So Different Even Though It’s the Same Country!? A Comparison of Media Behavior Between Local and Urban Areas

The environment surrounding information media has changed dramatically over the past decade. Driven by the widespread adoption of smartphones, the penetration of social media, the expansion of video media, and the emergence of generative AI, consumers’ information media behaviors continue to evolve at an unprecedented pace. At first glance, these changes might seem to be eliminating regional disparities and leading toward nationwide homogenization, but is that really the case?

In this article, we will focus on the differences that still exist in information media behavior between urban and rural areas, as well as across prefectures, and examine them from a marketing perspective.

The analysis primarily utilizes the latest data from the “National Media Profile Survey ” (hereinafter referred to as “National MPS”). ( Click here for survey details)

Is Japan Made Up of Two Countries!? Data Reveals Tokyo’s Uniqueness

Did you know that in 2016, LINE Yahoo! released a report titled “Is Japan Made Up of Two Countries!? — Tokyo’s Uniqueness as Seen Through Data,” which became a hot topic? The “two countries” refer to Tokyo and the rest of the country, and the report highlights Tokyo’s uniqueness based on search behavior.

Following the approach of the aforementioned article, we’d like to use the National MPS to examine the differences in lifestyles between Tokyo and the rest of the country.

First, let’s look at “working from home,” which seems to be becoming increasingly common in Tokyo. In Tokyo, the percentage of people who work from home at least once a week is just under 30%. Even in prefectures that include major cities such as Aichi (12.3%) and Osaka (17.2%), the figure is less than 20%, and given that the national average is around 17%, it is clear that Tokyo stands out as significantly higher (Chart 01).

Conversely, while the percentage of people who drive at least once a week reaches about 90% in rural areas, it is strikingly low in Tokyo at 43.7%. Since the frequency of driving correlates with the amount of time spent listening to the radio, this regional difference is also significant from a marketing perspective (Chart 02).

Furthermore, Tokyo stands out in various other respects, such as household income, the proportion of single-person households, and the proportion of men who perform household chores.

On the other hand, looking at population density (Figure 03), it is clear that urban areas—led by Tokyo—stand out significantly. However, when the populations of prefectures with fewer than 4 million residents are combined, they account for approximately 44% of the total population (ages 15–79), a proportion that certainly cannot be ignored.

However, an examination of the residential areas of professionals known as “marketers” reveals that they are overwhelmingly concentrated in the “1 Metropolis and 3 Prefectures” region (Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa) (Chart 04). If we take the situation in urban areas centered on Tokyo for granted, we risk losing sight of the actual conditions in regional areas. From this perspective as well, objective data and the real voices of residents are crucial for regional analysis.

Will the spread of the Internet Level Out Regional Disparities?

Next, what can we glean from media exposure time by prefecture? Let’s compare this using the internet (video) as an example. For this analysis, we’ll use a scatter plot like the one shown in Figure 05.

Horizontal axis: Overall total (viewing time including people who do not watch online videos at all)
Vertical axis: User-based (viewing time for only those who watch online video at least once a week)

We have plotted the 47 prefectures based on these criteria. We define the upper-right quadrant—where viewing time exceeds the national average for both the overall and user-based metrics—as “heavy-use areas.” We classify media with many urban areas plotted there as “urban-type media,” and media with many rural areas plotted there as “rural-type media.”

For example, regarding online video, many rural areas such as Aomori, Kagoshima, and Mie are plotted in the “heavy-use” area, while the 1 metropolis and 3 prefectures highlighted in yellow (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba) are located in the lower-left quadrant. Therefore, from the perspective of viewing time, online video can be defined as a “rural-type media.”

Conversely, the Internet (social media and blogs) is a medium that is viewed relatively frequently in urban areas (Figure 06). While it was considered a typical “urban-type medium” until around 2024, it has recently shown a tendency to be plotted in many rural areas as well; therefore, we classify it as a “mixed urban-rural type.”

We have organized the data for other media as well and summarized it in Figure 07.

Of particular note is the fact that the Internet (websites) and the Internet (social media and blogs)—which were typical urban media in the 2023 and 2024 surveys—are shifting toward a “mixed urban-rural” type. Generally, new media behaviors tend to level out as they spread from younger to older age groups and from urban to rural areas.

This process was particularly evident in these two media types in the current survey. However, I do not believe this means regional differences in media behavior will disappear, leading to nationwide homogenization. This is because the emergence of new media and new patterns of media behavior will likely give rise to regional differences once again, repeating the cycle of homogenization and subsequent regional variation. Through this recurring cycle, regional differences will likely continue to arise (Figure 08).

Viewer Profiles and Viewing Content Vary So Much by Region!

Another point worth noting is that even among TV viewers or magazine readers, trends vary significantly by region—from demographics, attitudes, and values to the actual content they consume. In other words, it’s not just a matter of timing; both the viewer profiles and the content they consume differ.

For example, let’s look at the rankings of magazines read (Figure 09). While business and finance magazines such as *Weekly Diamond* and *Weekly Toyo Keizai* rank high in Tokyo, in regional areas where magazines are widely read, lifestyle and practical information magazines like *Orange Page* and *Lettuce Club*, as well as shonen manga magazines such as *Weekly Shonen Jump* and *Weekly Shonen Magazine*, top the list.

Similarly, regarding newspaper articles, while domestic and international political and economic content—such as “national and central politics,” “domestic economy,” and “international news”—dominates the rankings in Tokyo, it is clear that in regional areas, local information is prioritized, led by “regional and local politics,” followed by “regional and local society and incidents” and “regional and local economy” (Chart 10).

In fact, this trend was evident throughout this analysis. Urban areas centered on Tokyo tend to exhibit “media behavior as a source of information”—such as business, politics, and the economy—while in rural areas, “media behavior that values regional and local connections, family, and daily life” is evident.

Is an aging population influencing regional differences in media consumption time?

However, a common point raised here is the suggestion that media consumption time in rural areas may be influenced by an aging population. In other words, the question is: Could this be a difference based on age rather than region?

To address this, we conducted a regional comparison among the same gender and age groups and created a heat map showing the difference in media exposure time compared to Tokyo (see Figure 11). Even among the same gender and age groups, regional differences can be confirmed.

Taking Hokkaido as an example, men in their 30s through 70s spend several minutes to nearly 40 minutes more per day watching television than their counterparts in Tokyo. Regarding the internet (video content), while there is some variation by gender and age group, men in their 20s and women in their 30s spend just over 30 minutes more per day than their counterparts in Tokyo. Conversely, internet usage (websites)—which has traditionally been considered an urban medium—falls below Tokyo levels across many age groups, particularly among women.Since exposure time tends to be longer for television and the internet, the differences are naturally larger; however, even taking this into account, the disparities remain significant, and similar trends were observed in other regional areas. In other words, while age composition certainly plays a role, it can be said that regional differences in media exposure time exist even when comparing people within the same age group.

Regional differences in corporate and brand image largely reflect local culture and values

As we have seen so far, there are significant regional differences in media behavior. This, in turn, has a major impact on advertising communication.

For example, in areas with longer television exposure times, television plays a major role at every stage of the funnel, meaning that television advertising is particularly effective in regional areas.

For example, Figure 13 illustrates the differences between Tokyo and the Kyushu region based on responses to a question asking about contact points when “developing an interest in companies, brands, or properties” related to housing services. The graph suggests that in the Kyushu region, print media such as “flyers and direct mail,” “free newspapers,” and “magazine ads and articles” are also highly effective.

Furthermore, Figure 14 confirms that brand image also varies by region. When we organized the regional image evaluations for Housing-Related Brand A using correspondence analysis, we found that in Shikoku, evaluations of sales representatives—such as “prompt response from sales representatives” and “trustworthiness of sales representatives”—play a key role in shaping brand image, and there is a strong emphasis on floor plans.

In Hokkaido, it is evident that the sturdiness of homes—such as “high seismic resistance” and “high durability”—resulting from the harsh natural environment contributes to brand image. In Tohoku, meanwhile, partly due to the rebuilding of homes in relatively recent years following the earthquake, the brand is highly regarded for “state-of-the-art housing features” such as “soundproofing and noise insulation” and “thermal insulation.”

Conversely, in regions such as Kinki, Kanto, and Chubu—which encompass major metropolitan areas—perceptions tend to cluster around the center, resulting in an average image. This pattern—where distinctive perceptions form in regional areas while metropolitan areas retain a very average image—is frequently observed in regional analysis and is particularly interesting.

Implications for Marketers—Why Should You Still Pursue Regional Marketing?

Having explained this, a point often raised by advertisers is: “While we understand regional differences and the significance of area marketing, area-specific initiatives are time-consuming, costly, and inefficient.” In other words, the question is: What is the point of engaging in area marketing despite these challenges?

With that in mind, I have summarized four key points to consider (Figure 15).

The most critical point is the awareness that communication optimization may be focused on “urban optimization” rather than “nationwide optimization.” This is particularly evident in digital initiatives. However, it may not be that regional areas are inherently inefficient; rather, they may simply appear inefficient because communication strategies are tailored to urban areas and KPIs are set with a focus on urban centers. Furthermore, campaigns that target the entire country uniformly risk becoming averaged out—resulting in initiatives that are optimized for nowhere in particular and fail to resonate with anyone.

While individual rural areas may appear inefficient when viewed in isolation, I believe effective and efficient communication is possible by adopting an approach that considers the long-term value of engagement and the horizontal scaling of regional initiatives. This involves grouping rural areas together as a whole and treating them as a unified target audience across the board to achieve scale.

With the widespread adoption of big data and AI, area marketing has become more sophisticated and easier to implement than ever before. Rather than treating the entire country as a single entity, it has become realistic to visualize the differences in consumer profiles and information environments across regions and design communications tailored to each.

Dentsu Inc. offers “People Research,” a research tool equipped with “People Model”—an AI model that virtually recreates high-resolution personas for a population of 100 million. It is now possible to conduct surveys in target areas and use “AIQQQ TALK” to conduct in-depth interviews with the target demographics identified through these surveys.

What this analysis has revealed is that digitalization has not eliminated regional differences; rather, driven by the ceaseless emergence of new media and information behaviors, the gap between urban and rural areas is likely to continue to fluctuate. And it is precisely within these regional differences and diversities that new communication opportunities and business prospects may lie.

[Survey Overview]
“National Media Profile Survey 2025 (National MPS 2025)”
・Purpose: To understand consumers’ exposure to the five major media types
・Target Area: Nationwide (all 47 prefectures)
・Eligibility Criteria: Ages 15–79 (excluding middle school students)
・Sample Size: 30,927 respondents
・Survey Method: Online survey
・Survey Period: August 18–September 28, 2025
・Survey Sponsors: Dentsu Inc., The Asahi Shimbun Company, Ltd., ADK Marketing Solutions Co., Ltd., Chunichi Shimbun Co., Ltd., The Nikkei, Inc., and Mainichi Shimbun Co., Ltd.
・Survey Agency: Video Research Ltd.