What desires drive the people who support that hit content!? ~Unraveling the relationship between 11 desires and 48 works

DENTSU DESIRE DESIGN (DDD) is a project that seeks to unravel the modern consumer profile, which has become increasingly elusive to companies, by re-examining consumption consciousness rooted in "Desire."

This article relates to the activities of DDD's subcommittee team "FUKAYOMI" (hereafter FUKAYOMI).

The FUKAYOMI team aims to uncover customers' latent desires and consciousness by deconstructing the narratives of hit works that captivated large audiences. They analyze the impact of hit content on people's values to predict desires a step ahead in the future.

This time, within DDD's regularly conducted "Heart-Moving Consumption Survey" (May 2024; details here ), we performed quantitative verification and analysis regarding hit content. What kind of desires did recent hit works deeply resonate with? Emi Iwashita from the FUKAYOMI team shares some of the results.

<Table of Contents>
▼Recent Memorable Content Gathers Support Across Generations, Including "Those Who Can't Watch in Real Time"

▼Impression Levels Vary by Genre.
　Movies appeal to male audiences, anime to male + young female audiences, dramas to middle-aged and older female audiences, and streaming dramas to young to middle-aged audiences!

▼Analyzing relationships between 11 desires and 48 content types
Which desire shows high affinity with that hit content?

▼Analyzing the relationship between 11 desires and 48 content types using a two-axis desire-based model
What do works chosen by people with "Social Contribution & Conservatism" and "Love" desires have in common?

▼Content is the key to deciphering consumer desires and psychology

Notable recent content garners support across generations, even engaging those who can't watch in real time

In the survey, all respondents aged 10 to 70 were presented with a list of 48 hit content items (films, anime, dramas, etc.) and asked to answer the question: "In the past year, is there any content (films, dramas, anime, manga, etc.) that left a strong impression on you (that you became engrossed in)?"

The 48 content items presented were selected by the Fukayomi team as works that had achieved nationwide hits within the past 1-2 years, up to the time of the May 2024 survey. Selection was based on quantitative data such as box office performance, viewership ratings, and buzz rates, focusing on works considered to have a strong influence on people's values. The breakdown of the 48 content items was: 14 [Movies], 18 [Anime, etc.], and 16 [Dramas, etc.].

This time, the survey participants spanned a wide age range from teens to those in their 70s. Overall, dramas and anime, which tend to reach all age groups easily, dominated the top rankings.

By genre, the top films were the animated movie "Suzume," "Godzilla: 1.0," and "Top Gun: Maverick." "Suzume" resonated with a broad audience through its theme of recovery from disaster, a topic of widespread interest. "Godzilla: 1.0" and "Top Gun: Maverick" conveyed new appeal through their powerful scenes utilizing cutting-edge visual technology, attracting not only longtime fans but also a new generation of viewers.

In [Anime and Others], titles popular not only with children and young people but also adults topped the charts. These include "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba," which remains deeply imprinted in people's minds even after its massive hit during the pandemic; "SPY×FAMILY," featuring the popular psychic girl Anya; and "Detective Conan," whose theatrical series continues to be released.

【Dramas, etc.】 Commercial TV network series dominated the top spots, including the grand-scale adventure drama "VIVANT," the time-slip comedy "Absolutely Inappropriate!," and the mystery drama "Mystery, Don't Call It That."

Many of the top dramas and anime are available on paid streaming platforms shortly after broadcast. This shift in viewing habits is likely expanding their fan bases, drawing in audiences who previously couldn't watch in real time and spreading word-of-mouth buzz through social media.

Genre-specific impressions.
&nbsp;

Movies appeal to male audiences, anime to male and young female audiences, dramas to middle-aged and older female audiences, and streaming dramas to young to middle-aged audiences!

Next, let's examine the characteristics by demographic for each content type. Chart ② reveals distinctive trends by genre.

【Movies】showed a tendency for male audiences to outnumber female audiences. This may also be a result of the selected hit works being slightly more appealing to male audiences.

【Anime, etc.】: Hit anime titles, likely due to their expansive media reach (manga adaptations, film releases, etc.), garnered broad interest across generations—men aged 10-50 and women aged 10-30. This result underscores how anime, once perceived as niche for young people or hardcore fans, now features many works widely loved by both genders.

【Drama】 shows notably high figures among women in their 40s to 60s. This may be due to the inclusion of many NHK dramas, suggesting a large audience that watches them regularly in real-time. Although only two works are available exclusively via paid streaming, they differ from other dramas in trend, characteristically showing high interest among younger to middle-aged demographics: men aged 10-30 and women aged 20-40.

Analyzing the relationship between 11 desires and 48 pieces of content

Which desires show high affinity with that hit content?

While entertainment and other content are typically utilized in corporate advertising activities based on demographic characteristics like these, Fukayomi attempted to explore the potential of leveraging this data from the perspective of "Desire."

Chart 3 shows the results of correspondence analysis (※1) applied to the relationship between the "11 Desires" developed by "DDD" and 48 pieces of content. This analysis reveals trends such as "which desires strongly influence interest in specific works" and the relative distances between works.

※1 Correspondence Analysis: An analytical method that visualizes relationships between categorical data. It measures the "distance" between categories and visualizes their "relationships," enabling a visual understanding of data patterns and structures.

&nbsp;

【What are the 11 Desires?】
Based on the latest results from the "Heart-Moving Consumption Survey" conducted by DDD since 2021, this analysis identifies the emotions that strongly influence human consumption behavior as drivers. These emotions are defined and categorized into 11 distinct types representing new desires of the modern era.

※After correspondence analysis, dendrograms (tree diagrams※2) were created. Based on these, works with similar distances were grouped together using frames.

※2=Dendrogram: A method for visualizing hierarchical clustering results as a tree diagram. It shows the "distance" and "relationships" between data points, aiding in understanding cluster structures.

&nbsp;

Analyzing the relationship between 11 desires and 48 pieces of content using a two-axis desire-based framework

What do works chosen by people with "Social Contribution & Conservatism" and "Love" desires have in common?

This analysis divides the data into four quadrants using the vertical axis "Relationship with Society/Others ⇔ Personal Interests" and the horizontal axis "Empathy/Harmony Orientation ⇔ Self-Expression/Adventure Orientation".

First, let's look at the horizontal axis. The left quadrant contains desires seeking empathy, harmony, inner fulfillment, and a level-headed state, such as "Wanting to love and be loved," "Not wanting to stand out negatively or be an outsider," and "Wanting to live peacefully with physical and mental health."

Conversely, the right side shows desires seeking more external stimulation, such as "wanting to learn, imagine, or challenge oneself" and "wanting to collect things one loves," reflecting a pursuit of self-expression and adventurous spirit.

What about the vertical axis? The upper quadrant holds desires related to relationships with society and others, such as "Wanting to be recognized by others, wanting to be seen as outstanding," and "Wanting to be useful to someone, wanting to protect what's important in the world."

Conversely, the lower quadrant features desires emphasizing personal interests and enjoyment, such as "wanting to play, spend money freely," and "wanting to be free."

The Fukayomi team believes that underlying desires common to different genres and storylines are hidden within content. Here, we focus on the second quadrant to explore the relationship between these works and the desires they embody.

The upper-left second quadrant primarily contains terrestrial TV dramas. Some anime and films from different genres are also included within these TV dramas. For example, the long-beloved anime "Doraemon" and "Detective Conan" are grouped together with popular commercial TV series like "silent" and "TOKYO MER: The Running Emergency Room."

This grouping suggests a high affinity with people harboring the desire to "be of service to others" and "protect what is important in the world." It's an intriguing discovery that this socially contributory desire connects content with different vectors: a national anime with fans across generations and adult-oriented commercial TV dramas.

Additionally, in the second quadrant, other groups include "What Will I Do, Ieyasu?" (Taiga drama), "The Last Man" (commercial TV drama), "Demon Slayer" (manga/anime, etc.), "Inappropriate to the Extreme!" (commercial TV drama), and "Parasite" (foreign film), all grouped together. Underlying this is the shared desire to "love and be loved."

"What Will Ieyasu Do?" portrays a historical figure; "The Last Man" features a blind detective; "Demon Slayer" depicts fierce battles between humans and demons; "Inappropriate to the Extreme!" explores the gap between Reiwa and Showa values; and "Parasite" portrays inequality and division in capitalist society. At first glance, these works might seem far removed from the desire to "love and be loved." So what exactly do they share?

One can imagine that social issues underlie each of these. Amidst the evolving digital society of the modern era, following the pandemic, "connections with people and society" have become thinner and changed. As individuals feel alienated from society or experience loneliness, some viewers likely empathized with the stories and characters in these works, seeing themselves reflected within them.

Ieyasu's loneliness and struggles, humans who became demons for their own reasons, societies where people with disabilities thrive, relationships where different generations acknowledge each other's values while connecting... These themes, emerging amidst the pandemic's weakening of social connections, may have struck a chord with people's desire to love and be loved by society and others. Perhaps hidden behind these social issue themes lies the desire for "love for people and society."

As these two examples show, the discovery that works across completely different genres— —with entirely different targets and stories, are supported by people sharing one common desire, seems to offer an important clue for exploring people's latent desires.

Content is the key to deciphering consumer desires and psychology

Thus, if we can uncover what desires are highly compatible with content, it becomes possible to plan communication not just based on target attributes, but along deeper pathways.

Recent advances in data marketing have made it easier to obtain data on target audiences' behavioral and viewing histories. However, understanding the underlying psychology and context behind these behaviors has become increasingly difficult as people's values diversify and the future becomes harder to predict.

When communicating about products or services, do you struggle to uncover consumer insights? When utilizing anime or manga characters, do your promotional activities often end up being just a flash in the pan? Have you ever experienced this?

By effectively utilizing content, we can unravel how its stories influence people's psychology and values. This enables us to resonate more deeply with consumer values, provide product value that precisely matches their needs and wants, and select highly compatible content that enhances brand value with greater accuracy. We strongly recommend actively leveraging content as a key insight for gaining a deeper understanding of consumers.

In addition to the detailed analysis report mentioned above, our "FUKAYOMI" project regularly publishes reports that deconstruct the stories behind each hit piece of content, examining shifts in people's values and future desires. If you're interested, please feel free to contact us.

【Contact】
DENTSU DESIRE DESIGN (Dentsu Inc. Design)
E-Mail: ddd-project@dentsu.co.jp Contact: Iwashita

&nbsp;

【Survey Overview】
Title: The 8th Dentsu Inc. "Consumer Survey: What Moves the Heart"
Survey Purpose: Analyze consumer consciousness, which is becoming increasingly difficult to visualize due to the ever-changing social environment, from the perspective of consumer desire, to decipher the future of Japan's consumer society.
・Target Area: Nationwide, Japan
・Subject Criteria: Men and women aged 15 to 74
・Sample Size: 3,000 total samples
　　　　　　　(Allocated according to population ratios across 7 age groups and 2 gender categories)
・Survey Method: Internet survey
・Survey Period: Monday, May 13, 2024 to Wednesday, May 22, 2024
・Survey Sponsor: Dentsu Inc. DENTSU DESIRE DESIGN
・Survey Agency: Dentsu Macromill Insight, Inc.
&nbsp;