A questionnaire was conducted on foreign residents living in the Kyoto-Osaka area during the summer of 2011. The participants were asked about their experiences at dental clinics in Japan and the impressions that were made. Among the responses, it was discovered that a sense of privacy was important for foreign patients and the English communication skills of the dentists appeared to be generally poor. However, the use of visual aids to explain the treatment procedures proved to be helpful in making up for the language deficiencies. Many commented that the showing of a sincere effort to communicate, regardless of English ability, was encouraging and would help in building rapport. Unfortunately, there appeared to be a lack of knowledge concerning regenerative medicine though most showed interest in including it as part of their treatment at dental clinics. The results of the survey implies that in order to answer the needs of foreign patients, there is a necessity to introduce specific conversational skills and topic/vocabulary development to the English classes at dental schools. Assimilation of these skills and incorporating visual aids in the classroom along with improved curriculum would prove to be more effective for the student's study of practical dental English.

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Many cities worldwide adopted varied approaches to build their urban image based on social, historical, cultural, and natural factors and continue their efforts to revitalize. In many Japanese cities, there are various ways to utilize public spaces for urban regeneration. However, studies that prove the effectiveness of this approach are few. Since 2000, Chiba’s “Parasol Gallery” has witnessed urban design activity that recreates public streets into outdoor galleries through exhibition by amateur citizen artists. This study classifies the emotional factors experienced by subjects under different conditions, with the changes in physical environment. It analyzes the relationship between change in emotional factors and experiential recognition of place. The method of study is divided into “days of Parasol Gallery” and “days without it,” and three groups were surveyed: Parasol Gallery’s artists, Parasol Gallery’s visitors, and general citizens. The changes in sense of place of these three groups was verified by factor analysis and regression analysis in terms of five elements: place attachment, the meaning of place, behavior intention, place cognition, and experiential value.

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本研究では，メタ認知的知識およびメタ認知的活動から構成されるメタ認知能力と認知対象の捉えやすさや理解の容易さのことであるメタ認知容易性が，国際ビジネスに及ぼす影響について考察を加える。認知の観点から国際ビジネスを論じる際にはメタ認知が欠かせない概念であることを示したうえで，企業の国際パフォーマンスに対するメタ認知の影響についての考察を加える。その結果，メタ認知容易性が高い国に関する情報の量が適切である場合には心理的距離のパラドックスを乗り越えることができ，企業の国際パフォーマンスが高くなること，そして，海外進出支援によりメタ認知容易性が高まると支援対象の企業の国際パフォーマンスも高くなることを仮説として示した。

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This study aims to identify the components of the in-store experience that are valuable to customers during in-store events. This study investigates the relative impact of the physical environment and employee behavior on the customer experience and their evaluation of the in-store experience at a Japanese luxury fashion brand store. Prior research has described the relationship between the perceived value of the physical environment and employee factors in the in-store customer experience. Although it has been noted that East Asians and Westerners perceive and think differently, most prior studies on luxury have surveyed Westerners. Further, aesthetics depends on the perceiver’s processing experience, not on the characteristics of the object. Therefore, this study investigated what was perceived in the store experience of 4268 qualitative answers using 180 representative samples with multiple experiences with luxury purchases. A mixed-methods approach was employed, analyzing quantitative and qualitative data. The results revealed that the physical environment did not directly influence customers’ revisit intentions. However, physical cues influenced the evaluation of employee-related factors, which directly impacted customers’ revisit intentions. These results suggest that aesthetics and luxury environments enhance the processing of service quality, and customers value employees who understand the emotions and circumstances behind their purchases.

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The tourism industry is currently facing a serious shortage of workers and needs to develop talented human resources. Workers in this industry, particularly those in hospitality need good interaction skills to ensure customer satisfaction. Thus, communication is one of the vital competencies for workers in this sector. This study aims to break down the elements of hospitality communication and present them in the form of Can-Do statements. Codes extracted from a previous study are used to draft Can-Do items and descriptors. Then, interviews are conducted with seven hotel staff, and the interview data were analyzed to improve the Can-Do statements related to hospitality communication. We report the process and rationale for changes made to the statements for improvement. Further, some of the important elements on the statements are explained and discussed to support the detailed description of the items. These statements would be a useful checklist for training the workforce in the hospitality sector.

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Electronic Commerce（EC）の普及によって生まれた消費者行動に，ショールーミングがある。販売店で確認した商品をインターネットで安価に購入する行動を指す。これは実店舗で販売する企業にとって大きな脅威であり，産業界・学術界ともに大きな注目を集めている。しかし，自動車業界に目を向けると状況は異なり，依然として販売店での購入が主流である。そのため，ショールームの現状評価やあり方の議論は不十分になっている。本研究では，日本の自動車業界を対象に，テーマパークやカフェ等の多様な形態のショールームへの訪問経験が消費者の推奨意向に与える影響を検証した。オンライン調査で得たデータをもとに，傾向スコアによって因果効果を推定した結果，有意な効果は見られなかった。推奨意向を有する要因としては，商品より販売店の観点が多く，礼儀・親近感・特別感が抽出された。EC化がそれほど普及していない業界では，購入行動に直結する動線設計は難しいと考えられるが，推奨意向の形成要因を把握したうえで，それを一貫して経験できる場の設計は重要であろう。

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