Japanese seniors embrace certain aspects of online lfe

In contrast to the wider Japanese population, seniors are more likely to click on ads and email marketing, and they are also the group most likely to leave helpful reviews on e-commerce platforms.

Why it matters

At 53%, internet penetration among Japanese seniors over 60 is low compared to other generations, but this still equates to 18 million people, a market worth understanding.

Takeaways 

• Many seniors have only taken to online life because of necessity when the pandemic made normal social interactions difficult. 
• Seniors tend to use messaging app LINE and YouTube but not social media that involves sharing with a large number of people. Twice as many over-65s use Yahoo! Japan as do 20-30 year olds.
• Seniors are less sceptical about internet ads, and have relatively low anxiety about them. In a similar vein, they also show higher response rates to email marketing communications. 
• Seniors in their 60s and older are more likely than other age groups to provide reviews “To share [their] experience with others”.

Read more in this ESOMAR paper: The reality of seniors in the “rapidly aging” country of Japan