| Slide No. |
Title |
Speaker Note |
| 1 |
"Borderless" Consumer |
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| 2 |
This Plan |
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| 3 |
A Sense of Place |
In area Japan is comparable to California; but the 127 million residents of the land of the rising sun are crowded into just 13% of the total land mass, due to the rocky landscape of much of an island formed by volcanic activity. Population density here is 327 souls per sq. km on average and double that figure in the core metro areas. Compare that to the U.S. with a mere 27 person per sq /km or even the billions of China arrayed in relative solitude at just 127 person per sq/km. |
| 4 |
Non-Japanese in Japan |
But to put the overseas business person in perspective, it is notable that there are really very few non-Japanese at all in Japan. Nominal population figures appear to indicate that there are some 1.9 million non-Japanese here or 1% of the 127 million total population. Most of those are Chinese and Koreans, however, came to Japan long ago but are not counted as citizens. Of the the remainder there are a mere 150,000 North American and European residents. Large overseas corporations such as IBM-Japan for example are staffed by local Japanese hires and management with a few foreign managers rotating through the regions on 2 year assignments. Nevertheless, these foreign capital corporations make a contribution to Japan's economic system all out of proportion to the small number of foreigners manning the front lines here. |
| 5 |
Asia Mega Regions |
In dark grey are shown the major economic and consumer areas of Asia, (ex. India for ease of display here). |
| 6 |
Global Economic Activity Distribution Vs. Population Distribution |
Thanks to satellite telemetry of NASA, the LRP (light-based regional product) can be measured for regions around the world. Taking the LRP as a surrogate for GDP, we can at a glance see the spikes of economic activity in for example the U.S. East Coast, the West Coast, and the EU countries. In the East, the towering spears of Japan's LRP tower above the rest. Meanwhile, population numbers layout over the same map outline (lower frame) show dense areas of mass in the Indian and Chinese regions, but with no matching spikes in the LRP map. |
| 7 |
Global distribution of Patent Activity and "Rock Star" Level Scientists |
Another measure of GDP activity pointing to prosperity among a region's consumers is patent activity (upper frame). Note the high-rise bolts emanating from the Japan archipelago due to its patent fillings. On the other hand Japan lacks the high-tech, rock-star level scientist -- here taken as scientists whose academic papers are most often cited and cross-cited in referred academic journals -- that characterize the U.S. and to a lesser degree Europe. |
| 8 |
Tiny Japan - Still an Economic Powerhouse |
File this under "show me the money." For all the land and all the population of East Asia, "tiny Japan" is still the economic powerhouse and consumer kingdom as measured by GDP and disposable income of its residents. And if one focuses on just the 5 core economic regions of Japan, which occupy less than 1/2 a percent of the total land area of all of East Asia, the contrast is even more stark. Some 30% of all East Asia GDP comes from those 5 small areas of Japan. |
| 9 |
Population 'Pyramid' Pear-shaped Bulge at 45+ |
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| 10 |
New Economic Map of Japan |
The outline of Japan with the key economic blocks of Tokyo (red) Osaka (blue) and Nagoya (orange) shown with the "high-tech island" area of Kyushu to south-west shown in verdant green. |
| 11 |
Interconnected Economics - Soy Trade |
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| 12 |
Japan's View Looking Outside |
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| 13 |
Generation Shift in Japan 1970 - 2007 |
A busy chart in which the span of over 37 years of consumer life are highlighted. In the recent past in the "Lost Decade" column are listed some of the defining characteristics of the post--economic-bubble era period in which Japan fell into a financial and consumer dark hole. |
| 14 |
Rankings - From Sumo to Soup to Style |
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| 15 |
Ranking the 'Big Seller' Consumer Products - 1 |
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| 16 |
Ranking the 'Big Seller' Consumer Products - 2 |
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| 17 |
Ranking the 'Big Seller' Consumer Products - 3 |
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| 18 |
Fashion Nationalism |
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| 19 |
Food and Cloud Computing |
Table Cell |
| 20 |
A Bit of Premium |
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| 21 |
Healthy Focus |
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| 22 |
Japan- U.S.: Population and Consumption by Consumer Segment |
A more nuanced understanding of Japan consumer is gained by comparing them to U.S. and Chinese consumers, a project we undertake annually. |
| 23 |
Japanese Mainstream is Public Benefit Oriented |
In a recent, large internet survey by JMR of Japanese consumers we ask questions about personal and public benefit usages of time (parts of 6 representative questions shown on the right in the slide above). Some 40% of consumers replies were consistent with an orientation toward serving the public benefit, as opposed to other personal approaches to daily activity such as group attitudes that JMR has dubbed as epicurean, self-advancement, self-development and a mix of other orientations to self and society. |
| 24 |
Own-Goals Vs. Materialistic Self Needs - 3 Countries Compared |
With statistical methods JMR extracted various key factors from the data and found individuals attitudes toward their self-actualization needs to be a key factor. In a three country survey, we found Chinese consumer (at least, the middle and upper-middle class represented in large metro areas such as Shanghai) to have self-actualization needs much greater than U.S. and Japanese individuals. |
| 25 |
Shift From 'Own-Goals' Orientalism to Public Benefit Motivations |
In the annual survey mention in the previous slide, JMR has recorded a resurgence in public benefit mindedness among the Japanese population. Own-goal focus among consumers that was prevalent in 2004 and before has declined sharply. |
| 26 |
Sense of Equality - Asia vs. U.S. |
Adapting a behavior economic experiment used by Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate in economics for his work on Prospect Theory, JMR asked hundreds of high-school students to participate in experiment designed to draw out their sense of equality and attitudes when they perceived they were being treated unfairly. Subjects were given Yen 1,000 or US$ 10, or Yuan 10, depending on the country. They are asked to share their new windfall gain with a partner in any proportion they wanted. Initially no guidance was given; the process is repeat with various in instructions to extract insights into economic behavior and societal attitudes. |
| 27 |
Factors in Changing Japanese Consumption Values |
Stepping back from the economic numbers, let's look at the factors behind the economic activity of the Japanese population. Out of our annual consumer research fieldwork comparing U.S., China and Japan consumers, some of the stand-out factors are shown in the list above. |
| 28 |
Cultural Archetypes |
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| 29 |
Remarkably Straight Talk |
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| 30 |
That's Money Talking |
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| 31 |
Big Talker Too... |
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| 32 |
Loud Mouth Fails to Impress |
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| 33 |
Nice Guy Finishes First |
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| 34 |
'Gambatte Girl' Seeks Adversity |
Misato Ai – kyukkyo wa motte koi - I welcome being challenged by adverse circumstances… |
| 35 |
'Miss Purity' Loves Crowds |
Kanjiya Shihori |
| 36 |
Consaumer Types: Steady, Solid, Reliable vs. The Consumption Activist |
From a recent JMR study we statistically grouped the response of Japanese consumers to identify 6 basic consumer types (shown above). |
| 37 |
Growing Number of Mature Consumers Spur on the 'Hobbization' Trend |
A niche segment - the "hobby-ized" consumer With the aging of baby boomers (born 1946 - 1964) some of them are upgrading their hobbies into to full-fledged pastimes to which they place great importance and devote a sizable share of their disposable consume spending. |
| 38 |
Consumer Type: Steady, Solid, Reliable |
Example of one of the consumer segments Among the 6 consumer types the "steady solid" type is about 8% of the total at the current time. Characterized by a steady attitude to spending and a reliable, no-frills approach to work and life, the image above tries to capture some of the daily life items of such a consumer - shown here -- inexpensive casual clothing, fresh no-nonsense hair styles, pets, "dango" (a simple rice snack dipped in a sweet miso sauce and served on a skewer). |
| 39 |
Consumer Type: Consumption Activist Oriented |
Consumption activist type: The search for luxury and conspicuous consumption is still alive among a slice of the Japanese consumer population. These "consumption activists" are the mainstay of the luxury brand names that are the backbone of the Ginza shopping area. |
| 40 |
Ginza: Area Super-Deluxe Brand Stores |
The favored shopping area of the "consumer activist" -- the Ginza fashion area of downtown Tokyo. All of the most luxurious and expensive shops of Europe and the U.S. have large flagship stores in this area. |
| 41 |
Consumer Info Web Resource |
www.jmr-marketing.com |
| 42 |
Consumer Info Web Resource |
www.jmrlsi.co.jp |
