Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. (hereafter Toppan Printing; head office: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo; President & CEO: Naoki Adachi) has compiled a report on a survey on consumer attitudes towards financial products that show consideration for the environment or contribute to society.

Recently, awareness regarding the environment and social contribution has been increasing and many financial institutions are offering financial products and services that are environmentally friendly or contribute to society.
This survey aimed to ascertain the types of financial products and services that are environmentally friendly or contribute to society that consumers are looking for, and surveyed and analyzed men and women from all over Japan with regards to consumer attitudes and awareness of such products and services.

The results of the survey showed that with regards to "attitudes towards environmental conservation and social contributions", "attitudes towards the scale of the target of contributions", and "attitudes towards benefits one receives through contributions", there were differences depending on age group.

For example, people in their 20s have a relatively high level of awareness, focus on contributions on a global scale and have a high level of interest in benefits for oneself. People in their 60s and older have a high level of awareness, focus on contributions on a city or regional level, and have a relatively low level of interest in the benefits they themselves receive.

With regards to interest in financial products that are environmentally friendly or contribute to society, it was shown that many people choose products where the focus of the contribution is clear with 43.0% of people showing interest in "contributing to tree planting" and 41.8% of people interested in "providing vaccinations for children in developing countries". Furthermore, it was possible to obtain a great deal of information that will be useful for organizations such as financial institutions when formulating strategies for promotions and campaigns. This includes the fact that many people choose products where what they can do is clearly set out such as with 57.4% choosing "reduction in the use of plastic bags", 51.4% choosing "services where passbooks are not issued" and 39.4% selecting "terms and conditions published on the internet".

Since 1999, Toppan Printing has been publishing the "WANTS" survey report, which presents the findings of survey like this, and distributes it to client companies. Toppan Printing will continue to implement surveys such as this and use the findings on consumers’ attitudes and behavior for proposals for the planning and promotion of products.

Background to the survey
-In recent years there has been a growing movement around the world seeking contributions to environmental conservation via economic activity and in Japan a high target has been set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2015 compared with the 1990 level.
-In particular, there is attention focused on methods to promote proactive initiatives by citizens and businesses in the areas of consideration for the environment and social contributions through products and services offered by financial instructions, which have a vital role in economic activity.
-Therefore, Toppan Printing conducted a survey to investigate the attitudes of current financial institution users towards the environment and social contributions, and also the level of awareness of and attitudes towards use of currently available financial products that are environmentally friendly or contribute to society.

Overview of survey
Respondents: People who have entered into a contract for products or services at a financial institution within the last year
Number of respondents: N=500
Spread: Even spread of 50 men and 50 women in their 20s to 60s
Target region: All of Japan
Period: December 1 to 3, 2009
Method: Internet survey

Overview of survey findings
Attitudes to environmental conservation and social contributions by age group
-There are differences between age groups with regards to "attitudes towards environmental conservation and social contributions", "attitudes towards the scale of the target of contributions", and "attitudes towards benefits one receives through contributions".


Awareness of and attitudes towards use of financial products and services that are environmentally friendly or contribute to society
-There are differences in levels of awareness and attitudes towards use for different products that are currently available.
Level of awareness: There is a high percentage for loan products with interest rate incentives for environmentally friendly cars and housing.

Interest and attitudes towards use:
-Many people choose products where the focus of the contribution is clear such as "contributing to tree planting" and "providing vaccinations for children in developing countries".
-Many people choose products where what they can do is clearly set out such as, "services where passbooks are not issued", "terms and conditions published on the internet" and "reduction in the use of plastic bags".

Copyright 2010 TOPPAN PRINTING CO., LTD.