Online Utilization by Age in Japan

According to the results of a survey conducted in April of this year, the most popular form of media accessed by all subjects was TV (terrestrial broadcasting), stated by 89.0% of respondents. This was followed by YouTube and other video-sharing sites, with 51.6%, followed by newspapers (49.3%). However, considerable discrepancies were found between age segments. As opposed to TV or magazines, which were viewed and read by nearly the same percentage of all age groups, major differences were found in Internet-related media such as video sharing and social sites. Not surprisingly, the younger the age group, the more extensive the use of new types of media. The oldest of the four groups, those born in the 1960s stood out considerably from the others in their media selection, showing a stronger preference for older forms of media such as newspapers, broadcast satellite TV, radio and so on. In contrast their usage of SNSs or blogs was comparatively low. However their rate of usage for such sites as price comparison sites or business-related sites is higher than the younger age segments. While they have purchasing power, those born in the 60s are also sensitive to prices.