Japanese Marketing Research Articles

Kimono in the Age of Japonisme: From Japanese Merchandising Strategies to Signs of British Women’s Liberty

Abstract In the early twentieth century, one could find kimono-like garments of various kinds in Britain: kimono made originally for Japanese consumers, contemporary robes made in Japan expressly for export, and kimono-inspired clothing made domestically. The present essay probes the merchandising of these new products in Britain, examining both British consumer tendencies and Japanese marketing practices, through analysis of Japanese trade statistics and reports on the international expositions of the day. Ultimately, this paper argues that kimono played a role, both literally and figuratively, in staging increased social justice for British women in the twentieth century, offering at least occasional relief from the debilitating fashions of the period, all of which required a corset, and providing a metaphor for a less restrictive social environment. While other scholars have hinted at such associations, this paper provides evidence, through analysis of contemporaneous journalism and advertising, that the women who wore these garments explicitly made such connections. More than an artistic stimulus of japonisme, the kimono and the fashions it subsequently inspired became symbols of the women’s suffrage movement in early twentieth-century Britain.

Japanese consumer's visual marketing preferences and willingness to pay for rice produced by biodiversity‐friendly farming

AbstractA market‐based approach for biodiversity conservation can promote sustainable food production, but little is known about how consumers perceive rice and organisms conserved through biodiversity‐friendly farming (BFF). To address this gap, we conducted a web survey of 600 Japanese respondents to investigate their visual preferences for 20 photographs of organisms and landscapes found in paddy field areas and their willingness to pay (WTP) for BFF rice. Our results showed that paddy field landscapes were most preferred, followed by plants and birds, while insects and an endangered frog were the least preferred. Lowland flat and mountainous terraced paddy landscapes were most often selected as package photographs for BFF rice. Most respondents were willing to pay a premium of 0%–30% for BFF rice. Interest in biodiversity conservation was a common respondent characteristic, and it had a relatively strong influence on image preferences and WTP. Presence of children in certain age groups, sex, age, and experience with living near farmlands or conservation activities also affected the image preference or WTP answers, but to a lesser extent. These findings reveal consumer perceptions of BFF and the importance of effective eco‐labeling strategies for communicating conservation activities and improving promotion of sales to consumers.

Imprecision in vaccine adverse event reporting and a methodological analysis of reporting systems to improve pharmacovigilance and public health.

This study documents imprecision in Japanese reports of adverse events following immunization (AEFI). In doing so, it presents methods to analyze this imprecision. These methods include use of unique Japanese data on the validity of certain AEFIs. They also include ways to estimate AEFI rates, which allow comparison of AEFI data between countries. Using US AEFI data for comparison, we show how differences in AEFI reporting systems likely influence AEFI statistics. Although our comparisons of AEFI rates are not precise, many of the difference we detected between Japanese and US statistics make sense and reflect differences in the societal and medical perspectives on various vaccines or can be explained by differences in the reporting systems including reporting sources. For example, differences in societal and medical perspective probably underly the extraordinarily high Japanese rates of anaphylaxis and other AEs following HPV immunizations from 2010 to 2016 compared to US rates and to Japanese rates for other vaccines. High US rates of reported Guillain-Barré syndrome following influenza vaccination relative to Japanese rates and to rates for other US vaccines are consistent with data suggesting that the index of suspicion for such reactions could affect AEFI rates. The findings that over half of Japanese anaphylaxis reports for every vaccine are erroneous, and that close to half of "serious" Japanese AEFI cases probably are not serious may be due in part not only to explanations unique to Japan, but also to factors that apply to the USA and other countries. Differences in reporting systems account for a much higher rate of non-serious AEFI reports in the USA compared to Japan. Japanese marketing authorization holders are probably at least as assiduous and timely in their reporting of AEFIs as health care providers, though granular level differences are apparent in reporting by various sources. The methods we used to analyze the validity of Japanese statistics can be used to analyze the validity of AEFI reports from other countries and aid the harmonization of adverse event reporting systems. Eventually, similar reporting systems might be adapted for drugs and medical devices.

Safety and effectiveness of thymoglobulin: Results of seven Japanese post marketing surveillances

Safety and effectiveness of thymoglobulin: Results of seven Japanese post marketing surveillances

A Comparative Analysis of Japanese, Mexican and English Marketing Practices: Examining the Influence of Culture on Marketing

This research paper examines how the distinct cultures of Japan, Mexico and Great Britain influence companies’ respective marketing strategies. These three countries were chosen specifically because of their vast cultural differences and their location on three different continents. First, the paper will compare each country’s economic outlook in order to more thoroughly understand each country’s market and consumer behavior. Next, each country’s culture will be explored through several distinguishing aspects such as religion, family structure, gender roles, society, etc. A summary of each country’s consumer behavior and consumer ethics will be given. Next, specific examples of companies that have led successful marketing campaigns in each country will be analyzed in order to determine how they used cross-cultural marketing. The companies used were Coca-Cola for Mexico, Kit-Kat and Louis Vuitton for Japan and Five-Guys for Great Britain. These results can help companies which are trying to launch their products in international markets understand different consumer behavior and markets world-wide.

Tobacco industry marketing adaptations to Singapore plain packaging

BackgroundSingapore has implemented plain packaging, a measure that strips all colours, logos and branding elements from tobacco packs. In other countries, tobacco companies responded to plain packaging with a variety...

Overview of the Premarketing and Postmarketing Requirements for Drugs Granted Japanese Conditional Marketing Approval.

For drugs that are intended to fill unmet medical needs, such as the treatment of rare diseases or a subtype of cancer, it can take a long time to conduct confirmatory clinical trials due to limited patient availability. Delayed access to these drugs increases the risk of mortality of patients with these diseases. To address this issue, the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan has decided to implement the Conditional Early Approval System with issuing the Ministry Notification in 2017. Drugs eligible for conditional early approval are those that are indicated for the treatment of a serious disease, have proven safety and efficacy, and cannot be examined easily by confirmatory clinical trials. When the benefit of immediate availability outweighs the risk of having less comprehensive data with which to confirm the clinical benefit of a product in the premarketing phase, products can be approved under the Conditional Early Approval System, accompanied by postmarketing regulatory requirements to manage postmarketing risks and, if needed, conduct postmarketing confirmatory clinical studies. Overview of the pre‐approval and post‐approval regulatory considerations will promote to more efficiently develop pharmaceutical products that fill unmet medical needs, leading to the prompt delivery of safe and effective drugs to patients who often have few therapeutic options available. As of March 2020, four drugs had been approved under the Conditional Early Approval System. In this review, we describe the premarketing and postmarketing requirements of these drugs and discuss the regulatory landscape around the Conditional Early Approval System.

Consumer recognition of department store business category in Japan: Comparing consideration of store image to the shopping center

ABSTRACT Japanese department stores constitute one of the leading retail categories in the world, influencing business models of retailers in the Pacific Rim countries, and especially those in Asia. However, most Japanese consumers recognize that the department stores category is declining. Department stores are confounded by other retail categories. However, despite many technical and non-technical publications on the subject, few Japanese marketing studies focus on this disconnect. Through a consumer behavior study, the competitiveness of department stores is compared with other retail business categories. An online survey identifies the types of stores perceived as department stores by consumers, and the factors they consider when evaluating this category. The results of the fuzzy set analysis based on factor analyses of store choice and brand attachment show that department store patronage is affected by store environment perceptions, cognitive affinity perceptions, attachment perceptions, admiration perceptions, and non-monetary price perceptions. The findings of fuzzy set analysis also clarify how department stores attract consumers. Strategy recommendations for department store based on these results are provided.

The role of Narratology in Japanese Sake Marketing

The role of Narratology in Japanese Sake Marketing

ВЛИЯНИЕ КУЛЬТУРНЫХ ОСОБЕННОСТЕЙ НА ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ МАРКЕТИНГА В ЯПОНСКОМ СТИЛЕ

The article describes the main stages of the development of marketing in the Japanese style since the end of World War II and the period of American occupation, as during this period Japan implemented concept of marketing at the national market. The purpose of the article is to identify the role of cultural characteristics influence on the development of marketing in Japan. Special attention is paid to the differences between Japanese-style marketing and Western one, as well as to the comparison of theoretical theses on the typology of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the characteristics of Japanese marketing.

Cost-Effectiveness of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Using a Balloon-Expandable Valve in Japan: Experience From the Japanese Pilot Health Technology Assessment

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is an innovative and effective treatment in high-surgical-risk (HR) and inoperable patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. This cost-effectiveness analysis of transfemoral TAVI (TF-TAVI) compared with surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) conforms with the methodological guidelines for cost-effectiveness evaluation by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in Japan. The cost-effectiveness of TF-TAVI using SAPIEN XT was evaluated using a lifetime Markov simulation from the national payer perspective. Comparators were SAVR for HR patients and standard of care (SOC) for inoperable patients. A systematic literature review for clinical evidence of TF-TAVI and comparators was conducted. The evidence for TF-TAVI was derived from the SOURCE XT registry and Japanese post marketing surveillance. Because there was no literature directly or indirectly comparing TF-TAVI using SAPIEN XT with comparators, the comparator data were selected from relevant published studies, considering the similarity of study eligibility criteria and patient backgrounds (eg, age and surgical risk scores). Sensitivity analyses were used to validate the robustness of results. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of TF-TAVI versus SAVR for HR patients was ¥1.3 million/quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of TF-TAVI versus SOC for inoperable patients was ¥3.5 million/QALY. TF-TAVI was cost-effective when compared with SAVR for HR patients and when compared with SOC for inoperable patients, using a threshold of ¥5 million/QALY.

What Does Marketing Mean to Japanese NPO Managers?

For the past two decades, the number of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Japan has notably increased. As competition for funding is tougher than ever before, marketing plays a crucial role for NPOs to seek financial and human resources and deliver social services. Previous research regarding Japanese nonprofit marketing identifies that NPOs that are oriented more toward marketing face fewer issues and perform better than those who do not invest in marketing activities. As the existing literature suggests, however, many nonprofit managers do not understand the rationale of marketing and are often biased in believing that it is a business activity for making profit that is irrelevant to NPOs. The situation may be similar or even worse in Japan as some Japanese nonprofit managers appear biased against business and may regard marketing as a means of manipulating customers and selling products. In this context, the present study examines how nonprofit managers in Japan view marketing, as their views on marketing may affect their organizations’ marketing activities.

A Critical Marketing Practitioner in Japan: Philosophy and Marketing Activities of Seiji Tsutsumi

This paper explores some features of marketing activities and marketing thought of a Japanese critical marketing practitioner, Dr. Seiji Tsutsumi. The approach of the paper is biographical. Somewhat paradoxically, the paper finds – in the practices and thoughts of Dr. Seiji Tsutsumi – a refreshingly critical mindset, despite his huge commercial success in retail business in Japan. Similar biographical research should be done in other national contexts, to develop links between practices and critical theories.

Sesame Street's place in Japan: marketing multicultural New York in cosmopolitan Tokyo

Sesame Street, the longest running and most popular children's program in world television history, has failed to gain a large fan base in Japan because of notions of place. Since 1969, Sesame Street has taught socialization skills, pioneered programming formats, developed marketing strategies and spread American ideologies. Sesame Street has aired in English in 145 countries; over thirty countries have developed localized versions. Japan's NHK public television broadcast Sesame Street from 1971 to 2004 to teach English to secondary-school students. In 2004, Sesame Street was moved to the commercial TV Tokyo network and was localized. Muppets were added to appeal to younger children. Yet the program was cancelled in 2007. A key to Sesame Street's worldwide success has been teaching cognitive skills and promoting compassion for local cultural differences, while tapping consumer desires for idealized American childhood. When New York was erased and the English language removed, Sesame Street could not compete with Japan's already extensive children's television market. Sesame Street characters, however, became more successful when removed from their original context.I overview five aspects of Sesame Street in Japan and Japan in Sesame Street that best exemplify the program's cultural and consumerist politics, significance in television history and the image of urban society it represents. Namely, I analyze Sesame Street's place on children's television, the reasons for its importation and localization, depictions of Japan, broadcast history and legacy after cancellation. I argue that the kind of popularity Sesame Street has enjoyed in Japan is different than in other countries and provides insight into the Japanese television industry and marketing of American childhood. I explore a historical moment when television was particularly influential in international relations and in constructing notions of ‘home’.

Risk perception and risk attitudes in Tokyo: A report of the first administration of DOSPERT+M in Japan

AbstractBackground:The Domain-Specific Risk Taking scale (DOSPERT) has been used to measure risk perceptions and attitudes in several nations and cultures. Takahashi translated DOSPERT to Japanese but DOSPERT responses from Japan have never been reported. Butler et al. (2012) developed an additional medical risk domain subscale to be added to DOSPERT to form DOSPERT+M.Objective:To describe the translation of the medical risk domain subscale to Japanese and to characterize domain-specific risk attitudes in Tokyo.Methods:Members of a probability-weighted online panel representative of the Tokyo metro area were randomized to complete pairs of DOSPERT+M tasks (risk attitude, risk perception, benefit perception). We explored relationships among domains through correlational and factor analysis; we tested the hypothesis that the medical risk domain and DOSPERT’s health/safety domains were uncorrelated.Participants:One hundred eighty panelists.Results:Six of the original DOSPERT items (two each in the ethics, health/safety, and financial domains) are not useable in Japan according to the Japanese Marketing Research Association code because they ask about participation in illegal activities; we thus used abbreviated versions of those domains leaving out these items. The DOSPERT+M items generally did not cluster cleanly into the expected domains, although items within the same domain usually were intercorrelated. Participants demonstrated domain-specific conventional risk attitudes, although nearly half of those assessed were perceived-risk neutral in all domains. Unlike our recently reported findings in the U.S. population, DOSPERT+M medical domain scores were associated with health/safety domain scores, although they were often more strongly associated with scores in other domains, such as recreational activities.Conclusion:The DOSPERT (and DOSPERT+M) instruments are problematic in Japan but Japanese citizens may also differ from those of other nations in their risk attitudes and perceptions.

Sodality of "Trust": Business Ethnography in Japanese Marketing

Sodality of "Trust": Business Ethnography in Japanese Marketing

How mutuality reinforces partnership development: Japanese and Korean marketing perspectives

Relationship building is about ‘mutuality’ and how an organizational cultural value system enhances the development of long-term relationships that influence the marketing strategy process. This paper explains how senior managers embrace the concept of mutuality in order to establish a partnership arrangement in the context of a vertical marketing system. From the literature, four propositions relating to customer service policy, the process of innovation, relationship marketing and comparative national culture were developed and placed in the context of a Japanese and a South Korean electronics company based in the UK. The propositions were validated using in-depth, personal interviews with a limited number of senior managers in the two global companies. Evidence suggests that managers in Japanese companies formulate industry and country specific customer service policies, dictate R&D programmes, and spend a long time getting to know an individual in a potential partner organization(s) before they engage in any form of business integration. Whereas managers in South Korean companies are keen to communicate extensively and seek to acquire additional skills and knowledge so that they can innovate and implement cost effective strategies.

Minodronate for the treatment of osteoporosis

Minodronate, a new nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate, was developed in Japan. It was the first drug to demonstrate significant prevention of vertebral fractures in Japanese patients with osteoporosis in a phase III doubleblind comparative study. As a result of positive data from clinical trials in Japan minodronate was granted a Japanese marketing approval for the treatment of osteoporosis on January 21, 2009. In vitro studies demonstrated that minodronate is one of the most potent inhibitors of bone resorption among currently available bisphosphonates. Preclinical studies demonstrated the inhibitory effect of minodronate on the decrease in the bone mineral density (BMD) in ovariectomized rats, dogs and monkeys. Daily oral minodronate was safe, well tolerated and effective in reducing vertebral fracture risk in postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis. The effects on lumbar and hip BMD and the safety profile of minodronate are comparable to those of alendronate. These data suggest that minodronate is a promising new potent bisphosphonate for the treatment of osteoporosis.

Japanese Multinational Enterprises in China: Successful Adaptation of Marketing Strategies

This paper examines three case studies of Japanese multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China. They are from different sectors – retailing (Ito-Yokado), consumer goods (Shiseido) and automobiles (Toyota) – and all have had to adapt their business models to Chinese conditions. The paper examines the direction, extent and nature of adaptation of the Japanese firms' business models in China and seeks to explore the changes in terms of conventional ‘Japanese’ international marketing behaviour. It finds that Japanese international marketing has evolved. While some aspects of success (organisational abilities, long-term orientation, aggressive growth strategies, ownership, R&D) have been diffused from developed to emerging markets, others (identification of customer needs and wants, information processing capabilities) have been extended. Segmentation and positioning are fine-tuned and are significantly different from Japanese strategies in developed markets. However, it would be a mistake to characterise a ‘Japanese’ strategy for the Chinese market, as no single approach predominates. Even within our sample of three case studies, strategies vary between the three firms and within each firm they vary over time. In all three cases, the Japanese MNEs are very conscious of consumer needs in China and the dynamics of these needs. A flexibility of approach is evident from Japanese MNEs in China. Overall, we conclude that Japanese MNEs are not ‘Western’ or ‘Japanese’ in their approach to the Chinese market, but are flexible, realistic and pragmatic.

Product adoption and innovation diffusion: the case of Japanese marketing to China

Along with the growing prominence of China in corporate strategy and decision-taking, Japanese firms are increasingly aligning their activities to accommodate the shift towards a customer-led market environment and the advent of a major consumer market on Japan's doorstep. This study shows how Japanese firms adjust their marketing to changes in Chinese consumption patterns and address the impact of geographical and socioeconomic variables on innovation diffusion. By taking a fresh look at the marketing challenges amidst latent consumer ethnocentrism and cosmopolitanism, this study generates fresh insights into the reconfiguration of Japanese marketing and retailing activities in this emergent market.