Questions about the Nielsen Company

What is the difference between Nielsen and Nielsen Media Research?
Nielsen and Nielsen Media Research share a common heritage and common commitment to quality, service and market leadership.Nielsen primarily serves the Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry (manufacturers and retailers), while Nielsen Media Research is the leading provider of television audience measurement and related services, worldwide.

Where is Nielsen corporate headquarters?
Nielsen’s corporate headquarters is located in New York City, USA
The Nielsen Company
770 Broadway
New York, NY USA 10003-9595
+1 646-654-5000.

Who leads the senior management team of Nielsen?
Please visit the Our Leadership section of Nielsen.com.

Questions about doing market research in Japan

Like every other country in the world, Japan is unique. However many potential clients show concern about several themes related to market research in Japan:

Will focus group participants interact with each other in Japan?

Although Japanese tend to be more reserved around strangers than people in some other countries, group discussions are still an essential research tool in this key market. That said, it takes a blend of technique and skill to ensure a high level of interaction to provide the insights that our clients need.

Our moderators take the steps necessary to get each group warmed up, and use a range of techniques throughout the discussion to make sure participants share their experiences and attitudes without hesitation.

Lastly, clients are advised that Japanese tend to express themselves differently from other nationalities. Understated body language that goes unnoticed by Western clients sitting behind the mirror will be well understood by other participants, as well as our experienced researchers.

In the case of qualitative research, why do we recommend only six respondents per focus group?

Group size is critical in Japan because it will affect group interaction and dynamics. Six is usually the optimum number of participants by providing a range of personalities while still providing an intimate atmosphere to encourage open communication. We do not recommend groups of over six because the moderator might need to spend excessive time drawing out more quiet participants.Since no-shows are very rare in Japan, we do not generally over-recruit.

Is Internet-based research appropriate in Japan?

Internet-based research is a well-suited methodology to Japan for several reasons. Telephone RDD (random digit dialing) was once a standard for consumer research. However these days, many younger consumers only own mobile phones, placing them of reach of RDD. Additionally, since more and more consumers spend long times outside of the home at work or doing school activities, it is difficult to catch working couples and single young people at home by phone.

On the other hand, penetration of Internet use has exceeded 80% in Japan, and is steadily making gains among senior citizens. Web-based interviewing allows respondents to participate in surveys at times convenient to them, whether late at night or on the weekends. Nielsen Japan’s Your Opinion online panel has been recruited from a variety of websites and other sources, allowing us to minimize the type of bias that would result from sourcing from one shopping or other type of website.  It allows nationwide sampling at a fraction of the cost of door-to-door personal interviewing.

Clearly, Internet-based research is well suited to Japan, as it is to most other developed markets.  However we continue to provide fieldwork alternatives to match every client's need.

Why are our T2B scores so low in Japan?

Given the same type of rating scale, Japanese respondents tend to avoid extreme answers more than respondents from the West or from some other Asian countries. For this reason, we recommend against direct comparison of Japan and other countries on customer satisfaction scores or other measures. Of course any two cultures may tend to respond differently on rating scales.

Why won’t the interviewer demand a yes or no answer from the interviewee?

As noted above, Japanese use relatively subtle body language, as well as spoken communication. In qualitative interviewing, if a respondent does not say yes, it may be more valuable to explore why, rather than twisting his or her arm to state what silence has made apparent.

Do you have more questions to add to the FAQ? Please send them to: JPNwebmaster@nielsen.com