Japanese Costumers

SADAFUMI NISHINA JAPANESE CONSUMERS:Introducing Foreign Products/Brandsinto the Japanese Market

SADAFUMI NISHINA is amanager in the inlernalionalmarketing services depart-menl, marketing division, atDentsu Incorporated in Tokyo,Japan Japanese enterprises are ap-proaching business and mar-keting activities through aninternational perspective. The

internationalized conditions ofthis environment have madeconsumers more receptive to for-eign products. Foreign productsin the Japanese market are bene-ficiaries of such factors as thetrade surplus, the yen's appreci-ation, the expansion of domesticdemand, and the market'smaturity.

This report will present the re-sults of our research on foreignproducts from the following fourpoints:

(1) The attitude of consumers to-ward foreign countries andproducts: to Japanese con-sumers "foreign product"means something more thanits function and quality.

(2) The consumer sector thatprefers foreign products:there is a segment of Japa-nese consumers who are veryreceptive to foreign products.

(3) The image positioning of for-eign brands: foreign brandscan be divided into four cate-gories from the standpoint ofconsumers' attitudes.

(4) The expressions used in ad-vertising foreign products:the advertising expressionscan also be classified ac-cording to the images of theoriginating countries andinternationality.

When marketing a product inJapan, it is necessary to "lo-

calize" for consumers. This doesnot mean merely modifyingproducts and advertisements toreflect Japanese tone; it requiresan aggressive image-creatingstrategy to meet the expectationsthat Japanese consumers have forforeign countries and products.

Conditions AffectingForeign Products

Trends in the Economic Envi-ronment. Stimulation of Importsfor a Continued TradeSurplus. Japan's balance-of-tradehas been showing a surplusevery year since 1981, and it reg-istered an unprecedented high ofU.S. $82.7 billion in 1986. Amidstgrowing criticism from foreigncountries to open its markets, theJapanese government assumedinternational responsibility to di-minish the trade surplus by ex-panding domestic demand andby executing various measuressuch as elimination or loweringof tariffs, easing import restric-tions, and improvement of theimport inspection process. As aresult, imports for fiscal 1987 to-taled U.S. $149,515 million, a re-markable increase from U.S.$126,408 million of the previousyear. This trend of rising importscontinues.

Declines in Import Prices Dueto Appreciated Yen. The ex-change rate of the yen against thedollar bottomed-out in February1985 at 263.4 yen per U.S. dollar.Triggered by the G5 meeting ofSeptember 1985, the yen's appre-ciation began rapidly and con-

Journal ot ADVERTISING RESEARCHAPRIL/MAY 1990 35

J A P A N E S E C O N S U M E R S

tinued thereafter. It reached 130yen against the dollar in January1988. The appreciation of the yendecreased the prices of importedgoods in the Japanese marketand worked to the advantage offoreign products.

Business Trends. ForeignProducts for New-Product De-velopment and Corporate Diver-sification. As many of the do-mestic markets became saturated,the products became equal intechnological standards and diffi-cult to distinguish, and competi-tion among businesses intensi-fied. The introduction of easilyrecognized foreign brands func-tions as an effective solution to aserious dilemma. Utilizing for-eign ideas is also essential as acountermeasure against theshortened lifespan of productsand for development of newproducts in a mature marketwhere diverse products are pro-duced in small lots. As a vehiclefor diversification, which is themainstay of corporate strategies,introduction of knowledge fromabroad or acquisition of tech-nology and products by mar-keting and advertising isincreasing.

Increases in Overseas Pro-duction and Development. Be-cause of the yen's appreciationand wage increases, productioncosts in Japan have become rela-tively high by international com-parison. In addition to importinglow-cost materials, production oflow added-value items in low-cost Asian countries is becomingcommon. One such example isthe electric appliance industry.This has resulted in a phenom-enon in which "overseas-pro-duced Japanese products" areflowing back into the domesticmarket.

Significance of the JapaneseMarket for Foreign Enter-prises. The Japanese market ismost attractive to foreign busi-nesses because of scale (120 mil-

lion people) and quality (highstandard of income). More andmore foreign industries are re-searching ways to enter the Japa-nese market. This has resulted inthe development of uniqueproducts, new distribution routesdeveloped in partnership withJapanese companies, investmentin advertising, and the develop-ment of after-sales and supportservices.

Growth of Asian Newly Indus-trialized Countries (NICs). Cou-pled with the strong yen andweak dollar, the currencies ofNICs are undervalued. This hasmade the products of NICs com-petitive in the Japanese marketand their imports into Japan areincreasing markedly.

Trends in Consumers. Thenumber of Japanese who travelabroad increases year by yearand reached 6.83 million in 1987,an increase of 124 percent fromthe previous year. The increaseof those who have overseas ex-perience means increased oppor-tunities for the Japanese to be-come acquainted with authenticforeign products and to cultivatean appreciation for them. This is

also creating a demand as trav-elers seek foreign products inJapan after they return home.

Not only have lifestyles be-come more western but also theflow of people, products, and in-formation has become interna-tional. This has enhanced theconsumers' interest in foreigncountries even more and at thesame time made them receptiveto foreign products. At present,the consumers' demands showorientation toward "authen-ticity," "individuality," "sensu-ality," and polarization between"high quality" and "economy."These demands seem to coincidewith the appeal of foreignproducts.

MarketingForeign Products

Roles played by Foreign Cor-porations and Japanese Coun-terparts. The history of importedproducts reflected the influx offoreign corporations into Japan:importation of completedproducts, that is, the importationof parts, and the local productionin Japan. As Japanese corpora-

Figure 1Changes of Foreign Product Marketing

Overseas Production

Importation ofHardware

Consignment Production

Initiative byJapaneseCompany

Market-basedApproach

Import of CompletedProduct

Joint Development

Importation ofSoftware

Domestic Production

Market-basedApproach

Initiative byForeignCompany

Production under License

36 Journal of ADVERTISING RESEARCHAPRIUMAY 1990

A I ' A N E S E C O N S U M E R S

tions gained strength as partners,however, they have begun to im-port foreign elements (design,technology, and brand) aggres-sively and to develop foreignproducts that appeal to the Japa-

inese market.Foreign elements in foreign

products have expanded from"hardware" such as completedproducts and parts to "software"such as production systems,technology, ideas, designs, andbrand names. Recently, importa-tion of "hardware" became thecenter of attention again as im-ports of overseas-developedproducts increased (see Figure 1).

Promoting Foreign Productsthrough a "Product-based Ap-proach." For foreign productsimported or produced with a li-cense, the product-based ap-proach is adopted, using foreignproducts as prototypes and thenadjusting the products to theJapanese market. The issues to bediscussed in this case includecomparison of the Japanesemarket with different markets inthe country of origin, "localiza-tion" of products, and develop-ment of marketing plans targetedat Japanese markets (see Fig-ure 2).

Figure 2

Product-based Approach

Figure 3Market-based Approach

Foreign ProductImport, License

Localization

Japanese Market

Foreign Elements

Fashion Factors Brand Name Design Idea Unique Material Communication

Elements

Economic Factors Raw Material Labor

Foreign Product

Joint DevelopmentConsignment Production

Japanese Elements

Reliability Factors Corporate Image Technology Production System After Service Product Planning Finance

Promoting Foreign Productsthrough a "Market-based Ap-proach." For foreign productsjointly developed by Japaneseand foreign corporations andthose products planned by Japa-nese enterprises and producedoverseas, the combination of do-mestic and foreign elements isthe key point to developing acompetitive product in the Japa-nese market, and a market-basedapproach is adopted. The con-ventional idea of integrated pro-duction within Japan is alreadyoutgrown by the idea of "theright elements from the rightcountry" (see Figure 3).

Attitudes Toward ForeignCountries and Products

We first examined Japaneseconsumers' perception of foreigncountries and products based ontwo surveys. Survey A was con-ducted in Tokyo and Osaka in1986 on 1,420 men and womenbetween the ages of 15 and 49.Survey B was conducted inTokyo in 1987 on 700 women be-tween 18 and 49 years of age.

Image of Countries or Re-gions. The amount of consumerassociation depends on the par-ticular countries or regions. Paris,France, and America, all familiarto the Japanese, brought up anaverage 1.7 items of association.

while Eastern Europe and Polandproduced only 0.5 items.

As for the content, "America"was associated with "PresidentReagan," "great power/strongnation," etc. It was associatedwith such products as "cars,beef, oranges, wheat, and corn."However, California, New York,and Los Angeles recalled dif-ferent associations, as shown inTable 1.

As Table 2 shows, Japaneseimages of 32 countries were esti-mated by 8 characteristics. Ac-cording to this examination,countries can be divided intoseven stereotypes including "apastoral-type" and "anurban-type."

Evaluation of ForeignProducts. A general comparisonwith domestic products showsthat foreign products are thoughtto be appealing in terms of de-sign and individuality. However,their function and quality are notnecessarily rated as reliable. Theevaluation is especially lowamong those who are potentialtargets (High-Hype, HH) for for-eign products (see Table 3).

In a comparison of separategoods in terms of "quality, de-sign, and price," foreign furni-ture, sports/leisure goods, andaccessories are highly evaluatedboth in terms of quality and de-sign, but their prices are thought

Journal of ADVERTISING RESEARCHAPRIUMAY 1990 37

A P A N E S E C O N S U M E R S

Table 2Image of Countries and Regions (Survey B)

stereotypes

Image

Countriesor regions

Pastoraltype

A

B

C

D

E

F

Switzerland

Mediterranean Sea

Sweden

Northern Europe

Canada

Australia

New Zealand

Holland

Eastern Europe

California

Brazil

Spain

Mexico

India

R.O.K,

Hong Kong

Taiwan

Scotland

Poland

Greece

China

U.S.S-R.

U.S.A.

L.A.

Germany

France

Paris

Italy

N.Y.

12

16

13

27

7

5

5

17

22

3

8

28

18

38

21

7

12

39

22

74

66

35

13

4

47

41

43

36

4

78

63

62

55

74

81

71

55

31

51

50

17

25

25

9

6

14

41

21

29

43

23

24

7

16

10

5

11

1

22

13

22

20

7

7

8

52

22

5

41

71

66

61

55

25

38

47

36

29

45

31

9

5

13

8

3

29

4

11

16

11

14

30

44

39

32

19

65

59

9

17

16

13

6

27

7

16

6

31

23

376

5

11

3

9

1

14

1

7

7

10

3

1

1

11

3

4

1

1

1

11

6

7

3

6

1

5

23

56

24

53

3

3

5

32

21

1

7

5

5

2

2

1

4

0

2

1

1

0

2

4

3

4

1

1

3

4

24

12

40

15

17

11

17

6

2

9

11

4

3

1

1

3

3

0

2

1

1

0

5

0

7

1

1

0

1

2219

7

73

11

35

39

10

1

3

5

1

2

1

0

1

2

1

1

0

1

0

9

1

6

1

1

1

1

9

13

12

6 3 ^

70

22

33

Urbantype

U.K. 80 10 10 15 15 24 38

1. Long history and tradition 2. Rich nature 3. Rich ethnicity 4. Plentiful agricultural products 5. Advanced industrial technology 6. Productsof high function and quality 7, Good sense of design 8. Abundant high-class products.A. Nature type B. Agricultural type C. Ethnic type D. Traditional type E. High-tech type F. High-quality type G. Historical type.


Table 1Contents ofAssociations

Associated^ words

Associations by CountriesAmerica

Reagangreat, powerStatue of Libertylarge and wide

J A P A N E S E

or RegionsCalifornia

orangesfruitsunshineocean

C O N S U M E R S

(Survey A)Los Angeles

DisneylandmetropolisskyscrapersOlympics

New York

SkyscrapersStatue of LibertyManhattanmetropolis

Canada

forestsnaturetimbermountains

Associatedproducts

carsbeef

1 orangeswheatcorn

orangesfruitgrapefruitraisinswine

carsorangesfruitgrapefruitclothes

clothescarsaccessoriesfashion

lumbersalmonfurswheatcardigan

to be relatively expensive (seeTable 4).

Foreign products are oftenused as gifts in Japan. Of thepeople surveyed, 27 percent hadreceived whiskey, 17 percent hadreceived cosmetics or toiletries,and 15 percent had received tea.

There is a relationship betweenthose who favor (like or want tovisit) a country or region and thepurchase of foreign productsfrom there. New York "fans"often buy foreign beer, while"fans" of Spain and Germany aremore likely to buy foreign winesthan French "fans" (see Table 5).

Targets ofForeign Products

Development of Foreign In-terest Scale. So far, foreignproducts have been targeted at(1) the younger generation, (2)those in the high income bracket,or (3) those who have made pur-chases in the past. However, the

^dea that "foreign products fit theyoung" is too simple. Also, if aproduct is targeted only at pastconsumers, marketing opportu-nities will be restricted. There-fore, we searched for a new seg-ment scale which is more closelyconnected with consumption offoreign products. In a compar-ison among the following fourproposed scales based on surveydata, the "Foreign Interest Scale"was the most effective:

Foreign Interest Scale (degreeof interest in foreign countries)

Foreign Products PreferenceScale (degree of preference to-ward foreign products ingeneral)

Degree of Favorable Percep-tions of Foreign Products (totaldegree of positive impressionsof foreign products)

Evaluation Style of ForeignProducts (which attributes offoreign products were rankedhighly)In choosing the questions

which comprise the Foreign In-terest Scale, no direct questionsabout the consumption of foreignproducts were included. Rather,

the questions in the scale areconcerned with experiences andconditions which lie behind con-sumer action, namely, foreignlanguage skills, interest inoverseas information, overseasexperience, overseas personalcontacts, etc. (see Tables 6 to 8).

Marks of individuals were cal-culated by just totaling thenumber of items with positive re-sponses. The marks were spreadbetween the values of 0 and 11and, for the convenience of sim-plicity, were divided into 5 cate-gories; HH (high/high), high,middle, low, and LL (low/low).

We calculated a correlation co-efficient between the standardvariables (purchasing action of

Table 3Attitude toward Foreign Products (Survey B)

Total HHAttitude

Foreign products are better in design than domestic ones.

Foreign products have attributes different from domestic ones.

1 buy foreign products if 1 can afford them.

1 buy foreign products if the function and price are the same asdomestic ones.

1 feel good when 1 have foreign products with me.

1 like foreign products.

Foreign products are more economical in the long term thandomestic ones.

Foreign products are better in function and quality than domesticones.

70

69

61

51

50

42

42

32

78

83

70

58

49

49

42

20

(These figures are the totals for those who are Very positive" and "quite positive.

Journal of ADVERTISING RESEARCHAPRILyMAY 1990 39

J A P A N E 5 E C O N S U M E R S

foreign products and brands) andeach of those scales. The resultshowed that the Foreign InterestScale has a stronger relationshipwith consumption of foreignproducts than other scales.

Validity of Foreign InterestScale. As Figure 4 shows, theForeign Interest Scale is moreclosely related with the con-sumption of foreign productsthan with the age scale. The HHgroup shows the highest actionrates in purchase of goods andbrands. The low groups tend tohave lower action rates in order.No such orderly tendency isfound in the age scale.

As shown in Table 8, this HHgroup in the Foreign InterestScale is not represented by anyparticular age group or incomegroup, but they tend to have ahigh level of education. As Table9 shows, the HH group membersimagine themselves as "sen-suous, intelligent, individual-istic." In shopping, they use mailorder and credit cards relativelyfrequently. Also, when theychoose an item, they do not carewhat others say about it; they areconcerned with its "design andatmosphere."

Image Positioning ofForeign Brands

Measurement of Images ofForeign Brands. From the "atti-tude toward foreign products ingeneral," four viewpoints,namely "function/quality," "at-mosphere," "scarcity value," and"reputation," were chosen asitems to measure the image ofseparate brands. Since the imageof being international and theimage of the country-of-odgin areimportant to foreign products,such viewpoints as "internation-ality," "domestic-ness," "Euro-pean-ness," and "American-ness," were added. The surveywas done on 160 major foreignbrands. Figure 5 shows part ofthe result.

As for specific images, "atmo-sphere" was the strongest inluxury goods such as tobacco,wine, beer, and liquors. Theimage of "function/quality" wasstrong in brands of miscellaneousgoods and medicine such asKleenex, Band-aids, or businessmachines such as Xerox. Foodwas rather on the "function/quality" side. The image of cars

is more on the "atmosphere"side than any other kind of ma-chine. The "international" imageis strong in foreign cars like Mer-cedes Benz and BMW and tradi-tional imported goods such as li-quor and watches. The "Euro-pean" image is represented bytraditional goods like Rosenthaland Wedgwood and the "Amer-ican" image by cola, jeans, ciga-rettes, and chain restaurants.

Indeed, there is a differenceamong brands even within asingle product. American Expresshas a strong image of "scarcity"while VISA has one of "reputa-tion." Heineken and Lowenbrauhave clear images of "European"while Budweiser has an "Amer-ican" image, and Miller has notyet established an image ofcountry-of-origin. Products suchas beer, which are manufacturedunder license, and thoseproducts modified for the do-mestic market, such as LASERautomobiles produced by Mazdaand sold by Ford, are still per-ceived as foreign products as faras image is concerned.

Figure 6 shows that an imageof "scarcity value" is strongestamong those in "total" but shifts

Table 4Comparison between Foreign and Domestic Products (Survey A)

Quality Design

ProductsD N

40

Economy

N

Foods

Clothes

Furniture

Household goods

Sports goods

Cars

Accessories

F = foreign, N = neutral,

9

20

34

15

33

10

37

D = domestic

38

36

36

35

39

25

41

53

42

30

50

28

65

22

24

34

40

24

34

28

41

41

36

36

43

41

34

41

35

30

24

33

25

38

18

10

11

13

6

12

5

16

30

29

34

34

36

26

40

60

60

53

58

52

69

44

Journal ot ADVERTISING RESEARCHAPRILJMAY 1990

I A P A N E S E C O N S U M E R S

Table 5Purchase Rate of ForeignProducts by Country Preference(Survey B)

Purchase rateI of foreign beer

(6 months)Country (%)

Total

U.S.-fan

U.K.-fan

F.D.R.-fan

N.Y.-fan

Country

Total

France-fan

F.D.R.-fan

Spain-fan

Country

Total

U.K.-fan

India-fan

U.S.-fan

25

31

29

35

40

Purchase rateof foreign wine

{6 months)(%)14

13

20

22

Purchase rateof foreign tea

(6 months)(%)23

26

32

21

Country

Purchase rateof foreign cars

(including purchaseintention rate)

Total

F.D.R.-fan

U.S.-fan

^ . K . - f a n

R.O.K.-fan

16

21

19

22

24

Table 7Distribution of Degree of ForeignInterest (Survey B)HH High Middle Low LL

toward one of "reputation"among "those who know" and"those who use." Hence, thedistinction between "function/quality" type and "atmosphere"type products becomes clear. Themore contact there is with for-eign products, the more clearlythe feature of the products isunderstood.

Image Clusters in ForeignProducts and Brands. As a re-sult of a cluster analysis based onthe eight items of image data,four types or clusters wererecognized (see Table 10).

(1) Brands with Images Based onInternationality. The highestclass brands represented byMercedes Benz, Omega, etc.,and the brands mainly aimedat universal service such ascredit cards and computersare in this cluster.

(2) Brands with Images Based onCountrieS'Of-Origin. This groupproduces clear images ofcountries-of-origin. Popularones are Scotch whiskey,British tea, German beer,American cigarettes, fast-foodoutlets, and jeans.

(3) Brands with Images Based onCountry-of-Entry. This groupincludes the foreign productslocalized in Japan for a longtime and those produced do-mestically but sold as if theyare foreign products.

(4) Brands with Images Based onFunction/Quality. The productswhich have stronger reputa-tions for quality than foreignimage belong to this group.This includes razors, tissues,cosmetics, and foods whichcompete with domestic coun-terparts and have substantialmerchandising power.

Table 6Constituent Items of Foreign Interest Scaie and the Response(Survey B)

Total HHConstituent items of foreign interest scale

8 20 39 19 14

Foreign language skill1. 1 would like to learn English.

2. 1 have spoken to foreigners in the past year.

3. 1 can manage daily conversation in English,

Interest in overseas intormation4. 1 am interested in the foreign news in newspapers.

5. 1 am interested in magazine articles about foreign culturesand sites.

6. 1 have read newspapers, magazines, or books in a foreignlanguage.

Overseas experience7. 1 have traveled abroad.

8. 1 have stayed abroad for more than two weeks.

Overseas personal contacts9- 1 have family or close friends who often go abroad.

10. My family or my Japanese friends live in foreign countries.

11, 1 have foreign friends

62

20

12

4a

41

ia

40

13

3428

14

88

85

73

92

95

85

95

70

84

81

71


A P A N l S !." C O N S U M K R S

Figure 4

Foreign Interest Scale Versus Age Scale (Survey B)Purchase/Ownership Rate of Foreign Products

Beer Sports goods

80 r

Foreigninterestscale

Agescale

Watch

60

40

20

0

4434

2417

13

4435

20 16

51

3022

HH H M L LL

16

HH H M L LL HH H M L LL

80

60

40

20

30 33 2825

16 1827 27 29

19 1813 17 17

18-24 30-34 40-4425-29 35-39 45-49

29 2622

18-24 30-34 40-4425-29 35-39 45-49

18-24 30-34 40-4425-29 35-39 45-49

Foreigninterestscale

Agescale

40

30

20

10

0

Purchase/Ownership Rate of Foreign Brands

Beer

Budweiser

Sports goods

Assies34

2 7 ^

-

34

\s

20 ^ '

/

21yN

12

Heinekent

Fila

- - 3

Watch

Omega

25 Longines

HH H M L LL HH H M L LL HH H M L LL

40

30

20

10

27 ^^^

1 7 - - '

-

29

1914 ^

22

8

14^18

^-'II6

25 2 5 ^

21 ^

31/ ^

\ \

.,28

"T

s. 20

" ' 8

18-24 30-34 40-4425-29 35-39 45-49

18-24 30-34 40-4425-29 35-39 45-49

18-24 30-34 40-4425-29 35-39 45-49

4 2 Journal of ADVERTiSING HESEARCHAPRIUMAY 1990

] A F A N E S E C O N S l ! M E R S

Table 8Features of Those Who Ranked HH in Degree of Foreign Interest (Survey B)

Maritalstatus

Education Household income(million Yen)4.99

30

33

5 00-5.99

26

36

600-9

29

23

99 10.00

14

8Total 20 30 36 14 25 75 32

Advertising Expressionsof Foreign Products

As discussed before, the for-eign attributes of foreignproducts have a positive meaningto Japanese consumers. There-fore, "localization" in an adver-tising expression involves notjust adding a Japanese elementbut expressing emphatically theinternational image or the imageof the country-of-origin accordingto the Japanese perception of for-eign countries, especially those ofWestern orientation.

It turned out that advertisingcopy for foreign products used inJapan can be classified into basi-cally the same categories as thefour groups of brands presentedearlier. Expressions could beclassified with subcategories asfollows.

Expressions Based onInternational Images International-reputation type:

an expression which appeals toits being a product of world-

I wide reputation International-sense type: an ex-

pression which emphasizes el-ements appealing to the con-sumers' international sense,namely their vague liking forinternational or exotic images

Expressions Based onCountries-of-Origin Country-of-origin's reputation

type: products which have es-tablished reputations related to

the countries-of-origin such asScotch whiskey, French co-gnac, or German wineCountry-of-origin's image type:an expression which uses apositive image of the countrysuch as the traditions ofBritain, mechanical precisionfrom Switzerland, and chicfashions from FranceCountry-of-origin's "climate"and culture type: the character-istic culture, manner, and "cli-

mate" of a country are used aselements of expression to adda unique image and "taste" tothe product, for example,cowboys from the UnitedStates, Mother Nature fromCanada, tartans from Britain,etc.

Expressions Based onCountry-of-Entry-hnage Country-of-entry's reputation

type: an expression which ap-

Table 9Characteristics of the HH Group in the Foreign Interest Scale(Survey B)

Characteristics

Self imageSensuous

Intelligent

Individualistic

Luxurious

Sophisticated

Consumption attitude1 based my selection on feeling and intuition.

1 try to use or match products in my own way.

1 try to look for unique items that no one has.

1 would like to use mail-order more.

1 would like to use credit cards more.

Criteria for product selectionGood design

Reputation

"Atmosphere"

Sense of high quality

HH

3.66

3.24

3.44

3.40

2.86

3.94

4.38

3.58

2.84

1.82

8120

34

34

Total

3.22

2.84

2.78

2.68

2.40

3.20

3.90

3.32

2.12

0.98

73

32

28

26

For self image and consumer attitude, figures are average of the 5-point scale.

Journal of ADVERTISING RESEARCHAPRIL/MAY 1990 43


peals through the product'shistory and reputation in Japan

Adjustment-to-country-of-entry type: an expressionwhich stresses that the productwas reformed or remodeled tomatch Japanese situations

Mismatch type: an expressionwhich uses an amusing combi-nation of foreign and Japaneseelements

Assimilation-to-country-of-entry type: an expressionwhich does not distinguish theforeign product from domesticcounterparts

Expressions Based on Images ofFunction/Quality Explanation-of-product type: an

expression explaining the func-tion and qualities unique to thebrand. In a visual expression,the picture of the product isprominent.

Brand-image type; an expres-sion which appeals through the"atmosphere" of the brand,not through an explanation.This method can be used onlywith products of establishedreputation or with estabhshedbrand names. Many of the adsof this type use a standard uni-versal format, shared by allnations.

Ads for whiskey exemplify thisuniversal format. White HorseMild has an international image.This ad features a westem manand woman, reminding theviewer of a modern lifestyie ofthe "mild" sense. Vague interna-tionality is stressed without sug-gesting any specific country.Burberry Whiskey has an imagebased on country-of-origin. Thisstresses an element of thecountry-of-origin through the"English gentleman" and Bur-berry coats. It is aimed at addingan authentic image to theproduct. White Horse Extra Fine

Figure 5Image Positioning of Foreign Brands (Survey A)

ScotchMaranz

Gillette

IBM

KodakXerox

Dunlop

BASFApple

OmegaLongines

OlivettiCheerL'Oreal

PolaroidWranglerWella

TwiningsExxon

Levi's

AGFASantana

BMWSwatchMercedes BenzAmex

BordenMax FactorOld Spice

Coca-ColaIvoryBig John

LiptonVISA

WrigleyMiller

RosenthalSears

Cutty SarkBudweiserHeineken

SevenEleven

White Horse

JohnnieWalker

CamelWedgv^ood

MarlboroLark

Denny's

McDonald'sKentucky

Fried Chicken

Royal HostSkylark

/ vertical axisIhorizontal axis

R

Scarcity versus Reputation \Function versus AtmosphereJ

Figure 6

Change of image among Those Who Know or Use a Product(Survey A)

Scarcity

Beer(Tablevi^are

> WineCard

A Total( o Those who know\ n Those who use

Atmosphere

Reputation



Table 10Image Cluster in Foreign Brands (Survey A)

(49%)

Image cluster

(12%)

(32%)

(6%)

Image

High-classimport type

Internationalservice type

Europeanimage type

Americanimage type

Domestictype

Functionalimage type

1

XX

XX

X

2

XX

3

XX

XX

4

X

XX

5

XX

6

XX

X

X

7

X

X

XX

8

XX

XX

Typical brands

Mercedes Benz, BMW,Omega, Wedgwood

Rosenthal, Amex,Diners, Apple

Twinings, Swatch,Heineken, Lowenbrau,Burberry

Marlboro. Lark,Coca-Cola, Max Factor,McDonald's, KentuckyFried Chicken

Brother. Onward,House, Kanebo,Noritake, Cosmo,Pilot

Schick, Kleenex,Xerox, Contac,Kodak. IBM,Band-aids

Popularimage type

Olivetti, Polaroid,Maggie, Del Monte,Nabisco. Abon.Borden

Image types: International image type Country-of-origin type Country-of-entry type Function/quality typeImage clusters: 1, International 2. Domestic 3, European 4. American 5. Function/quality 6. Atmosphere 7. Reputations. Scarcity

has an image based on country-of-entry. This stresses a Japaneseelement with a kimono and a hi-kido (Japanese sliding door). It istargeted for the Japanese giftmarket. Johnnie Walker has animage based on function andquality. This ad consists of al-

most minimal elements such as aphoto, the name of the product,and a price. It describes JohnnieWalker as the highest classproduct among brand names.

For foreign products whoseimages are based on function/quality, comparative advertise-

ments with famous domesticbrands are thought to be themost appealing and effective ap-proach. In 1987, the Japan FairTrade Commission providedguidelines that show their ap-proval of such comparative ad-vertising expressions.


Documents

Japanese Costumers