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Local Fact Book

China - p.2 Hong Kong - p.3

India - p.4 Indonesia - p.5

Japan - p.6 Malaysia - p.7

The Philippines - p.8 Singapore - p.9

South Korea - p.10 Taiwan - p.11

Thailand - p.12 Vietnam - p.13

CONTENTS

Capital City Beijing

Major Cities Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Tianjin, Wuhan, Shenyang, Nanjing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Xi'an, Qingdao

Ethnic Groups Chinese (Singular and plural)

Language Chinese (Simplified) or Mandarin

Survey Language Chinese (Simplified)

Religion Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist

Currency Renminbi (RMB)

General Population　1,373,500,000 Internet Penetration　52%

CHINACN / CHN

Political polls or asking opinions about government policies. (Illegal to question government activity)

Should not be asked

People tend to answer positively and rate highly on scales.

People hesitate to openly discuss their income. Roughly 10% tend to “refuse to answer” on income questions.

Response rate is lower during Chinese New Year (later January to early February)and Golden Week (first week of October) as many people travel back to their hometown.

Social research requires a governmental license from the Statistics Bureau, which is an exceptionally difficult and long process and which is usually rejected.

Localizing list of SNS sites is required as some services are banned or unavailable in China.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Legal Age

Marriage Male 22 years old, Female 20 years old

Drinking No minimum legal age

Smoking 18 years old

Cars 18 years old

Motorcycles 18 years old

Major Cities Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories

Ethnic Groups Chinese

Language Chinese (Traditional), Cantonese, or English

Survey Language Chinese (Traditional)

Religion Christian 10%

Currency Hong Kong Dollar (HKD)

General Population　7,200,000 Internet Penetration　80%

HONG KONGHK / HKD

Written survey language should be in traditional Chinese (vs mainland China simplified Chinese), while spoken language is Cantonese (vs Mandarin used in mainland China and Taiwan).

Response rates are lower during the Chinese New Year period.

Hong Kong is regarded as an independent market, apart from mainland China, in terms of society, economy, language, and culture.

While Hong Kong shares the use of traditional Chinese with Taiwan, some wordings are different, thus specific localization may be needed.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Legal Age

Marriage 21 years old



Cars 18 years old


Capital City Delhi

Major Cities Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata

Ethnic Groups Indo-Aryan, Dravidian

Language Hindi, English

Survey Language English

Religion Hindu 81%, Muslim 13%

Currency The Indian Rupee (INR)

General Population　1,270,000,000 Internet Penetration　36%

INDIAIN / IND

Gambling, prostitution and hunting (illegal activities), Sexual orientation, LGBT (sensitive topic), Prenatal sex determination (illegal activity), Questions instigating rebellion against government integrity, sovereignty and policies.

Should not be asked

Large population of vegetarians (no meat, egg, seafood consumption). When conducting surveys on food, food/dietary preferences should be asked.

When surveying about meat products, note that beef for Hindus and Pork for Muslim are religiously prohibited.

India is a secular nation, where people following different religions live together.

Ethnicity is often referred as "Cultural group" where people with mixed / different ethnic / ancestral origins share a common language or particular custom or beliefs.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Legal Age


Drinking 18 - 25 years old(depending on the State Law)


Cars 18 years old

Motorcycles 18 years old (over 125cc)

INDONESIAID / IDN


Legal Age


Drinking Not allowed for Muslim,and 17 years old for others


Cars 17 years old


Capital City Jakarta

Major Cities Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Medan

Ethnic Groups Javanese, Sundanese

Language Indonesian

Survey Language Indonesian

Religion Muslim 86%, Protestant 6%

Currency Rupiah (IDR)

Should not be asked

Interviewing should be avoided during Friday afternoons, as Muslim men are allowed 2 hours dedicated to prayers from 12:30pm to 2:30pm on Fridays

Response rate may be lower during Ramadhan. Although research can still be done, fieldwork should be avoided in the last week of Ramadhan for until a week.

For social economic classification, typically use monthly expenditure instead of asking income.

For food/dietary research, Muslims can only have “halal” certified products.

“Widow/divorced” option should be rephrased as “ever married”, as widow/divorcee tend to be judged negatively in society.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Alcohol purchase and consumption (not for Muslims) Questions regarding SARA – Suku: Ethnicity / Agama: Religion / Ras: Race / Antar Golongan : Social Status (sensitive)Sexuality and sexual orientation (social taboo)


JAPANJP / JPN

Capital City Tokyo

Major Cities Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kobe, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Kawasaki, Saitama, Hiroshima, Sendai

Ethnic Groups Japanese

Language Japanese

Survey Language Japanese

Religion Shinto, Buddhism

Currency Yen (JPY)

Legal Age


Drinking 20 years old


Cars 18 years old


Nationality/ethnicity (discriminatory)“Disability” as occupation status choice (discriminatory)Illicit drug usage, purchasing/downloading pirate copies (illegal activities)

Should not be asked

While Japan promotes gender equality, actual female representation of high income and executive positions are still limited. Feasibility of this target group is limited vs males.Wording for “Military” should be localized to “Self Defense Force”, given its constitutional limitation of military activities.People are especially sensitive about privacy information – our panel adheres to the Privacy Mark certificate in Japan (http://privacymark.org/)People tend to be more conservative when rating scale questions

Japan is a democratic country with freedom of speech and expression on topics of sexual habits, gambling (legal), policy, and social questions.

Demographically predominantly Japanese, but also has significant population or descendants of Chinese, Korean, Brazilian, Filipino, etc. Asking nationality/ethnicity in public however could be somewhat sensitive and may be discriminatory for them.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

MALAYSIAMY / MYS


Capital City Kuala Lumpur

Major Cities Kuala Lumpur, Subang Jaya, Cran, Johor Bahru

Ethnic Groups Malay, Chinese, Indigenous, Indian

Language Malay

Survey Language Malay, English, Chinese(Simplified)

Religion Muslim 60%, Buddhist 19%, Christian 9%, Hindu 6%

Currency Ringgit(MYR)

Legal Age




Cars 17 years old


Should not be asked

Surveys should contain English, Malay and Chinese to cater to general population, though English and Malay have the highest penetration. English only typically acceptable in the B2B segment.

For food/dietary research, Muslims can only have “halal” certified products, while beef is forbidden to Hindus and specific Buddhist sects.

Response rates are lower during Chinese New Year (around end of January or early February) and Muslim Hari Raya or EID which retrograde by about 2 weeks each year.

Malaysia is a multi-ethnic/cultural/lingual society with a largely diverse society speaking various languages and dialects.

Ethnic Malay and Indian are generally fluent in Malay, whereas ethnic Chinese are largely fluent in mandarin Chinese.

The legal system is divided between the Common Law (for non-Muslims) and the Syariah Law (for Muslims). As such, working days and weekends differ in certain states:

• Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Johor: Weekend is Friday and Saturday• All other states: Weekend is Saturday and SundayPlease be noted

Research TIPS

For Muslims, questions about other religions, pork consumption, gambling and alcohol.For Hindus and specific Buddhist sects, questions about beef consumption.

THE PHILIPPINES PH / PHL


Capital City Metro Manila

Major Cities Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao

Ethnic Groups Tagalog, Cebuano

Language Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English

Survey Language Filipino, English

Religion Roman Catholic 81%, Muslim 5%

Currency Peso(PHP)

Legal Age




Cars 16 years old


Gambling, prostitution, pornography, abortion and illicit drugs (illegal)

Should not be asked

Family size tends to be large and household is often shared with extended family living together

With Christianity being the dominant religion, response rates are low during Holy Week, Christmas and other Saint holidays/festivals.

0-14 y.o. make up 35% of the population. Combined with average life expectancy of 71 years, the average age of the country is 23 years old

Being a tropical country, response rates may be affected in extreme cases of electric power outage due to typhoons.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

SINGAPORESG / SGP


Capital City Singapore

Major Cities Singapore

Ethnic Groups Chinese, Malay, Indian

Language English, Malay, Mandarin Chinese, Tamil

Survey Language English

Religion Buddhist 43%, Muslim 15%

Currency Singapore dollar(SGD)

Legal Age




Cars 18 years old


Should not be asked

Car purchase in Singapore is quite regulated. To purchase a new car, a Certificate of Entitlement must be first obtained from the government. These are issued in accordance with the domestic road conditions; thus, limiting the number of cars sold.

More accurate to ask for annual income since bonus amounts are typically included. Bonuses usually not considered when asking monthly income.

With a high percentage of the population of Chinese descent, response rates are much lower during the Lunar New Year period.

Whilst the constitution appoints the four official languages, Singapore English is regarded as the main language in Singapore, and common language of the educational and business administration.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Questions about chewing gum and illicit drugs (illegal)

SOUTH KOREAKR / KOR


Capital City SeoulMajor Cities Seoul, Pusan, Taegu, Taejon,

Incheon, Gwangju, UlsanEthnic Groups KoreanLanguage KoreanSurvey Language KoreanReligion Christian 26%, Buddhist 23%Currency Won (KRW)

Legal Age




Cars 18 years old

Motorcycles 16 years old (under 125CC), 18 years old (over 125cc)

Illicit drugs and gambling (illegal activity)

Should not be asked

People tend to be more conservative when rating scale questions

Response rate is lower during Lunar New Year (Seol-nal) and Full Moon festival (Chuseok).

Age is counted differently: once a baby is born, the baby is considered 1 year old.Once New Year comes, you gain one year. E.g. if a baby is born in November, he/she is 2 years old after February in Korean age, while still 0 year old in Western age.In survey design, better to specify if you want Western age (Man nyun ryung), or Korean birth year instead.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

TAIWANTW / TWN


Capital City Taipei

Major Cities Taipei, Kaohsiung, Taichung

Ethnic Groups Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese

Language Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka dialects.

Survey Language Chinese (Traditional)

Religion Buddhist and Taoist 93%

Currency New Taiwan Dollar(TWD)

Legal Age


Drinking 18 years oldSmoking 18 years oldCars 18 years oldMotorcycles 18 years old

Should not be asked

Some may have sensitive political views in relation to mainland China; it is important to respect their views and not to be confuse Taiwanese with those from mainland China.

Response rates are lower during the Chinese New Year period.

Taiwan is regarded as an independent market, apart from mainland China, in terms of society, economy, language, and culture

Written survey language should be in traditional Chinese (vs mainland China simplified Chinese), while spoken language is Mandarin (same as mainland China)

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Survey on products illegal in Taiwan (e.g. selling alcohol online, illicit drugs, arms/weaponry, etc.)

THAILANDTH/THA


Capital City Bangkok

Major Cities Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Khon Kaen, Chiang Mai, Udon Thani,

Nakhon Si ThammaratEthnic Groups Thai, Chinese

Language Thai

Survey Language Thai

Religion Buddhist 95%

Currency Baht (THB)

Legal Age

Marriage 17 years oldDrinking No minimum legal ageSmoking 18 years old

Cars 18 years oldMotorcycles 15 years old

Questions regarding the Royal family (illegal)Gambling (illegal)

Should not be asked

The country applies Buddhist Era (BE) which is 543 years ahead of Christian / Common calendar year. (eg. A.D. 2017 is 2560 in Thai Year.) You can specify “Western Year” to ask where applicable.

Response rates can be affected during the traditional New Year period in 13-15th April, called Songkran Festival.

Politics, law, prostitution, sexuality, skin color questions are acceptable to ask if confidential agreement is proper in place.

Please be noted

Research TIPS

VIETNAMVN / VNM


Capital City Hanoi

Major Cities Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Can Tho

Ethnic Groups Kinh

Language Vietnamese

Survey Language Vietnamese

Religion Buddhist 9%, Catholic 7%

Currency DONG(VND)

Legal Age




Cars 18 years old


Should not be asked

Response rate is low during Lunar New Year (late January-early February).

The average age of the population is as young as 28.5 years old (as of 2010).

Please be noted

Research TIPS

Questions about political situation (sensitive)Gambling and illicit drugs (illegal) Asking about sexual matters could be still a little sensitive for local culture.

Data Source (statistics):http://www.internetworldstats.com, US Census Bureau

*The local research tips are based on our local feedback and experiences.Rakuten AIP shall take no responsibility for any errors or omissions.

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local fact book - insight.rakuten.com...sexual orientation, lgbt (sensitive topic), prenatal sex...

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