historical perspective the Japanese market as it once was

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Customer and Consumer Needs:

Before analyzing the customer and consumer needs of the Japanese the researcher will first define customer and consumer needs. According to Negricea (2007), a consumer may be identified as any distinct or independent group or individual that has a specialized need. A customer need does not just include corporate considerations but also individual considerations during the cognitive process of buying behavior. For both customer and consumer needs, marketers must understand the measured accuracy of how well they comprehend promotional offers, and how they interpret marketing messages (Negricea, 2007). Researchers have been able to study the broad conditions of Japanese consumer behavior and their characteristics, which originate from influences of Japanese culture and society. There are two important concepts to keep in mind; Japanese consumers are becoming more consciously aware of excessive consumption, and it impacts buying behavior for consumers who want to minimize consumption and those who want more.

General Characteristics of Buying Behavior:

The general Japanese society has the need to impress and earn the respect of their peers by obtaining expensive products that are well-known on the market, particularly name brand products (Negricea, 2007). Japanese consumers have the need to conform to the opinions of others, which explains the overall behavior to do purchase popular products (Negricea, 2007). This is especially true for young consumers, who have the desire to augment their self-image by purchasing popular and in-style products (Knight & Eun, 2007). Their desire for personalization and uniqueness of products influences consumer purchasing decisions and brand perceptions.

Analysis of the Competitive Environment:

Japan has lost its competitiveness within the last two decades, why is this? Maintaining a competitive environment means more than culture and traditional values, it requires strong capital investments and advancements in technology (Mlodawska, 2010). Japan focuses on developing routine operations, which helps to maintain consistency and results in minimal operational inaccuracies. However, the challenge for Japan is the declining investment along with a declining rate of savings (Mlodawska, 2010). Obviously the declining Japanese economy is a new phenomenon. In 1993, Japan was the second largest among the world's economically developed countries and one of history's greatest world superpowers (Chan, 1993). During that time, the Japanese guide for a strong competitive advantage was to create quality products at low costs than those produced in other countries (Chan, 1993). Japanese businesses sought to increase market share by keeping prices low, which enables them to pay lower wages and lower dividends to shareholders, unlike Western businesses (Chan, 1993). In 2002, Japan placed 26th according to the World Competitiveness Yearbook, then fell into 30th place in 2003. The reason is the imbalanced incoming and outgoing investments; the amount of outgoing foreign direct investments exceeds incoming investments (Mlodawska, 2010).

Economic Environment:

The reasons for Japan's slow trade and industry growth are due to inefficient macroeconomic and microeconomic policy of many branches within industries, services, and agriculture (Mlodawska, 2010). For Japan to improve its economy, they need a more effective corporate governance model. Without this new model the economy will not be able to overcome its problem of lacking competitiveness in the market. (Mlodawska, 2010). In addition, improved transparency and openness during the decision-making process will likely increase foreign direct investments and encourage shareholders to influence company strategies (Mlodawska, 2010). The Japanese enterprise also needs a more efficient system, one that includes accountability. The enterprise system has frequent events of scandals and refusal to accept the authority of ...