Digital advertising does not seem to be a particularly effective marketing method in Japan, according to research by Creative Japan. Almost 40% of Japanese consumers said they had never clicked on an online ad, and only one-third said that they considered online adverts to be more beneficial than annoying. When looking at shopping behaviours, the results were not promising either. For every single product category, the majority of consumers did not make a purchase after seeing a digital ad. Food and drinks ads fared the best, with 48% saying that they had made a purchase after seeing this type of online ad. Books, music and DVDs did second best, with 26% saying an online ad had triggered them to make a purchase. However, it seems that ecommerce behaviours are going strong despite the lack of interest in digital ads, with 83% of Japanese internet users expected to buy online this year.
