, RPA is offering a 30-days free trial plan of the LifeStyle Index. Please sign up here to access your online consumer database of the fastest growing market.

Watch out with the details - Running online research in Asia : 3

2011-02-02T19:41:00.004+09:00

When it comes to respondent attitudes or sensitivity towards the survey structure, it's difficult to say what the difference is in between the countries. However from the actual project management perspective, recently we've seen some examples that may need some consideration when running projects in Asia.

- Order of the survey questions.

Specifically in projects run by clients in NA and Europe, we sometimes see the general profiling questions mixed up with the main questions. We do get the point that this will lead to gathering somewhat the "real" data, but from our experience this has actually led to respondents' complaints and confusion asking if it's an error, not that it will encourage severe drop outs but to leave them with questions and suspicion towards international surveys.

- Surveys that require downloading of files.

Maybe it's a needless to say point for some researchers, but considering the sensitivity towards online secruity of Asian respondents, this is something clients do need to be aware. Response rate assumption obviously needs to be confirmed with the panel supplier, and to prevent as much as possible for this to lower, we would need to assure no harm for the respondents in a transparent manner.

This is how detail-oriented panelists can be, and knowing it or not will change the results of projects, in both long & short term perspective.

We are your Around-the-Clock Partner!

2011-01-24T16:53:00.008+09:00

Without a doubt, Asia is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.
But because of the time difference, working with Asian partners can be sometimes troublesome. Imagine that you send an email to your partner in Japan at 10am EST, but chances are very low that they get back to you immediately because it's 12 o'clock midnight there. We are very aware that for almost all global companies, time difference is one of their biggest concerns.

Research Panel Asia (RPA) has taken this issue seriously and we are now earnestly working on solving this. April 2010, RPA has established an operation center in Manila, Philippines to support our clients around the clock. Currently, our pricing team operates 24 hours on weekdays. We are now aiming to expand our project management coverage as well. The first step is to officially cover all seven days a week by mid 2011.

To give a quick overview about RPA's operation center, it is based in Ortigas, the second largest business district in Manila, and is currently under operation with 12 operators. Having English as their second language, they are able to understand easily the clients' requests and inquiries and so are able to respond quickly and coherently. For us, client-satisfaction is the top priority hence we work very hard to offer the service more than expected for the clients. Being results-driven and having many fresh ideas, RPA's operation center continuously seeks better ways to improve the daily operation to meet our clients' needs.

Timing Matters!! ---Running online research in Asia : 2

2010-12-28T19:39:00.027+09:00

The holiday season is here and year 2010 is coming to an end. In Western countries, New Year is one of the biggest holiday seasons and is usually the time for family reunions. Likewise, numerous big events which are usually accompanied by many fireworks and illuminations are held in major cities around the world. Because of this, many people go back to their hometown to celebrate the New Year with their family. However, this is not the case in some Asian countries.

In countries like China, Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea, people do celebrate Solar New Year (January 1st), but Lunar New Year is given more importance. Lunar New Year is based on the ancient lunisolar calendar and each country celebrates the day in its own unique way.

In China, New Year is also known as zheng yue; the New Year Festival begins on the first
day of the first month and ends with a traditional Lantern Festival. The whole New Year Festival lasts 15 days and during this period, people usually return home for the family reunion. In celebration of the traditional holidays, people eat a lot of homemade food, exchange gifts with relatives, and set off firecrackers.

Korean New Year, commonly known as Seollal, is generally the same day as the Chinese New Year. Traditionally, people return home for the annual family reunion. Most of them travel home by car hence a very heavy traffic on highways is one of the most typical scenarios during this period. People in Korea commemorate this holiday by eating traditional foods, visiting family graves, and playing games.

With the recent rapid growth of the economy, travelling abroad during Lunar New Year is becoming more common in Asian countries. But despite this, the majority of people still return to their hometowns to visit and celebrate with their family and relatives.

During the Lunar New Year, most people do not spend time using the Internet and answering online surveys as much as they usually do. And the survey participation rate is quite low during this period. This might be a major factor that marketing research companies tend to overlook. Therefore, if you are thinking of running studies in Asia, we highly recommend avoiding fieldwork during this period.

Translation Matters!! ---Running online research in Asia : 1

2010-10-23T06:08:00.010+09:00

We are perfectly aware that language translation is always an issue when it comes to running surveys in Asia. As an Asian data collection firm we've received many surveys in Japanese/Chinese/Korean which are the local languages of where we have proprietary panels in. Looking at these surveys translated, there are some points we find importance in, to keep the whole survey to make sense in order to maintain the data accuracy and also to maintain panelist's loyalty towards research surveys.

Maybe these would be some points project managers may want to double confirm with the translation company before approval... "comprehensible" is the minimum, to ensure the data quality and sustain the valuable online panels in the region, we sincerely do like to request the focus into the points below.

"Usage of respectful form(honorifics) for personal pronouns and at the end of sentence"

At least in Japanese and Korean, and not as much but in Chinese as well, there are honorifics that do not exist in English language. What we sometimes see in commissioned surveys are, since the personal pronouns are literally translated, the respondent as in "you" being called in a disrespective manner. This upsets the respondent much more than you can imagine, so we recommend all personal pronouns that points the respondent "you" to be "anata(Japanese)" or "dang sin(Korean)".

Moreover, we do see questionnaires in imperative form to ask for answering especially at the end of the sentence... this is another obvious miscommunication point.

"Usage of pronouns"

Using correct pronouns to indicate something shown in the survey is important, especially when it comes to questions asking about multiple images. We do frequently see mistakes in both questions and options for this, which would affect research results severely.

To prevent data corruption and fraudulent response due to mistake from these fundamental language difference, we do recommend you to consult with your client to run a "back translation", how you have the "translated version" questionnaire translated "back" to English in order to make it possible to compare with the original version.

Korea Quick Poll - Which is your primary media to access daily news?

2010-09-22T15:23:00.012+09:00

From Korea - Here are the results of the quick poll we conducted on August 21st, 2010 about the way how people get information about daily issues.

Question: Which is your primary media to access daily news?
Total respondents: 6,041

Results:

Internet - 4,296

TV - 1,206

Newspaper - 206

Friends and Family - 126

Radio - 101

Other - 62

Free newspaper - 47

Internet is now the most popular news platform in Korea based on our quick poll results. The overwhelming majority of Koreans (71%) use Internet to search out news because it is easier to access than from the televisions, radios or national print newspapers. You can check the article as soon as the news is uploaded. Getting news online allow consumers to assess and react to issues since most online news sites provide BBS or comment section under each news article. This makes reading news online more interesting. Further, online consumers also can share news link to their social networking sites, giving rooms for others for their opinions. Meanwhile, most portal sites in Korea such as Naver (http://www.naver.com) and Daum (http://www.daum.net) allow online users to set their main page and edit news lists based on their interests.

One-click generation has changed Koreans’ affiliation to news by becoming personalized and participatory.

China Quick Poll - How many credit cards do you have?

2010-09-17T20:35:00.014+09:00

From China - Here are the results of the quick poll we conducted on 28th, Aug 2010 about

the number of credit cards a Chinese consumer has.

Total respondents: 12,404
Question: How many credit cards do you have?

The results are as follows.

None 31.5%

1 27.1%

2 20.2%

3 11.5%

4 4.5%

5 1.8%

more than 5 3.4%

Based on the survey conducted, 68% of our respondents have at least one credit card as of August 28, 2010. This is due to the strong growth of Chinese consumer market and the needs for personal payment. On the other hand, more than 40% of our respondents have more than one credit card, which makes an intense competition between credit card issuers, China Merchant Bank and Bank of China. With this, we believe, credit card issuers should provide more value added services and maintain good communication to their credit card holders to increase brand loyalty and prevent them from switching to other credit card issuing banks.

Japan Quick Poll - Have you ever used a coupon service ?

2010-09-09T15:45:00.005+09:00

From Japan - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on August 21 - August 22, 2010 about the coupon service.

Total respondents: 109,421

Question: Have you ever used a coupon service ?

Answers:

Yes　 : 35.5%
No : 48.1%
I don't know: 16.4%

Japan - Long before the online coupon war started, traditional printed coupon service was very popular as a way of providing a premium discounted prices to the customers of restaurants, fast food shops, hair salons, and so on. It is very common for household wives to check and collect coupons before they purchase something at a regular price.

After seeing the big success by Groupon, the pioneer of the online coupon auction service in the United States, the huge online movement hit Japan very quickly. As of April 2010, almost 60 coupon auction service sites already opened in Japan which intensify competition.

One of the leading Japanese Groupon-like sites, Q:pod, was bought by Groupon in August. On the same day, they bought a Russian site. It is reported that Groupon will refurbish the site as Groupon Japan.

Premium coupons from restaurants, hair salons, luxury hotels are the popular items.

China Quick Poll - Which type of pop music do you like?

2010-09-03T21:44:00.020+09:00

From China - Here are the results of the quick poll we conducted on 21th, Aug 2010 about
which type of pop music Chinese consumers like.

Total respondents: 12,404
Question: Which type of pop music do you prefer?

The results are as follows:

Taiwan/Hongkong pop 38.3%
Mainland pop 36.3%
Western-style pop 12.7%
K-pop 4.1%
J-pop 3.0%
Other 5.5%

Results show that most Chinese consumers prefer Taiwan/Hongkong pop music, ranking at the top of the survey with 38.3%; however Mainland pop music not falling far behind with 36.3%.

These numbers manifest that mainland pop music can still go head to head with Taiwan/Hongkong pop music

while Korean and Japanese pop music are still a niche field for Chinese. However Korean pop music would be benefited from the Korean drama's impact in China as well.

Korea Quick Poll - When do you use SNS usually?

2010-09-02T11:41:00.002+09:00

Here are the results of the quick poll we conducted on August 7, 2010 about when do Koreans usually use Social Networking Service (SNS).

Total respondents: 5,373

Question: When do you use SNS usually?

Social Networking Service (SNS) by definition is an online service or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among individuals (www.wikipedia.org).

Based on the quick poll we conducted in Korea, 40% of the respondents use SNS from 9p.m to 12m.n. since they are at home and already far away from the hassle of work. They can freely communicate to their friends and post updates of what happened to them the whole day.

In Korea, even though Twitter and Facebook are getting famous, Cyworld (www.cyworld .com) is still the most popular social network service. Cyworld is founded by the SK Communications Inc., which provides an individual virtual space called “Minihompy” where people can manage their diary, photos, notes, and visitor wall just like the concept of Myspace (www.myspace .com). This service started to get popular about 5 years ago. Today, most Koreans have their “Minihompy” just like their homes in the web.

Like the other Social Networking sites, Cyword has their specific terms too. For example, ll-chon, which means your friends (www.facebook.com) or followers (www.twitter.com). Il-chon is a Korean term which means the degree of blood relationship in the family. Another term used by Cyworld is Akon(dotori) which means a currency system used to buy items like wallpaper and BGM to decorate their space. Those terms are now being used in daily conversation among Koreans who have accessed to this Social Networking Site.

Social Networking Service has been a part of the daily routine for most Koreans. At present, Cyworld.com catered the larger market share but Twitter and Facebook are starting to penetrate the Korean Market. Will Cyword.com be still on the spotlight after five years?

Japan Quick Poll - What do you think about the capital punishment system, for or against ?

2010-08-31T15:22:00.003+09:00

From Japan - Here are the results of the quick poll we conducted during August 13 - August 14, 2010 about the capital punishment system.

Total respondents: 109,057

Question: Are you for or against to the death penalty?

For grave crime, Japan imposes the capital punishment. The morality and advantages of such a sanction, however, has been up for debate. Also, it makes the issue more complicated that many serious crimes has occurred in these years, while misleading scientific approach of investigation has been revealed at the same time through the judicial procedure.

In our poll, 69.8% of 109,057 respondents said that they agree with the implementation of capital punishment.

But despite this seemingly favourable judgement for capital punishment, some still posted comments like the following: "This is very difficult problem for us"; "It might be not the best but there is no alternative to the death penalty".

Last August 6, 2010, the Ministry of Justice's executive members held the first study session about the role of the capital punishment in the Japanese judicial system. The members will continue to debate about how the capital punishment is used and enforced in other countries, and what would be the best justice system for Japan of this century.

Japan Quick Poll - Have you already changed your TV set to a digital TV?

2010-08-19T15:29:00.036+09:00

Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on August 5-6, 2010 about diverting analogue TV to Digital TV in Japan.

Total respondents: 96,697

Question: Have you already changed your TV set to a digital TV?

Answers:

Changed already : 64.9%

Not yet : 33.0%

I don't have a TV set: 2.0%

The Japanese government is expecting that all households will move from analogue television sets to digital TV on July 24, 2011. However, after the implementation on December 2003, only 64.9% of the Japanese households did change their TV sets. It means that 33% will not be able to see any TV programs in a year if they will not be able to change their TV sets to digital.

Suzu City is the first city who completed the move to digital broadcasting in Japan on July 24, 2010. Before the said move, the government conducted a test in digital broadcasting in the city twice. Further, they also delivered 4,148 pieces of digital tuner for necessary families for free. This is 23% of the total population of Suzu City. Suzu City of Ishikawa prefecture has 17, 476 citizens located in the north end of Noto Peninsula. This event will have a great impact once fully enforced nation-wide.

When digital broadcasting was first discussed around 15 years ago, there was limited internet accessibility. However, digital broadcasting opened a new way of accessing information through multimedia broadcasting wherein you can get text information while watching TV shows. These days, however, with advances in internet and mobile networks, information is readily accessible to people. Despite the 'high-definition' advantage that digital TV offers, the TV industry is still loosing its position as the primary media source, as the web continues to emerge as the main source of information. As a result, reasons for the Japanese government and TV industry to continue promoting this move from analogue to digital have decreased.

Nevertheless, the TV industry is still expecting that everyone will eventually join the move from analogue to digital TV. But then again, this move may give some people more reason not to watch TV. Even so, the results still remain to be seen.

China Quick Poll - Which type of car do you prefer if you buy a car?

2010-08-17T19:56:00.001+09:00

From China - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on 6th,Aug 2010.

The topic was about the car purchasing.

Total respondents: 10,534

Question: Which type of car do you prefer if you buy a car?

Hatch back 4.7%
Compact 38.5%
Mid Size 20.2%
Luxury 2.7%
MPV 2%
SUV 16.2%
Sports car 10.1%
Other/Not sure 5.7%

According to the result, 38.5% of the respondents prefer compact cars. Followed by the mid-sized Sedan with 20.2% and SUV with 16.2%. Chinese preferred huge and safe cars rather than sports cars being chosen with only 10.1% of the respondents.

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Korea Quick Poll - What do you do while commuting?

2010-08-13T19:37:00.005+09:00

From Korea - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on Aug. 5th.2010
The topic was 'How to spend their spare time while commuting'.

Total respondents: 6267

Question: What do you do while you commute?

Answers: More than half (51%) of the respondents voted listening to music while they commute, as public transportation like buses and trains are so crowded in the morning that they have limited space to do something else.

Many said they can do other things like reading newspaper or sending text messages while listening to music.

Reading books or newspapers got the second highest vote (13%). Panelists read books that they bring with them or free newspapers that they can get easily nearby subway stations.

In Korea, free tabloid newspapers are popular. They contain brief articles about politics, economics, and sports.

Other panelists said that they sleep (9%) or do nothing (11%) to take a break, while there are others who play mobile games (7%) to kill time. Recently you can find more people watching TV programs via Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) on their mobile devices. DMB is a digital radio transmission technology developed in South Korea as part of the national IT project.

It is really convenient to keep your eyes on a program you want to see. Many people turn on their DMB devices to watch their favorite programs while on their way home.

Today, most cell phones have the DMB function which is considered as the most important factor when buying a digital device.

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Korea Quick Poll - Do you have breakfast regularly?

2010-08-05T17:12:00.013+09:00

From Korea - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on July 30th, 2010.
The topic was about the breakfast.

Total respondents: 5667

Question: Do you have a breakfast regularly?

Answers:

More than half of panels answered eating breakfast regularly. However, over 40 percents of panels said they skip their breakfast since they are too busy to do stuffs in the morning.

http://www.lifei.co.kr/new/wys2/
file_attach/2008/06/05/1212676986-23.jpg

It is known well that having breakfast is really important to keep healthy condition. It gives you the power to start your day, and also helps you balance your weight by preventing overeating at lunch.

By the way, what is the traditional breakfast in Korea? Koreans eat a breakfast based on rice usually. Rice, soup, and some side dishes including Kimchi (called ‘banchan’) are basic diet in the morning.

See this-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banchan

However, since lifestyle in Korea has been westernized, people eat western style breakfast, too. Bagel, toasted bread, and eggs with coffee are also favored nowadays.

Also for busy people, Misutgaru (roasted rice powder drink) and fruit juice are really popular as a substitute of the breakfast. It is really easy to make (what you have to do is just mixing powder in a water or a milk / turn it on your blender machine) and you can even drink while you commute. There are many recommendations of this posted to the survey for reasons like keeping health and saving time.

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Japan Quick Poll - What are you going to do during the Bon holidays（around August 15) this year?

2010-08-02T09:00:00.001+09:00

From Japan - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted during July 20 - July 21, 2010. The topic was about the Japanese holidays called Bon.

Total respondents: 125,443

Question: What are you going to do during the Bon holidays(around August 15) this year?(single answer)

Answers:

going back to hometown 18.6%
go on a trip                      9.6%
stay at home 　                 37.5%
work                              13.4%
I have not decide yet         16.7%
others 　　                          4.2%

The Bon festival takeｓ place every year around August 15.
This Buddhist festival is held to welcome the souls of the dead which are believed to return to their families during the Bon festival.　Many companies and schools break for the Bon festival.

18.6% out of 125,443 panelists receive company holidays during the Bon period and going back to hometowns. People go back to their hometowns mainly to visit the graves where their ancestor rests, welcoming and seeing them off for the afterworld. Also, people enjoy the time with their relatives.
And according to the comments on the survey, many said that the would go back to hometown by car.

During the Bon period, public transportation(ex.a bus, an air plane) becomes extremely overcrowded and its fare will be overvalued pricing as there are millions of people who return to their hometown. A car with ETC, however, gets a discount "uniformly 1,000 yen" because the Japanese government has applied the upper limit 1,000yen about holiday's high-speed way fare for an economic policy. since March 2009, though the highway is often blocked for 30kms at this period. In April 2009, according to Ministry of Land announcement, over 80% out of Japanese high-speed way driver using ETC.

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Korea Quick Poll - Would you be willing to getting married to foreigner?

2010-07-30T12:01:00.003+09:00

From Korea - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on July 24th 2010. The topic was 'International marriage'

Total respondents: 1765

Question: Would you be willing to getting married to foreigner?(single answer)

Answers: Yes - 45.67% No - 54.33%

The ratio of 'No' is slightly higher. most of panels who answered 'No' said that "It is hard to understand different culture, language, and value system." On the other hand, most of the panels who answered 'Yes' said "With their beloved person, cultural difference doesn't matter."

Korea is a homogeneous society with absolute majority of the population of Korean ethnicity for a long time.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_South_Korea#Ethnic_groups) It is said that this might be a reason why Koreans tend to be conservative about accepting different cultures.

According to National Statistics Office, however, the ratio of international marriage increased dramatically from Y2000. International marriage is now accounted for about 10 percent of the total number of marriages in Y2009.

This is considerably related to rapid social changes in Korea. As one back ground of this phenomenon, economic development which started from 90s is pointed. It enables more Korean women to reach high education level, and to participate in the workplace. It delays woman's marriage and have some women set a higher standard towards marriage. As a result, it is reported that it is hard to get married domestically and males start to see the overseas.

This is an interesting figure that might be an evidence of Korean society opens up themselves to other cultures more and more recently. Now you can see many foreigners on the streets in Seoul for business, travel, residence, etc. As a part of the global society, Korea has been changed to the society that respects the value of 'diversity'.

Korea Quick Poll - What kinds of movie do you like the most?

2010-07-23T21:10:00.003+09:00

From Korea - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted on July 17 2010. The topic was about the film genre people like.

Total respondents: 1,873

Question: What kinds of movie do you like the most?(single answer)

Answers:
Action 28.24%
Comedy 21.09%
Romance 13.88%
Thriller 11.00%
Drama 8.92%
Horror 6.67%
Animation 5.18%
Others 5.02%

Almost one third of the respondents chose Action as a favorite movie genre followed by Comedy(21.09%) and Romance(13.88%). Animation(5.18%) gains almost as many votes as Horror(6.67%).

In Korea, Screen quotas system(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_quotas) has been executed since 1967, to protect and develop the Korean film making business. Currently, it is enforced that the theaters need to run at least 73 screening day per year of Korean movies.　In 2006, Korea has recorded a total of 54.7 million of movie theater attendance（cf. the population of Korea is 48.3 milion).

What is your favorite film genre? Do you like to warm up your heart with sweet romance or get the shakes with horror? Bring some popcorn and enjoy your summer vacation with enjoyable movies!

Japan Quick Poll - Which shaved ice syrup do you like the best?

2010-07-22T20:13:00.004+09:00

From Japan - Here is the result of the quick poll we conducted during July 19 - July 20, 2010. The topic was about the Japanese favorite shaved ice syrup.

Total respondents: 118,470

Question: Which shaved ice syrup do you like the best?(single answer)

Answers:

Condensed milk： 28.1%
Strawberry： 27.7%
Green tea： 11.8%
Others： 28.8%
Don't like shaved ice： 3.6%

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced the end of the rainy season, and the hot humid summer season started. In Ibaraki prefecture, it recorded a high of 38.9 degrees Celsius on July 21. It was reported that some people were suffered by heatstroke.

Shaved ice is a popular item for Japanese to cool down in the hot humid summer season. In a typical Japanese summer festival called "Matsuri", you can see a lot of food stands selling shaved ice with kids enjoying a cup of ice covered by a variety of colorful syrups.

This survey shows that only 3.6% of those answered don't like shaved ice. Condensed milk was the most favorite because of its soft and mellow sweet, and many who selected this seem to enjoy it mixed with strawberry syrup, green tea syrup and bean paste as per their comments posted to the survey.

Bean paste is a traditional Japanese sweet from the ancient time and it is still one of the most favorite of this age. Power of tradition is really strong.

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Japan, China, Korea Quick Poll -What do you think about the economic situation in your country for next year?

2010-07-15T19:34:00.003+09:00

From Japan, China and Korea - Here is the result of the quick poll we ran during Jun 25-July 9, 2010. The topic was about the prediction of economy.

Total respondents: 129,499　（JAPAN 117,852 / KOREA 1,654　/ CHINA 9,993）
Question: What do you think about the economic situation in your country for next year?(SA)
Answers:

*JAPAN 　7/9/2010
Very positive 1.2%
Positive 8.2%
Neutral 32.5%
Negative 42.5%
Very negative 15.6%

*CHINA　6/25/2010
Very positive 15.80%
Positive 34.60%
Neutral 38.9%
Negative 7.2%
Very negative 3.50%

*KOREA 7/5/2010
Very positive 8.22%
Positive 26.72%
Neutral 40.57%
Negative 21.34%
Very negative 3.14%

In Japan, majority of people predict the economic will be gloomy, while only 1 out of 10 people in China think that their economic situation will slow down in the next year. In Korea, "Neutral" shows the highest rate(40.57%) and we can see that generally, people anticipate Korean economy relatively in an optimistic way.

China enjoys its economic growth most among three countries, and people think that the market will be bigger and bigger. In Korea, it's said by the media that their economy is getting better, though from the result of this poll, one quarter of people doubt it. Seeing from the comments in Japan, people are anxious about the influence of the economic crisis occurred in Greece, and the too-high value of yen.

What do you think about this result? In both good or bad way these three countries will surely get more and more attention from the world at least throughout this year!

contact us http://www.researchpanelasia.com/

KOREA QUICK POLL - What do you usually do on weekend?

2010-07-01T23:04:00.057+09:00

From KOREA - Here is the result of the quick poll on June 27~29, 2010. Topic was about the usual way to spend a weekend.

Total answerers : 4,590
Question:What do you usually do on weekends?(SA)
Answer:
just staying home 　27.9%
seeing movies or performances 　20.2%
enjoy sports ＆PC game 　12.0%
social gathering with friends and the family 　9.7%
short trip 　7.5%
shopping 　6.4%
religious activity 　5.4%
learning/studying 3.9%
other 7.0%

27.9% of the respondents voted that they just stay at home on weekends. They said it is the best way to relax and rest up for the next weekdays. They also enjoy watching TV and doing online games.
Many Koreans like doing online games. One of the most popular games is "Nexon:Kartrider" and "Pmang:gostop".

[Nexon:Kartrider]
Kartrider is a go-kart game. It is popular among all ages, especially among children.

[Pmang:gostop]
gostop is a type of a Japanese playing card game of "flower cards".　It is popular among the 30's-60's.

In addition to the examples above, there are many popular online games in Korea. If you're interested in Korean language, you may want to give it a try to play these games!

JAPAN QUICK POLL - Have you ever really "eaten" Chinese chili oil?

2010-06-21T09:23:00.030+09:00

From Japan - Here is the result of a quick poll on June 20, 2010.
Topic was about the Chinese chili oil that is eatable as a dish, not as a seasoning,
which is currently booming in Japan with its completely new concept.

Total answerers:
111,798
Question:
Have you ever really "eaten" Chinese chili oil? (SA)
Answer:
Yes 23.9%
No 76.1%

Traditional style Chinese chili oil is used like Tabasco "eatable as a dish" Chinese chili oil
has been successfully gaining a lot of attentions and many medias are writing about this boom.

Many restaurants are trying to use this new spice in their menus to ride on this trend!
How does it taste? Come and try!