June 10, 2010 - Tokyo, Japan - Research Panel Asia Inc.(RPA, Tokyo, Japan, CEO: Shogo Nakazato) which conducts marketing research in APAC has carried out a second original survey in Japan and South Korea, on the topic of 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Method of Survey

Title	Attitude Survey of "2010 FIFA World Cup"
Purpose	Understanding the interest in 2010 FIFA World Cup and the expectation for the one's national team
Methodology	Online Research using Research Panel(Japan)and Panel Now(South Korea)
Target	Men and Women of 20's and 30's
Regions	Nation wide of Japan and South Korea
Conductor	Research Panel Asia Inc
Field work period	2010/06/01-2010/06/04
Sample Sizes	638samples break down: equally split across country and gender
Questions	Awareness of 2010 FIFA World Cup Interest in 2010 FIFA World Cup, and its competing teams Interest and expectancy in/ for the one's national team Awareness of sponsors for 2010 FIFA World Cup Intendancy/channels of purchasing FIFA World Cup related products, other 16 questions

Background

The 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer finals which attract a lot of attention are just about to begin on June 11th, 2010. RPA has conducted an attitude survey in Japan and South Korea which national teams earned a place in the final games, on awareness/interest towards them and the expectation for one's team.

Findings

1. 1) 43.9% of the respondents in Japan are interested in the games, while 77.7% are in South Korea.
2. 2) Most respondents in Japan predict the result as "exit at the preliminary"(76.4% ), where as "Final 16" comes first (48.4%) in South Korea.
3. 3) In both Japan and South Korea, the country which people anticipate that will win the tournament most likely is Brazil.
4. 25% of respondents in Japan show an interest in purchasing game related products such as uniforms and pins, and in South Korea, the rate rise up to 51%.

According to the result of this survey, people in South Korea show more interest into this event than those in Japan seeing from the percentage of the respondents in South Korean who are interested in this event is 80%, which is more than double size of the rate in Japan, and there were no Korean respondent who answered "I do not watch a game." while there were few in Japan. Regarding the expectancy for the one's national team, South Korea expects more for the own team compared to Japan, seeing that in Japan 76% of the respondents anticipate that Japan would leaves at the preliminary, which is 4 times more predicted than in South Korea, and shows twice much interest in purchasing game related product with the result that half will purchase the product through EC websites.

Summary of the result

(1) In South Korea 2010 FIFA World Cup receives people's attention twice compared to Japan.

Q: How much are you interested in the 2010 FIFA World Cupu soccer finals? [SA]
The percentage of respondents who answered "I am interested." or "I am very interested." is 43.9% in Japan, and 77.7% in South Korea. Also, twice the size of Korean respondents than Japanese answered that "I want to watch a game."/ "I want to watch a game very much.", and also "I would like to hold the FIFA World Cup finals again in my country".

(2) The level of expectation is 4 times higher in South Korea.

Q:What is your prediction for a result of your own country team?[SA]
In Japan, "Exit at the preliminary" is chosen most with the rate of 76.4%, while this rate is only 18.1% in Korea. The most predicted result in Korean team is "Final 16", with the rate of 48.4%. According to this question, 4 times more Korean believe that the own nation team can go to the final stage.

(3) The winner which is anticipated most is Brazil for both countries.

Q:Which team do you expect to win the tournament? [SA]
Among 32 teams, the top 3 teams which are expected to win the game are Brazil, Spain, and Argentina in both Japan and South Korea.

(4) Over 50% of Korean respondents are likely to purchase World Cup related product, and "Purchasing through EC website" is the most common way among them.

Q: Would you like to purchase a product related to this event? [SA]
One quarter of respondents in Japan has an interest in purchasing game related products, while in South Korea, the rate rises up to more than half. It seems that the more interested into the games themselves, the more interested in to the goods related to the event as well.

Limited to those who would have an intendancy to buy goods, the "preferred way of purchasing" is asked. 65.7% of people in Japan prefer purchasing at "Shop specialized in sports goods", while "EC website" is most popular in South Korea showing 49.2%, which is twice more preferred than Japan. In both country, purchasing at "Grocery of sport goods" is preferred much by women than men.