According to survey data collected in the Tokyo area, the total amount of time that sei-katsu-sha spend in contact with the four types of mass media and two types of online media (personal computers and mobile/smartphones) averages five hours and fifty minutes per week. This figure had been declining through 2008, but showed a turnaround in 2009. The 2011 results are on par with those of the previous year. At the same time, there has been a noticeable increase in the amount of online contact time via personal computers and mobile phones.

Online contact time via personal computers started to decline in 2008, but returned to its upward trend the following year. Time spent online via mobile phone has been increasing substantially, more than doubling in the four years since 2007. One of the reasons for the increase is more time spent using video posting and viewing services, shopping online, or posting on Twitter and other mini-blog services. In 2010, 47.2% of women in their 20s reported using a mini-blog service, and in 2011 that number had jumped to 70.7%. The increasing prevalence of smartphones has had a major impact on this trend.

Working with the program provider to develop an advertising sales package based on programming content has allowed the team to create a form of cross-media promotional communication that spans both television and the internet.

In 2011, 16.5% of those surveyed owned a smartphone, up from 9.8% in 2010. In terms of age categories, more 35% of men in their 20s and 30s and 22% of women in their 20s had a smartphone. More men in their 20s―68.6%―reported wanting a smartphone than any other group, but the numbers were high across all age and gender categories.

With total media contact time close to six hours―a quarter of a day―there is little chance of this figure increasing further. However, as sei-katsu-sha interact with media in increasingly diverse ways, the use of double or triple screens (in other words, simultaneous interaction with TV and the internet via computer or mobile/smartphone devices) is predicted to continue increasing.

Annual Media Consumption Report identifies how sei-katsu-sha actually interact with the new hardware and software products continually appearing on the scene in the age of digital media. The yearly survey has been the cornerstone of activities at the Institute of Media Environment since 2004, as it aims to discover signs and trends indicating the shape of the advertising media market.

The Institute of Media Environment will continue to research changes in the media environment in order to identify clues that point to what next-generation advertising will look like, striving to boost communication planning skills and positive media outcomes.

For more details, please refer to the following PDF file.

• News release (Japanese)
• Annual Media Consumption Report 2011 (Japanese)
• News Release