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Perceptions of products made in Japan versus those made in the United States among Japanese and American executives: A longitudinal perspective

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Abstract

This research reports on a longitudinal survey approach in which American and Japanese executives were queried regarding their perceptions of products made in the United States and Japan over a period of 15 years. Three surveys were conducted by mail in the United States using home country executives in 1977, 1991 and 1992. One survey was conducted in Japan in 1992 using Japanese executives and is compared to the findings of Nagashima (1977). Results show that over the past 15 years, the image of American goods has been declining both in the United States and Japan, whereas that of Japanese goods has been improving. These results offer an alternative product image/attribute-based perspective as an explanation of the United States trade deficit with Japan. Over the past year, survey results also reveal that the image of Japanese goods in the United States has suffered. This finding suggests that the image of a country's products is changeable, surprisingly even in a short period of time.

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Authors
  1. Michael A Kamins
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  2. Akira Nagashima
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Additional information

Michael A Kamins is Associate Professor of Marketing, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1421. All correspondence regarding the manuscript can be sent to Dr Kamins. Akira Nagashima is Chairman and CEO of Asahi Agency (Marketing and Communications), No 2 Takachiho Building 2F 1-6-9 Shiba-Daimon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105, Japan. He is also Lecturer and Director of the Tokyo Office of the International Business and Education Program (IBEAR) of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-1421. The authors would like to express special appreciation to Mr Peter McCullough, an IBEAR graduate who assisted us in the most recent study in the United States, and to Mr Jun Yokoyama and Ms Mamiko Hisano of Creative Planning and Promotion Inc who helped us in conducting a field survey in Tokyo, Japan.

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Kamins, M.A., Nagashima, A. Perceptions of products made in Japan versus those made in the United States among Japanese and American executives: A longitudinal perspective. Asia Pacific J Manage 12, 49–68 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01733971

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