Contents
Introduction
In today’s increasingly health-conscious world, the Health/Fitness app market is diverse, with many attractive apps for users interested in health management and fitness.
We’ve previously explored the Top 20 free Health/Fitness apps for iOS App Store. In this article, we will continue to explore the Top 20 free Health/Fitness apps, but this time, in the Google Play Store in Japan. We continue to subdivide these apps into four categories: Diet, Fitness, Self-Management, and Medical. We will focus on the keywords and creative features of each category.
Diet
Of particular note within the Android health fitness category are diet-related apps. Dieting and step counting are the two main genres, with step-counting apps accounting for half of the top 20.
Keywords Used
Utilizing the “App Explorer” function within the ASO index, I researched the frequent keywords that are used at least 2 to 3 times in the top 20 apps. However, the category names (diet/fitness/self-management/medical/settings) were not counted.
- Keywords such as カロリー（calories）食事（meal）and 体脂肪率（body fat percentage） were popularly used as keywords for diet and health management.
- Many keywords such as 減量（lose weight）脂肪（fat） and 燃焼（burn） were also identified as keywords for people who are beginning to pay attention to their health and are going on a diet.
- 運動（exercise）筋トレ（muscle training）and 毎日（daily） were also common keywords, suggesting that users are looking for ways to lose weight and what they can continue to do.
Creatives
Utilizing the “App Explorer” function within ASO index, we looked at the creative (screenshot set up in the store) characteristics of the top 20 apps searched by category name (diet/fitness/self-management/medical).
It also focuses on visualizing data and weight gain or loss, and features line graphs to show users their results.
The Japanese applications are similar in color, using blue (light blue) or bright green in soft pastel tones. This characteristic perhaps represents the Japanese users’ cultural preferences. Such can be seen more easily when comparing Japan’s creatives with those of America and Korea.
*Comparison of the top applications when searching for “ダイエット” “diet,” and “다이어트” in the three countries.
In the U.S., the top apps tend to use more vivid color while Korea seem to prefer to achromatic color. Also, one can easily notice that the Korean apps use cute characters. Stereotypes usually say that the Japanese culture prefers anime-like “Kawaii” characters but it looks like graphs seem to be more significant for Health/Fitness apps.
The apps at the bottom are identical to each other, with only localization in Japan and the central woman changed to an Asian woman in Korea.
Fitness
Fitness will be a group that encompasses two genres: workout and fitness apps for smartwatch.
For fitness enthusiasts, the focus is on apps that focus on workouts that can be done without going to a gym or specialized equipment.
Keywords
(1) Many keywords for ジム（gym）, 自宅（home）, and 器具（equipment） confirm that that the Japanese fitness app users are looking for training that can be done “at home” without equipment.
(2)トレーニング（training)、フィットネス（fitness）レベル（ level）
フィットネス（fitness）is for “health purposes,” but トレーニング（training) looks like it is meant for “exercise related to muscle growth and hypertrophy,” which should be used differently depending on what they are looking for and what they are offering.
(3) ヨガ（yoga） and ランニング（running） are detailed exercise genres, and we can assume that these are particularly popular genres.
Creatives
Creatives for fitness apps feature many of apps from Leap Fitness Group These are offered in a localized form but the overall design stayed the same without receiving any special modifications for Japan.
*Comparison of the top applications when searching for “フィットネス” “fitness” and “피트니스” in the three countries.
Difference between “Diet” and “Fitness”
Diet and fitness apps are close, but a look at the top searches for each confirms the difference.
Many of the diet apps are data visualization/recording apps, while many of the fitness apps were specialized in physical training. Apps from Leap Fitness Groups appeared on the search results of both “Diet” and “Fitness” but interestingly, only the apps with creatives that highlight “30 days diet plan” appeared for “Diet” while other apps were introduced for “Fitness” keyword. This may indicate that suggesting a specific period of time in diet apps’ creatives would work more effectively.
Self-Management
While there are many apps for users looking to improve efficiency and habits, blood pressure management apps are popular in the Health/Fitness category.
Keywords and Creatives
The popular keywords for Self-Management apps are “時間（time）, 習慣（habit) , 日々（daily）, todo, リスト（list）,” and in the creative aspect, there is a particular emphasis on habit and visualization of tracking it, as seen in expressions such as ‘continuing a new habit for 30 days’ and ‘managing habits and tasks to assist in achieving goals.’” You can see more clearly from the comparison between countries as below:
The top apps in Japan and Korea are using a landscape screenshots with text being the main focus. Yet the Japanese screenshot seems to focus on the number (in this case, it is the number of users), while Korean highlighted its catch phrase (“Cute and practical partner for your productive life”). U.S., on the other hand, seems to focus with in-app features and reviews.
Medical
Medical is a group that includes blood donation apps and menstrual management apps.
Keywords and Creatives
In the medical category, menstrual management applications are common, indicating that women’s health care is a priority.
The following keywords are frequently used 検査（tests) / 症状（symptoms) / 予約（appointments) /月経（menstruation） / 排卵（ovulation）
These apps contribute to the management of menstrual cycles and health checks that are important to female users.
*Comparison of the top applications when searching for”メディカル” ”medical” and “메디컬”in the three countries.
For the medical apps in Japan and Korea, it seems to be important to show a calendar or days on the first few screenshots as these apps mainly serve the purpose of tracking of blood donation or menstrual period. Soft pink, sky-blue, and purple seem to be used in both countries. Meanwhile, the creatives for U.S. medical apps indicate more about medical services the apps can help you to get, rather than tracking for personal health checks.
Conclusion
While Health/Fitness category can include various types of apps, it seems like the apps can be divided into diet/fitness/self-management/medical purposes of apps in Japan. This sub-divisions under the category makes the core keywords even though you may have a “Health/Fitness” app. It also makes significant differences among the preferred creatives designs. Explore the creativity and popular keywords of the top 20 Health/Fitness apps to make your journey in the Japanese health-care market more successful.
