White Paper on Consumer Affairs 2014 (Summary) -Table of Figures-
Part 1 : Today's consumer issues and consumers' behavior/attitude
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Chapter 1 : [Feature1]Food-related consumer issues: Restoring confidence in food and ensuring food safety
- Figure 1-1-2 Major food-related consumer issues since 2000
- Figure 1-1-3 Past developments of food labeling problems
- Figure 1-1-4 Consumer consultations on food labeling problems surged in October to November
- Figure 1-1-6 Regarding food labeling problems, 40.7% of consumers consider preventing recurrence as important
- Figure 1-1-8 Food labeling system
- Figure 1-2-1 Consultations on "prepared frozen foods" of "Aqli Foods" received by local consumer affairs centers decreased as operations at Aqli Foods' call center improved
- Figure 1-2-4 Major developments of the case involving Aqli Foods Corp.'s frozen foods tainted with pesticide
- Figure 1-2-6 Fewer people hesitate to buy food produced in Fukushima and elsewhere in eastern Japan
- Figure 1-3-3 64.5% said they know about food loss
- Figure 1-3-5 Those who know about food loss are more eager to reduce it
- Figure 1-3-7 Summary of report by the Opinion Exchange Meeting on Food Loss Reduction
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Chapter 2 : [Feature2]Consumer issues and development of ICT: How consumers cope with the Internet society
- Figure 2-1-5 E-commerce market grew more than 2.5 times in size over seven years
- Figure 2-1-6 Information and communications industry accounts for an increasing part of Japan's GDP
- Figure 2-1-9 A shift to smartphones is driving the growth of the smartphone and mobile commerce market
- Figure 2-1-10 Mobile content market for smartphones expanded 4.6-fold in a year
- Figure 2-1-15 Payment by credit card is the most common payment method for Internet shopping, chosen by 52.6%
- Figure 2-2-2 Consultations on communications services are increasing
- Figure 2-2-4 The elderly account for a growing part of consultations on "Internet connection lines"
- Figure 2-2-9 42.4% of consumers have experienced contracts accompanied by optional services
- Figure 2-2-10 65.2% do not want optional services to be added
- Figure 2-2-11 63.0% have experienced trouble with such optional services
- Figure 2-2-12 35.8% had trouble cancelling by themselves
- Figure 2-2-17 Consultations on "online stores" increase sharply in FY 2013
- Figure 2-2-18 "Clothing items" accounted for more than 40% of FY 2013 consultations on "online stores"
- Figure 2-2-26 Consultations on "imitation product delivered" and "suspected fraud" significantly increased from FY 2012, with many of them originating in China
- Figure 2-2-28 Consumer problems with online games involving minors are surging
- Figure 2-2-41 Consultations on "adult websites" accessed via smartphones are increasing
- Figure 2-2-45 Consultations on "SNS" in FY 2013 were double the number in FY 2009
- Figure 2-2-46 Wide-ranging SNS-related consultations received in FY 2013
- Figure 2-2-49 The number of personal information leakage cases announced by businesses is declining
- Figure 2-2-51 "Inappropriate acquisition" accounts for about 40% of consumer complaints
- Figure 2-2-52 When providing businesses with their personal information, consumers are concerned about the leakage of their personal information and its use for unintended purposes
- Figure 2-2-53 Big data is recognized only by about 30% of men and about 10% of women
- Figure 2-2-54 Attitude toward use of big data widely varies by degree of recognition *Assuming that appropriate measures to protect personal information are taken when big data is used
- Figure 2-3-1 Many consumers are aware that Internet access rules for children and youths should be established between them and their custodians
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Chapter 3 : Consumer-related socioeconomic situation and consumers' behavior/attitude
- Figure 3-1-1 Household consumption accounts for about 60% of Japan's GDP
- Figure 3-1-2 Consumption expenditure accounts for over 50% of the national economy in developed countries
- Figure 3-2-2 Online stores were used by 43.9% in the past year
- Figure 3-2-6 Consumers are keenly interested in food safety and labeling issues
- Figure 3-2-9 Public recognition of CAA activities increased overall
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Chapter 4 : Trends in consumer issues
- Figure 4-1-1 The number of consumer affairs consultations increased for the first time in nine years in FY 2013
- Figure 4-1-5 Following on from FY 2012, "transport & communications services" accounted for an overwhelming part of the consumer affairs consultations in number in FY 2013, while "financial & insurance services" represented a major share in both the number of consultations and average payments made
- Figure 4-1-6 Telemarketing sales show a notable increase as the source of problems for the elderly
- Figure 4-1-10 FY 2013 consumer affairs consultations involved smaller amounts on average
- Figure 4-1-15 Consumer affairs consultation for the elderly further increased in FY 2013
- Figure 4-1-20 Consultations on "secondary damage" from "telemarketing sales" are increasing among the elderly
- Figure 4-1-22 12,627 case of consumer accidents were reported to the CAA in FY 2013
- Figure 4-1-27 In the past year, 8.0% of consumers experienced harm or problem
- Figure 4-1-28 Male victims are more likely to consult no one than females
- Figure 4-1-29 Female victims tend to consult someone close
- Figure 4-1-30 Major reason for consulting someone was that victims "expected resolution through consultation" (42.7%)
- Figure 4-1-32 "Thought it would be no use consulting someone" was the answer given by 55.8%
- Figure 4-1-33 Total expenditures on products and services associated with consumer harm and problems in 2013
- Figure 4-2-4 Consultations on both damage and risk increased in FY 2013
- Figure 4-2-9 Collection of information on accidents related to life and health
- Figure 4-2-13 Consultations on damage/risk from "prepared frozen foods" suddenly surged in FY 2013
- Figure 4-3-1 The number of consultations on "theatrical solicitation" is still large, especially for financial products
- Figure 4-3-2 The elderly and women are more likely to receive telephone calls for "theatrical solicitation"
- Figure 4-3-10 Consultations on "negative option marketing of health food" (mainly involving the elderly) in FY 2013 were double the number in the previous fiscal year
- Figure 4-3-11 Consultations on "negative option marketing of health food" peaked in the first half of FY 2013
- Figure 4-3-12 Consultations on "investment DVDs" for college students soared in FY 2013
- Figure 4-3-14 Increase in problems is expected in connection with the Tokyo Olympics
- Figure 4-3-15 Consultations on the consumption tax soared just before and after the consumption tax hike
- Figure 4-3-16 Top products/services on the list of consultation issues changed after the consumption tax was raised
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Chapter 5 : Development of consumer policy
- Figure 5-2-1 Consultations on "the elderly" are increasing
- Figure 5-2-3 Consultations on "persons with disabilities and other problems" are increasing
- Figure 5-2-6 How watching over by telephone and call recorder work
- Figure 5-2-7 Call recorder with advance warning function greatly contributes to reducing malicious phone calls
- Figure 5-2-8 How automatic call rejection works
- Figure 5-4-1 Consumer policy regimes in other countries