JTM’s Survey Result: Consumption and Travel Trends for Japanese Youth in Their Twenties (Part 1)
How do young people in their twenties spend money in their everyday life? Under what conditions, would they take off for traveling? JTM's originally conducted survey reveals consumption trends for Japanese youth in their twenties, who have been long observed as losing vitality
Mayuko Kono Columnist
In Japan today, young people in their twenties are often observed as less active in consumption. The recent JTM survey result reveals that the Japanese youth in their twenties are now focused more on daily-life related consumption activities.
“If you have disposable money, what would be your top three priority for spending it on in your daily-life? “. To this survey question, male respondents answered that they spend money either on dining out, socials or on hobbies. Female respondents, in contrast, primarily spend money on fashion items and socials.
The survey result shows a sharp difference in consumption trend between male and female. A high percentage of female respondents spend money on clothes (69% of the entire respondents), shoes, bags, accessories and cosmetics (47%). Expenditures on socials by female (53%) are also higher than those by male (40%). The priority by males varies by individual; even dining out, the top priority choice among men was listed by 42% of all the respondents. 30% of male and 19% of female answered they would rather save the money. Saving does not seem to be a top priority for a majority of young people.
Looking at respondents according to their income level, the higher annual income one makes, the higher proportion of money goes to one’s expenditure on dining out. Respondents with higher income might be quite busy with their work hence they would eat out more often. In regards to respondents with annual income less than 3.5 million yen, more than 40 % of male answered they would spend money on hobbies, including movies, concerts, games, books and others. A high percentage of female belonging to this income group also spends money on movies, concerts, games and books. Young consumers with lower income might think they can rather save money enjoying such things by themselves than dining out with friends.
In the meantime, social expenses see a large difference between male and female respondents. Female tend to manage on limited amount of disposable income to spend on social gatherings and dating. According to the survey result, the proportion of social expenses is higher in female with lower income. 60% of female with less than 3.5M yen includes socials as top priority in their spending. For young women, consumption for social gatherings could be indispensable to maintain their friendship.
“If you have disposable 300,000 yen now, what would be your top three priorities for spending the amount?” To this survey question, male’s top three are saving (40% of the entire respondents), audio-visual appliances (35%) and domestic travel (30%). Female’s top priority are saving (40%) and overseas travel (40%) closely followed by domestic travel (39%). The result shows that traveling, both domestic and overseas, which was considered low in priority for the previous question above, is highly prioritized for both male and female. As for traveling, consumers in their twenties might rather rely on sizable amounts of money such as bonus, than saving monthly for future traveling. Female respondents are particularly eager to travel overseas. More than 40% select overseas travel as a priority, which marks almost as high as saving money while the male’s selection rate saw only 23%. Men seem to prefer domestic travel regardless of their income level.
The report continues to further analyze travel trends among young Japanese in their twenties. What types of travel experiences have young consumers had? Or what styles of travel would they prefer?
“If you have disposable money, what would be your top three priority for spending it on in your daily-life? ”
(Multiple answers/total of top three priorities)
“If you have disposable money, what would be your top three priority for spending it on in your daily-life? “By Income Level
(Multiple answers/total of top three priorities)
“If you have disposable 300.000 yen now, what would be your top three priority for spending the amount?”
(Multiple answers/total of top three priorities)
“If you have disposable 300.000 yen now, what would be your top three priority for spending the amount?”
(Multiple answers/total of top three priorities)
Top three priorities for spending “disposable money” / “300,000 yen” (Multiple answers/total of top three priorities)
