Research on the contact point of information based on the lifestyles of housewives

Types of information requested by housewives are "information for scenes that enriches their life". And such information sources are required to have large volume of information, ease of retrieval, and availability of prompt answer and confirmation for questions or inquiries.

Japan Personal Computer Software Association (JPSA, Chairman Tsukasa Takehara) conducted the research titled "Research on the contact point of information based on the lifestyles of housewives" targeting the 1,200 housewives in Japan (here, housewives are categorized in four groups; age over 35, under 35, and user or non-user of E mail on PC).

As the result of the above research, more than 80% of housewives pointed out "hobby", "child birth/nursing/education", "cooking" and "jobs" as the most interested life scenes by decreasing order. To categorize the above scenes, "child birth/nursing/education" and "jobs" are regarded as "the scenes necessary for life", and "hobby" and "cooking" are regarded as "the scenes that enriches their life", therefore we can understand that the majority of the life scenes being interested by housewives are "the scenes that enriches their life" because "hobby" and "cooking" share little less than 50% of the total answer. When we look at the source of information, the most frequently used source of information are "magazines and publications", "newspaper and its advertisement/handbills", and "conversation with friends and acquaintances" accordingly. What these sources have in common are;

1. Ample volume and well organized information
2. Ease of retrieving information

As for "conversation with friends and acquaintances", it features that questions and confirmations of the information are made promptly. In conclusion, type of information requested by housewives are "information for the scenes that enriches their life" such as "hobby" and "cooking", and such sources of information are required to have large volume of information, ease of retrieval, and availability of prompt answer and confirmation for questions or inquiries.

The above conclusion clarifies the intention on "the contact point of information" by the housewives, who are the primary target and the potential user of information industry in the future.

Overview of research

The most interested life scenes
The interested life scenes by housewives among the category of "The most interested life scenes" are "hobbies (travel, reading, movie, sports, restaurant information, etc.)", "child birth/nursing/education (information on hospitals and Q&A of childcare), and "cooking (recipes, price of foodstuff, and side dish information)" from the decreasing number.

The information source of the interested life scene
As the source of information of the interested life scenes, "magazines and publications" marked the highest, and "newspaper and its advertisement/handbills" and "conversation with friends and acquaintance" followed.

The expected source of information in the future
"Magazines and publications" marked highest as the expected source of information in the future, and "Web information" and "newspaper and its advertisement/handbills" follow next. The least expected source of information was "street posters".

The other life scenes where housewives want to utilize the PC and internet excluding the life scene with most interest.
The life scenes where housewives want to utilize the PC and internet other than the life scene of most interest are all other life scenes excluding laundry and cleaning.