Although consumers express their willingness to adopt ethical products, they rarely actually purchase such products. The reason for this attitude-behavior gap is that social desirability bias leads to positive attitudes in marketing surveys, while ambiguity of benefits leads to negative behavior in real life. To resolve this discrepancy, there is a need to evaluate the main factors of a product comprehensively, but current literature is limited to ethical factors only. This study complements this knowledge with two surveys targeting the Japanese coffee market. In the first study, loyalty factors were examined using structural equation modeling. Positive effects were found for brand, product quality, and sales channels, with a negative effect only for ethical factors. In other words, the survey obtained responses that were not subject to social desirability bias. Hence, we conducted a demonstration to ensure that ethical factors are recognized as a value. The second study showed through a randomized controlled trial that the concept of product quality brought about by good working conditions on farms is more appealing than the concept of presenting poverty issues.

The objective of this paper is to clarify the influence of the structural characteristics of organizations in Japanese enterprises on market-oriented behavior, starting from a study to grasp the market orientation of organizations represented by Kohli and Jaworski (1990) from the behavioral perspective. This paper focuses on the centrality of the influence of marketing decision-making, formulation of strategy, and task conflict among departments as precedent factors affecting market-oriented behavior, which are strongly related to management of marketing strategies. The paper takes an empirical approach using structural equation modeling based on a survey of marketers in the Japanese manufacturing industry on how the combination of preceding factors affect each other, after segmenting the process of market-oriented behavior into the generation and diffusion of market information and the reaction. The results showed that (1) the market-oriented behavior process does not persist as a seamless process, and (2) it is difficult to design an optimal organizational structure that satisfies all conditions in improving market-oriented behavior, and it is necessary to adjust the organizational structure according to the situation.

Exaggerations through which product features are excessively highlighted are common in current advertisements. The impact of such exaggerated expressions on consumers perception have been widely discussed. While much of the existing research has focused on the negative consequences of exaggeration, positive effects have been suggested under two conditions: (1) when consumers already hold a favorable attitude towards the brand, and (2) when the national culture is more accepting of exaggeration. However, these studies often rely on consumer attitudes and attributes, and there is a scarcity of discussion on the exaggerated elements that are perceived to be attractive by consumers. Therefore, this study focuses on fabric softener advertisements, identifying fragrance (private benefit) and ethicality (public benefit) as exaggerated elements. Two hypotheses were formulated for the attractiveness of advertisements when each element is excessively emphasized: H1: excessive representation of the fragrance element (personal benefit) in fabric softener advertisements negatively influences the attractiveness of the ad; and H2: excessive representation of the ethical element (public benefit) in fabric softener advertisements positively influences the attractiveness of the ad. The results of a randomized controlled trial supported both hypotheses. Thus, exaggerated expression of the public benefit element enhances the perceived attractiveness of advertisements, suggesting that companies should actively incorporate such elements to enhance consumer perception of ad appeal.

In freemium platforms where the basic usage fee is free, operators have the advantage of acquiring users without incurring advertising costs. However, Japanese operators often place TV advertisements, which are generally considered to be expensive. Therefore, an empirical study on the effectiveness of advertising in freemium services was conducted. Specifically, the impact of TV advertising on manga purchases of free members or non-members was analyzed, based on single source data for TV advertisement viewership and membership status at two time points for two freemium manga app companies. The results showed that the number of TV advertisements watched during the week when viewers converted to paying purchasers, and the interaction with the number of TV advertisements watched one to two weeks prior, had a positive impact on purchases. These results suggest that advertising is effective, even for freemium platforms where network effects can be expected. This indicates the possibility and need for development of marketing strategies that integrate network effects and advertising theories.

Building of disaster-resilient local communities by improving soft power has become an issue in recent years. Therefore, this study utilizes knowledge of place branding and presents a comprehensive model in which disaster recovery potential is the criterion variable. In addition to social capital (SC), discussed in the context of local disaster prevention, the model also includes place attachment (PA) and natural equities. For the analysis, we first extracted the constructs of disaster recovery potential by exploratory factor analysis and then examined the reliability and validity of each variable by confirmatory factor analysis. Subsequently, we tested the hypothesized model using structural equation modeling. The results of this modeling showed that SC and PA directly affect disaster recovery potential, and that SC also indirectly affects disaster recovery potential through PA. The results also suggested that natural equities foster SC and PA and may indirectly affect disaster recovery potential. In conclusion, the results indicate that interactions using natural equities could foster disaster recovery potential by cultivating bonds between residents and places. Furthermore, a multi-population path analysis by city and county suggested regional differences in some parameters.

This study tested the effect of variance in service quality ratings on overall scores of users in reviews (7,210 sites, 576,449 reviews) on the well-known hotel accommodation reservation site “Rakuten Travel.” The results revealed that the overall score was lower for a hotel with higher variance in service quality ratings for most functions. This trend was clearer for leisure travelers than for business travelers. An additional survey of general managers of the hotels in the first analysis suggested that practicing total quality management (TQM) in a hotel may reduce the variance in service quality ratings of users.

Mobile app engagement is receiving increasing attention in both practice and academic research. The aim of this study was to examine structural relationships through a comprehensive engagement model, and to measure the factors that influence mobile app engagement and loyalty and that match actual purchase history (behavior) data. The study was conducted on the mobile apps of members of a grocery company. The model was used to show that the design of the mobile app (especially its ease of use) increased engagement, and that this engagement influenced attitudinal loyalty (mainly the intention to recommend the app to others) and behavioral loyalty, and positively influenced purchase behavior. Especially, the mobile app engagement had a stronger influence than attitudinal loyalty on actual purchase behavior.

As society ages and life expectancy increases due to medical advances, younger people are becoming more interested in improving and maintaining their health. The purpose of this study is to clarify how the highly health-conscious Millennial generation perceive health consciousness, health-related behavior, and consumption behavior regarding old age and to explore factors that influence health-related behavior. Using a grounded theory approach, we conducted in-depth interviews with chronically ill millennials to derive a model of health consciousness, health-related behavior, and consumption behavior. The results allowed for a unique analysis of long-term health consciousness, health-related behavior, and risk perception of consumption behavior. The findings provide academic suggestions for future studies of health-related and consumption behavior of young people, and may also contribute to directing the practical activities of government agencies and industrial enterprises.