The Logic and Ethics of the “Modernization Movement of Merchandising”:

Focusing on Retail Consultants' Discourse on Discounting during the 1960s in Japan

Abstract

During the 1960s in Japan, with the rapid expansion of chain stores, there was a structural change in the retail industry. In this period, growing retail companies such as Daiei and Seiyu opened stores in various locations. As a result, mass distribution based on “discounting” was established.

Historical research of the retail industry shows that retail consultants, as a professional group, had a significant role in the industry's structural changes. Their activities, which presented the possibilities of a chain store style that relied on advanced American retailing and business administration, had a major impact at that time. In this regard, how did these consultants pick up on novel management approaches that had previously been denied because of Japanese traditions and succeed in spreading them among retailers? Past studies are unable to answer this question.

In this study, we focus on the discourse of retail consultants who were engaged in “the modernization movement of merchandising” at the time. Our process informs the analysis of consumer society research findings and demonstrates the following points. First, we show that when commercial consultants positively highlighted “discounting” in the “Modernization Movement of Merchandising,” “discounting” and “dumping” were disentangled from the frameworks of “mass production” and “mass consumption.” Second, we explain that claims for “discounting” were closely related to the introduction of business administration. Third, we elucidate that the practice of “discounting” was driving anticipation for the arrival of a “consuming society,” so that the norm of contribution to “consumers” was linked to “discounting.”