NSK Advertising Committee Releases Results of Media-Use Survey

The NSK Advertising Committee on April 9 released the results of its survey on media use for 2007 that found that people who got information on goods and services via newspapers were generally satisfied with their purchases. The survey also suggested that such buyers tended to recommend the same goods and services to others and to be repeat buyers themselves.

Splitting consumer decision-making into four stages of “recognition/interest,” “information searching,” “induction to shops” and “purchasing behavior” the survey assessed satisfaction with goods and services by type of media used in each of the stages. Seven categories of goods and purchases were identified for assessing satisfaction: processed food/beverages, books/magazines, package tours, apparel/designer-label items/wrist watches, TV sets, automobiles and financial products.

Among those exposed to goods and services by any type of media before their purchase, 54.7 percent of respondents reported being satisfied. By type of media exposure, satisfaction was 61.0 percent for newspaper readers, compared to 58.5 percent for TV viewers, suggesting that newspapers are at least as effective in raising consumer satisfaction by heightening recognition of and interest in goods and services.

For “processed foods/beverages,” 53.6 percent of all respondent purchasers were satisfied, but relatively more newspaper readers were happy, at 59.0 percent. A striking figure of as much as 97 percent of purchasers reported satisfaction when they bought goods or services based on both newspapers and advertising inserts in newspapers.

Buyers of “books/magazines” in general reported 51.7 percent satisfaction, but a higher 59.1 percent satisfaction rate was found among those who had made their purchases based on information from newspapers.

Buyers who got information from newspapers that they discussed with family, friends or acquaintances and then reconfirmed in newspapers reported the top satisfaction rate of 93.6 percent. Those who bought things based solely based on newspaper exposure reported 87.4 percent satisfaction, but those who bought books or magazines based on newspaper information that they later checked via the Internet reported a lower 79.8 percent satisfaction rate.

The Advertising Committee tried to assess respondent engagement in newspapers by examining their satisfaction with newspapers and subscription renewal rates. It split respondents into high-, mid-, and low-level engagement groups and examined each group’s use of other media and consumer behavior.

Those in the high-level group gave top marks to TV and the Internet, using them more than those in the other two groups. In terms of consumer satisfaction, the high engagement group was most satisfied, and most frequently recommended their purchases to others, also buying the same goods and services again themselves.

The biennial survey was the fourth since they began in 2001. It was conducted in October 2007 by contacting about 6,000 people nationwide aged from 15 to 69. The response rate was 60.3 percent. Detailed survey results can be downloaded in Japanese from the Ad Data Archive on the NSK Web site (http://www.pressnet.or.jp/adarc/).

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Mainichi Shimbun Terminating Evening Edition in Hokkaido

The Mainichi Shimbun announced on May 13 that it would stop circulating its evening edition on the island of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost prefecture, as of Sept. 1, instead distributing a revamped morning edition in the area.

According to the Mainichi, it will cut its monthly subscription fee from \3,925 for the current set of morning and evening editions to \3,007, the same fee it charges for integrated morning and evening editions in circulation in some local areas. The Mainichi said that it will continue issuing its evening edition in other areas.

It is the first cutback of an evening edition by one of the nation’s five national newspapers since the Sankei Shimbun discontinued its evening edition for the Tokyo area in 2002.

The page count of the new morning edition for distribution in Hokkaido will rise by more than four pages to offer more articles on lifestyle and city news. It will also carry some regular columns and features over to the morning edition. A spokesman at the Mainichi’s presidential office said the new morning edition will be tailored to the requirements of local subscribers in Hokkaido.

The morning edition will also feature a closer connection to the Mainichi’s Web site to boost interactive communication with readers. Blog columns from reporters, started in 2007 by the news division of the Mainichi’s Hokkaido branch office, will be further accentuated, the spokesman said.

According to a survey by the Japan Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), the daily circulation of the Mainichi’s morning edition in Hokkaido averaged 69,427 copies in the latter half of 2007, while that of its evening edition was only 15,625. The figure for the evening edition had stood at 18,032 in the latter half of 2006 and 24,773 in the latter half of 1997.

The average page count in the latter half of 2007 was 26.8 for the morning edition, but only 8.7 for the evening edition.

NSK Committee Opposes Plan to Censor “Harmful” Web Content

The NSK Media Development Committee on May 29 submitted a written objection to a Lower House ad hoc committee’s plan for legislation to regulate Web sites containing information considered to be potentially harmful to young people.

The statement warned that the authorities should not intervene in any matters related to content, directly or indirectly, as they might infringe upon freedom of expression.

NSK Media Development Committee chairman Tetsuro Yamada, of the Jiji Press, and some fellow committee members delivered the written statement to Koichiro Genba of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). Genba chairs the Lower House ad hoc committee on juvenile problems.

In a meeting with Genba, Yamada voiced concern about the moves by the governing Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) and the opposition DPJ to enact legislation to regulate potentially harmful Internet content. He warned that such legislation would infringe upon freedom of expression and most likely have a negative effect on free speech.

The NSK statement said that whether information is harmful or not is a subjective judgment depending on the times, culture and social environment. “Any attempt to legally define ‘harmful information’ would run counter to freedom of expression,” it noted.

The statement said any such definition would lead to not only curbs on distribution and access but also to further regulation of a wider range of content. Asserting that official regulation would have a restrictive effect and that regulation would spread to other forms of media, the statement concluded that the matter should be left to voluntary curbs by the private sector.

The NSK committee also submitted its opinion to Teiichi Tanigaki, who chairs the LDP Policy Research Council, and to national lawmakers including Shunichi Yamaguchi and Sanae Takaichi of the LDP, and Takeaki Matsumoto of the DPJ.

The LDP and the DPJ have been considering legislation to regulate information on Web sites such as suicide sites and dating sites. Young people have access to Web sites offering potentially harmful information and an increasing number of young people are falling victim to crime or are committing suicide by following advice found on such sites.

The two political parties agreed in working talks on May 28 for the chairman of the Lower House ad hoc committee to submit draft legislation to the Diet for approval by the end of its current session.

The legislation would require operators of mobile phone services to block minors under 18 from accessing potentially harmful information. A third-party private sector body is proposed to judge what is harmful information. However, the LDP and the DPJ are at odds over the constitution of the proposed third-party body. The LDP wants either a government-designated group or an officially registered body. The DJP disagrees, saying that any government involvement would pave the way for the authorities to infringe upon freedom of expression.