Socio-Economic Factors of Changes in Consumer Behavior and Strategies of Trade Companies in Japanстатья
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Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 15 февраля 2024 г.
Аннотация:The article analyzes the structure and features of the retail trade sector inJapan, the current trends in the consumer behavior of the Japanese, whichbecame noticeable in the late 20th century and especially after the global financialand economic crisis of 2008–2010 and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Basedon empirical material, the author identifies the main lines of transformationof strategies of Japanese trade corporations under the conditions of economicinstability and the formation of a new consumption model.Trade as a sphere of entrepreneurial activity is represented in Japan byvarious types of trading enterprises and companies and corporate groups ofvery different sizes and organizational and legal status. The market leadersare universal trading companies (sōgō shōsha) and large network companies(Seven & I Holdings, Aeon, Fast Retailing, etc.), which finance and organizenot only the circulation, but also the production of goods (from thedevelopment and purchase of raw materials to production and processing,logistics, sales, and services). The groups include numerous affiliated retailsales companies.The characteristic features of the Japanese consumer have traditionally beenthe willingness to pay for quality, convenience, and service, a relatively low levelof interest in cheaper goods, preference for the format of “physical” purchases,as well as the desire to buy expensive, exclusive things of luxury brands, whichfor many have become a sign of financial success and social status.6Russian Japanology Review, 2023. Vol. 6 (No. 2)Among the most important modern factors affecting the scale and structureof consumer demand in Japan are the desire to reduce one’s expenses in theface of slowing economic growth and stagnating incomes, increase in the levelof environmental awareness, changing lifestyle and leisure patterns. The mostimportant factor determining the image of the modern Japanese consumer hasbeen the entry into the labor and consumption markets of generations Y and Z,who increasingly rely not on owning, but on using things, which acts as a factorin reducing the scale of the consumer market.Under these conditions, trading companies modernize their strategies,including by entering into partnerships with national and foreign corporationsin order to adapt to changing conditions and maintain competitivenessthrough modernization, diversification, and digitalization of business, reducingtransaction costs based on the synergetic effect.