2021 年 98 巻 p. 107-124
This article focuses on how the term kuchi komi (meaning “word of
mouth”) came to be used in advertising theory in Japan in the early 1960s from
a view of conceptual analysis.
So far, little attention has been given to kuchi komi in media history and
advertising history. This is because kuchi komi is a medium that leaves no
material or institutional traces. This article aims to provide a history of kuchi
komi by focusing on it as a concept, and analyzes how it came to be presented
as an advertising tool. We mainly analyze textual data that presented kuchi
komi as an advertising tool in the early 1960s.
As a result, we revealed:( 1) the Reading Social Survey conducted during
1956 played an important role in the spread of the “opinion leader” concept in
the advertising industry, and( 2) the term kuchi komi was newly presented as
an advertising tool in the early 1960s in relation to the “opinion leader” concept.