Dentsu Japan Network Conducts Its Fifth “Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality”

―Increased evaluation of companies working to realize carbon neutrality throughout 2021―

Dentsu Japan Network (President & CEO: Norihiro Kuretani; Head Office: Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as “DJN”) conducted its fifth “Consumer Survey on Carbon Neutrality” (hereinafter referred to as “the survey”) from November 19 to 21, 2021. The survey was carried out by its DJN Sustainability Development Office and Dentsu Team SDGs, both of which promote sustainability projects across the Dentsu Group, and the respondents were 1,400 people across Japan with an age range spanning people in their teens to those in their 70s. This survey has been conducted continuously around every two months since April 2021, and the results have been announced in earlier press releases.

In this survey, DJN conducted surveys and analyses from different perspectives with regard to the changes in the awareness of consumers in Japan toward “carbon neutrality,” which is an important theme both in Japan and abroad, the 14 priority fields identified in the “Green Growth Strategy Through Achieving Carbon Neutrality in 2050” (hereinafter referred to as “Green Growth Strategy”) announced by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, their evaluation and awareness of companies and industries that are working to realize carbon neutrality, and issues such as their tolerance for additional spending in daily life. In addition, this time DJN also investigated and analyzed the degree of recognition and agreement regarding the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (hereinafter referred to as “COP26”) which was held from the end of October last year. This survey will continue to be conducted and published on a regular basis.

Main Findings

1. Changes seen in consumer awareness in 2021:
   The carbon neutrality recognition rate (1st survey 42.0% → 5th survey 56.6%) and understanding of the content (1st survey 14.6% → 5th survey 19.9%) have both increased, and an improvement was seen in the evaluation of companies working toward the realization of carbon neutrality.
2. Not much change seen in consumer awareness in 2021:
   The “awareness of the need for efforts” toward the realization of carbon neutrality has maintained high numbers since the first survey (1st survey 74.2% → 5th survey 75.7%), and there was not much change seen in the “awareness of the importance of education” (1st survey 72.5% → 5th survey 73.1%).
3. In the potential map that analyzes the implementation status and intention of involvement in the 14 priority fields of the “Green Growth Strategy,” the penetration status of each field is classified into six groups. If we look at the changes from the first survey, polarization has progressed. The fields that are easy for consumers to understand are “trends” (corresponding to ten fields) and those that are difficult for them to understand are “hidden in the subconscious” (corresponding to four fields).
4. The recognition that “COP26 was held” was 53.4% of the total, which was more than half. In terms of the recognition of 13 COP26-related topics, “global warming countermeasures were discussed” was the highest at 64.8%, and the agreement that “Japan did not agree with the statement on the need to phase out coal-fired power generation” was the lowest at 23.6%. When the COP26-related topics were divided into four quadrants centered on average recognition and average agreement, “general goals” was high recognition and high agreement, while “agreed context of each country” was low recognition and low agreement. “Japan’s position in the world” was high recognition and low agreement, while “goals defined by individual topics” was low recognition and high agreement.

Note: Since the composition ratio (%) in this survey is rounded off to the second decimal
place, the total may not add up to 100%.
Recognition (rate) is the ratio of the total number of consumers who answered “I understand the content” or “I only know the words” to the total number of respondents.

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Contact:
Jumpei Kojima
Chief Director
Group Corporate Communications Office
Dentsu Group Inc.
Telephone: +81 (3) 6217-6602
E-mail: group-cc@dentsu-group.com