"Keeping the WA.!": The Japanese Mind and Market Research

How do the unique aspects of the Japanese psyche impact research? And how can we take precautions to ensure that research conducted among Japanese is successful?

The psychology of the Japanese.

In the Japanese language there is a word that is pronounced as 'WA'. 'WA' means harmony and 'WA' is important for truly understanding the uniqueness of Japanese culture.

Maintaining 'WA' within one's environment is very important to the Japanese. Moreover, this need extends into all reaches of life - within the family, at the workplace and even among strangers.

Historically, the island's densely-packed population and limited natural resources have put a strain on its people. These pressures, combined with the autocratic Shogun structure, conspired to create a reality where people are expected to interact with their social environment in a very precise manner. As a result Japan has a group-oriented culture.

In search of "WA".

The Japanese tend to seek collaboration as a means to progress, rather than expressing or exerting their individuality. In short, the prevailing attitude is usually one of modesty and humbleness, where individuals defer to the group. Moreover, individuals become defined by group mentality as they identify with their own group based on age, interests, gender, education etc. They then tend to behave according to the norms of the group. Hence the quintessentially Japanese phenomenon of thematic group package tours. Such tours exist for groups of 'honeymooners', people who like classical music and even trips for those who like specific foreign soap stars!

Another manifestation of Japanese group thinking is the tendency to speak indirectly and in a way that can, at times, sound quite vague to non-Japanese. Often the important point in a Japanese conversation actually goes unsaid but is implied in speech that tapers off.

For most of Japanese history, its population has lived under autocratic rule and criticism of that authority was not permitted, especially during the feudal, warrior times. Today Japan is law-abiding society with relatively little crime.

Don't even think about it!

But this tendency to instinctively obey authority runs deeper. The Japanese generally attach more importance to rules and regulations than to an individual's judgment. A small but telling example of this is that when a mother warns her child not to walk on the grass, rather than saying "you cannot walk on the grass because it'll get damaged " the literal translation of the warning would be more along the lines of "don't walk on the grass because its not allowed".

This can result in behavior that is highly disciplined, but backed-up by somewhat inflexible thinking. An international study of airline pilots found that compared with their Western counter-parts, North East Asian pilots were better at following the rule-book, resulting fewer cases of human error. However, when a problematic situation arose, the North East Asians lacked the same degree of flexibility in adapting their response when compared with Western pilots.

In summary, Japanese culture is very much about function and form and the pre-occupation with precise detail over and above the big picture. It is this attention to detail that helps individuals to fit into the group culture that governs Japanese society.

. and how does this affect your market research?

So having looked at the characteristics of Japanese thinking, what does this mean for market researchers wishing to conduct studies successfully in Japan?

Here are six areas to keep in mind:

1. Group Dynamics

The most obvious area of market research impacted by the uniqueness of Japanese culture is the focus group.

When conducting a focus group in Japan, there is generally a need for participants to be of a similar background, so that they feel comfortable in the group setting. Putting housewives and working women together may result in silence when there is no convergence of opinion. In addition, there are times when the group may feel it is in a holding pattern as the collective tries to work out how to respond while maintaining the ‘WA’. This is when an experienced moderator really plays a vital role by putting participants at ease with their own opinions, within the group structure.

2. Street Catch

In cities such as Tokyo there are defined gathering areas for ‘groups’ – young trendy people in Shibuya, electronic geeks in Akihabara, working men in Shimbashi. Careful consideration needs to be given to the locations chosen for central location studies (CLTs). This could mean choosing a location with a dense concentration of the target group, if of low incidence, e.g. software purchasers. Alternatively, it may imply a strong rotation of CLT locations to ensure the sample does not become skewed in attitude, but maintains good overall representation.

3. Open-ended Questions

The difficulty in expressing individual opinions often manifests itself in silences, especially when asking open-ended questions. This can be true whether it’s a telephone survey, face-to-face interview or focus group. Eliciting a response without molding that response is the key and again this is where experienced, well-trained interviewers are a must.

In focus groups, useful elicitation techniques include writing individual responses on pieces of paper (including surveys prior to the group), asking for homework exercises (done in private) or requesting participants to bring along an item (such as a DVD). The latter can help them to express their individuality in a safe way particularly if the discussion is formulated around the group’s aggregated results rather than individual responses.

4. Interview Time & Length

The obedience to rules and structure means that market researchers in Japan need to be incredibly responsible. Just as trains arrive on the dot, so too do respondents, so the need to over-recruit for any research is quite limited. But this cuts both ways; in Japan if you say an interview will take 20 minutes and it actually takes 30 – expect complaints – or even consider paying a little extra incentive!

5. Interviewer Behavior

The deference to authority can impact research when there is a face-to-face element. It is crucial that the moderator or interviewer position themselves as a person that is really learning – not a ‘teacher’ or ‘authority figure’. It is also important that the group is quickly led to an egalitarian dynamic so that a perceived authority, e.g. an older man, does not begin to mold the opinions of others. From time to time we see requests for dyads of work colleagues for face-to-face interviews. These are rarely successful as more often than not the pair are concerned about the positioning and deference to each other than giving truthful answers – stick to one-to-one in-depths!

6. Attention to Detail

Care about the details

This importance attached to both form and function by the Japanese demands great attention to detail in surveys. This is especially so for online projects where questionnaires need to be both functional (meaning exact) and user friendly in terms of design. While a spelling mistake in a survey may be overlooked in some more relaxed cultures – in Japan it is likely to cause a bad image of the survey company. Everything needs to be meticulously checked.

Japan is a fascinating country for market researchers to study, due to these very unique differences in its culture. But at the same time the differences can represent something of a challenge to the uninitiated. But if you work on the assumption that it is different, stay in close contact with your local supplier and above all maintain a little "WA" with them . you'll breeze through and hopefully unlock the enigmatic secrets of the Japanese!