Archive for the 'Research' Category
Eating good food is one of the joys of living. Good food satisfies our appetite and makes us feel happy. Eating fine foods is a joy for many Japanese. Some Japanese go to Napoli to taste real Napoli pizza; others go to Okinawa to enjoy goya champuru (bitter gourd), a famous Okinawa cuisine.
How can we maintain the joy of eating easily when recent oil price surges have affected our spending and lifestyle? With only 1,000 yen in one’s pocket, there are still many ways of getting good food, satisfying our appetite, and making us feeling happy.
Continue reading…
August 16 2008 | Clothing, Food and Housing and Economy and Health Care and Life and Research and Technology and Weekly Articles | No Comments »
“Yesterday, you said that I had to do that. Now, you ask me to do this. What do you want me to do?? Why do you change your instructions so frequently? I am so confused!” A female worker in her 20s yelled this at a male manager sitting at his desk. The manager in his early 40s wiped sweat from his forehead without a word. A couple of hours later, the male manager was yelled at again by a general manager. “Why cannot you do this? Isn’t it your responsibility to manage your people? We have to do this by tomorrow morning!”
These are typical scenes in the office of a Japanese company. Middle managers in Japan are often in a position of “inside the sandwich”, somewhere between the top and the bottom. This sandwich press is pushing middle management harder than ever before.
Continue reading…
June 13 2008 | Communication and Culture and Research and Weekly Articles | No Comments »
“Market research? I don’t know it well…” This is the usual reaction I receive from Japanese when talking with them about market research services. I continue to say: “Well, market research services include online satisfaction surveys…” “Oh, surveys? Uh… I see. Collecting opinions from people, right? We already do it.”
It does not seem that Japanese companies actively use or purchase market research services. For instance, market research sales in China in 2006 increased by 17.8% from the previous year, and in Hong Kong by 12.2%, while the market research sales in Japan increased by only 4.3% in 2006 (Source: ESOMAR Global Market Research 2007).
This can make us wonder: without using market research services, how do Japanese companies understand their customers’ needs and create innovative products?
Here is what I found out from Japanese companies that do not use market research services:
Doing research while selling products/services: Japanese companies collect information about the market, competitors, and their customers as part of sales activities. One Japanese sales consultant said that having a good relationship with distributors and customers is crucial for doing business in Japan, because through this they can get the latest market information from them. He also said that good sales representatives should be excellent listeners so as to understand the needs of their customers in order to offer them the best proposals.
Using own senses to make products: Like artisans who create traditional Japanese art, Japanese engineers are inclined towards using their own senses to develop new products. For example, a cosmetic product development expert creates a skin moisturizer that leaves skin silky smooth by checking the product texture on his own skin. His own senses of feeling, seeing and smelling, not the consumers, are his tools to develop products that delight his consumers.
These findings do not sound like good news for market researchers in Japan. However, they are not just bad news. There seems to be several drawbacks to their approach:
- Customer information is not always shared within the company. Although sales representatives may have a mass of information about their customers, they may keep it only in their heads or in their own journals. Unless the company develops a database for sales activities, such customer information may never be used by other sales people. Each sales representative may have the same customer information but in a different format.
- An excellent design from the expert’s viewpoint may not necessarily be what customers want. “The product looks wonderful, but I don’t need it.” This is what customers say when they see a product that was developed without input from consumers. Additionally, customers today are not necessarily satisfied with the same products that satisfied consumers 30 years ago. This is one of the reasons why traditional companies who continue to manufacture the same products face a decline in their sales and end up bankrupt.
“We cannot rely just on our own senses anymore”, one senior executive of a Japanese manufacturer said. “We have to listen to the voice of our customers.” Yes, indeed. We need to take the voice of customers to top management, not just to sales representatives and product designers.
March 21 2008 | Research and Weekly Articles | No Comments »
On February 13, I gave a presentation, titled “Tips for Japanese Consumer Research” at the Pink Cow in Shibuya, Tokyo.
I talked about what is often overlooked when conducting customer research and several tips for doing consumer research in Japan, including how to select/use research agencies for your projects. I gave several examples from my experience about how sensitivity to consumers is important: is how it’s not always about culture, but it’s about consumers. I was very impressed by the enthusiasm of the audience - the majority was non-Japanese.
The Pink Cow Conspiracy (PCC) holds a monthly business event that consists of a presentation that gives participants practical tips, advice or knowledge that they can use instantly to help grow their business. The PCC is an excellent place for networking with other people who are building or want to start their own businesses.
My presentation material is available in the News and Event section of the following link:
http://www.jdr-japan.com/e/
February 15 2008 | Research | No Comments »
Internet and mobile devices allow people to conduct surveys quickly and easily. You can get research data the day after completion of surveys, whereas it used to take 2 – 3 weeks to get data using postal surveys. Online surveys are one of main data collection methods in the market research industry today. You can select four or five online research service vendors for a quote.
Many marketing and market research companies secure a pool of people who can cooperate in their surveys. In this way, they can send out survey questionnaires to their registered respondents and get their responses with a quick turn around time. However, this generates some concerns about the research - are all Japanese really so cooperative in completing surveys? Do they really answer these surveys honestly?
INSIGHTS OUT – Survey respondent as a part-time job
Being a respondent for survey research is a good way of making money. When you visit Japanese websites, you may notice the following advertisements:
“Let’s become an online survey panelist, and earn money!”
“Get income as an internet monitor (online research panelist)!”
The system works like this: you find the advertisement asking for panelists on the website and apply for it by filling out the form. After that you are registered as a research panelist and you get invited to complete surveys. After participation in the survey you receive a reward from the research company such as a voucher or cash deposit into your bank account. Some people are registered as research panelists for multiple companies, and such people can be called ‘professional respondents’.
Casting bias on research data
Professional respondents can create bias and inaccuracies in research. You may look at the research data and assume that the respondents gave you fresh opinions, even though some professional respondents may have answered. Such situations apparently jeopardize the quality of research and can lead businesses in the wrong direction.
Of course, research companies are aware of the presence of professional respondents and set stringent recruitment criteria and thoroughly check the accuracy of their research data. However, people may participate in surveys just for the financial incentives – what they need to do is answer the survey questions accurately.
What we should do?
There are many ways to avoid professional or experienced respondents. You could always recruit fresh respondents who have never participated in any surveys or interviews. You could also use other research methods other than online surveys, such as observational research. The reward system for participating in surveys could also be reviewed so that research participants are willing to cooperate in the research, but not as part of their job.
January 25 2008 | Research | No Comments »
