Sociocultural characteristics of consumer behavior among Japanese youth: From traditional paradigm to modern trends

Abstract

This article analyzes a range of sociocultural aspects that influence the formation, development and dynamics of consumer behavior among youth in contemporary Japanese society. The authors note that, while the modern context (technology, media) influences the consumer behavior of Japanese youth, traditional values and orientations continue to have an impact on it. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the research is a comprehensive methodology based on Edward T. Hall’s theory of high-context and low-context cultures, which is applied to characterize the stage of decision-making in the purchase of various products. Additionally, a sociocultural approach was employed, allowing the analysis of consumer behavior aspects such as values, value orientations, behavioral stereotypes, motivations. This approach enabled a more in-depth understanding of the target audience’s needs and preferences, which, in the future, will facilitate the development of effective marketing strategies aligned with the cultural and social norms of consumers. To conduct a more detailed analysis of the brand communications effectiveness with the youth segment of the market, four international companies were selected, representing various approaches to interacting with the target audience: UNIQLO, Comme des Garçons (CDG), ZARA, and Louis Vuitton (LV). These brands were chosen based on their popularity among Japanese consumers according to one of the largest ranking websites, ranking.net. The authors then focused their attention on a thorough analysis of a vast amount of empirical data obtained from various sources, including data from diverse resources, including the report from the World Values Survey Association and news media. They analyzed social networking services (SNS) accounts and official websites of the aforementioned international trading companies. A distinctive feature of this study is the use of in-depth structured interviews with representatives of the Japanese youth, with a total of 11 participants, which allowed for the refinement of the research on certain aspects and the visualization of consumers’ attitudes towards the selected companies in the form of perception maps and word clouds.