“Japanese Products” Has Unshakable Image As Excellent Quality

Report on Image of Products Made in Japan in 14 Asian Cities
Date: February 10, 2012 Vol. 1
Source: Global HABIT – Hakuhodo

• “Made in Japan” has unshakable image as excellent quality
• Over 50% associate digital products, household appliances, audio/visual devices, private cars and animation/manga with Japan
• Products with strong made-in-Japan orientation: Durable consumer goods and cosmetics
  Cities with strong made-in-Japan orientation: Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Seoul

This, the first report in the series, presents results of analysis of the image held by sei-katsu-sha（”consumers with a heartbeat”) in 14 Asian cities of products made in Japan, the products and services they associate with Japan, made-in-Japan orientation and more.
14 cities covered: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Metro Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Delhi, Mumbai.

1. Image of Japanese products as excellent quality
   Comparing the 14-city average scores for image of Japanese products and American, European, Korean and Chinese products, Japanese products received the highest score in nine of the 11 image items. The Japanese products score for excellent quality, in particular, was overwhelming.
   However, with the growing image score for Korean products, which have been advancing rapidly in recent years, slightly above that for Japanese products, trends in Korean products will be watched in the years to come. Comparing data from 2006 and 2011, it should be noted that while Japanese products’ scores for items indicative of trust in products (excellent quality, established reputation, etc.) remain stable and high, scores for items indicative of product freshness
   (growing image, smart/fashionable image, etc.) have been trending downward.

   

2. Over 50% associate durable consumer goods, animation/manga with Japan
   The 14-city average top 3 goods and services and entertainment associated with Japan are: (1) Household appliances and audio/visual devices (69.2%), (2) digital products (computers, mobilephones, digital cameras) (66.2%), and (3) private cars (59.0%), followed by animation/manga (51.3%). The top 3 in each city mainly comprises durable consumer goods, but animation/manga makes the top 3 in Hong Kong, Seoul, Jakarta and Guangzhou.

   

3. Products with strong made-in-Japan orientation: Durable consumer goods, cosmetics. Cities with strong made-in-Japan orientation: Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Seoul.
   The 14-city average top 3 Japanese products respondents would like to purchase or try in future are: (1) Digital products, (2) household appliances and audio/visual devices, and (3) private cars.
   Cosmetics (women only) follows. With all four products, purchase intention is higher for products made in Japan than products made by Japanese companies regardless of whether they were made in Japan or not, indicating that these are products that have strong made-in-Japan orientation. By city, made-in-Japan orientation is high in Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore and Seoul. At the same time, there are many products where there is little difference in the scores for Japanese products made in Japan (“made in Japan”) and products made by Japanese companies, regardless of whether they were made in Japan or not (“Japanese brand”), and many cities where made in Japan is not an added value.

   

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