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Product Image Survey / 95
Akira Nagashima
A Comparative "Made In''Product Image Survey AmongJapanese
BusinessmenHow are United States products now perceived by the
Japanese comparedto eight years ago? (Also German, English, and
French products)
E ight years have elapsed since the first "madein" product image
study was conducted amongJapanese businessmen in 1967, and reported
in theJournal of Marketing.' The first survey was aimed
atestablishing a benchmark of the Japanese busi-nessmen's attitudes
toward products made in theUnited States, Japan, England, Germany,
andFrance. The second study conducted in 1975 sur-veyed the
attitudes of 100 Tokyo businessmen alongthe same dimensions for the
same countries. Thisarticle reports the attitude change of the
Japaneseover the eight-year period.
As described in the original article, the seman-tic differential
method developed by Charles Os-good and modified by W.A. Mindak was
employedin both surveys.^ A few highlights of the resultsfollow.
The profile was comprised of five categories.
Price & Value Inexpensive / ReasonablyPriced; Reliable;
Luxury Items / NecessaryItems; Exclusive / Common; Heavy
IndustrialProduct / Light Manufacture Product.
Service & EngineeringCareful and Meticu-lous Workmanship;
Technically Advanced;Mass Produced/Handmade; World-Wide
Dis-tribution; Inventive/Imitative.
Advertising & ReputationPride of Own-ership; Much
Advertising; RecognizableBrand Names.
About the AuthorAKIRA NAGASHIMA Is International Marketing
Director,Dailey & Associates Advertising, Los Angeles.
^ Design & StyleLarge Choice of Size andModel; More
Concerned with OutwardDesign/More Concerned with Performance;Clever
Use of Color.
Consumers' ProfileMore for Young Peo-ple/More for Old People;
More for Men/Morefor Women; Upper Class/Lower Class.
The whole story is told graphically in Exhibit 1.
How Did Japanese Attitudes TowardForeign Products Change Since
1%7?Made in U.S.A.Based on price and value factors alone, the
profile of"Made in U.S.A." has changed very little from eightyears
ago. However, the profile of Japanese andGerman products improved,
which means that therelative status of "Made in U.S.A." declined.
Theworld-wide inflation caused Japanese and Germanproducts to
become more expensive, with the re-sulting effect that U.S.
products were at the sameprice levels as Japanese.
In 1967, American products were consideredto be superior in
reliability to those of Japan andFrance but inferior to those of
Germany and Eng-land. The current study indicates that the "Made
inU.S.A." image has fallen into a last place tie withFrench
products on this score.
"Made in U.S.A." is rated the lowest amongthe five countries in
terms of careful and meticulousworkmanship, while Japanese products
moved tofirst place in this category.
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96 / Journal of Marketing, July 1977
EXHIBIT 1Profile of "Made In" Product Images of Japanese
Businessmen 1967
Price & Value
Inexpensive
Reasonablypriced
Reliable
Luxury items
ExclusiveHeavy industryproduct
Expensive
UnreasonablypricedUnreliable
Necessary items
CommonLight manufactureproduct
Service and Engineering
Careful andmeticulousworkmanshipTechnicallyadvancedMass
produced
World widedistributionInventive
Not so careful andmeticulousworkmanshipTechnicallybackwardHand
made
Mostly domesticdistributionImitative
Advertising and Reputation
Pride ofovi'nership
Much advertising
Recognizablebrand names
Not much pride ofownership
Little advertising
Unrecognizablebrand names
Design and Style
Large choice ofsize & modelMore concernedwith
outwardappearanceClever use ofcolor
Limited choice ofsize & model
More concernedwith performanceNot clever use ofcotor
Consumers' ProfileMore for youngpeople
More for men
Upper class
More for oldpeople
More for women
Lower class
'Made In U.S.A." ''Made in Japan"'Made in Germany"
"Made in England'"Made in France"
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Product Image Survey / 97
EXHIBIT 1 (continued)Profile of "Made In" Product Images of
Japanese Businessmen 1975
Price & Value
Inexpensive
Reasonablypriced
Reliable
Luxury items
ExclusiveHeavy industryproduct
f\
Ar \ :
1 ' - I .
/ :
% . : : :1f
# .a
Expensive
Unreasonablypriced
Unreliable
Necessary items
Common
Light manufactureproduct
Service and Engineering
Careful andmeticulousviforkmanship
Technicallyadvanced
Mass produced
World widedistribution
Inventive
Not SO careful andmeticulousvi/orkmanship
Technicallybackward
Hand made
Mostly domesticdistributionImitative
Advertising and Reputation
Pride ofownership
Much advertising
Recognizablebrand names
Not much pride ofownership
Little advertising
Unrecognizablebrand names
Design and Style
Large choice ofsize & modelMore concernedwith
outwardappearanceClever use ofcolor
Limited choice ofsize & model
More concernedwith performanceNot clever use ofcolor
Consumers' Profile
More for youngpeople
More for men
Upper class
More for oldpeople
More for women
Lower class
Made in U.S.A." Made in Japan"
'Made in Germany"-
"Made in England'"Made in France"
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98 / Journal of Marketing, July 1977
EXHIBIT 2Question A. "Please List the Products Which Come First
to Your Mind When
You See the Following (Made In) Labels""Made In"
U.S.A.
Japan
Germany
England
France
(1967)1. Automobiles2, Foods3- Electronic products4. Computers5.
Coca Cola6. Machinery7. Airplanes1. Cameras2. Electronic products3.
Transistors (radios)4. Watches5. Shipbuilding6. Toys7. Precision
machines8. Motorcycles
1, Automobiles2. Precision machinery3- Razors4. Medical and
pharmaceutical
products5. Machinery and tools6. Cameras and optical goods1.
Cloth2. Scotch3. Automobiles4. Textiles and woolens5. Confections1.
Cosmetics2. Perfumes3. Decorations4. Wines5. Clothes and
fashions
'Made In"
U.S.A.
Japan
Germany
England
France
(1975)1. Automobiles2. Computers3. Airplanes4. Electronic
products5. Foods6. Textiles7. Agricultural products1. Cameras2.
Automobiles3. Shipbuilding4. Electronic products5. Precision
machinery (watches)6. Radios7. Textiles8. Televisions
1. Automobiles2. Razors3. Precision machinery (watches)4.
Medical and pharmaceutical
products5. Machinery and tools6. Cameras and optical goods1.
Textiles2. Whiskey3- Black tea4. Automobiles5. Lighters
1, Textiles and cloth2, Perfumes3. Wines and brandies4.
Lighters5. Cosmetics
"Made in U.S.A," is still highly rated in termsof "technical
advancement," "mass produced," and"world-wide distribution."
However, the U.S.A.has relinquished its first place in "technical
ad-vancement" to Germany, and its first place in"world-wide
distribution" to Japan. The "inven-tiveness" of "Made in U.S.A."
was highly evalu-ated {second only to Germany) in 1967. But now
ithas slipped down to be equivalent to the image ofFrance and
England.
Japanese businessmen still feel there is a defi-nite prestige
value in owning U.S. products, eventhough they are not now as
highly rated as areEuropean products.
In short, the U.S. image has declined consid-erably.
Made in JapanAt the same time, the image of "Made in Japan"
hasbeen significantly upgraded during the past severalyears.
Japanese do not continue to modestly seetheir products as
"inexpensive" and "unreliable."They have become as expensive as
U.S. productsand are considered as reliable and as reasonablypriced
as German products. On the other hand, itseems to be a continuing
image that "Made in Ja-pan" products are "necessary" and
"common"products.
In 1967, Japanese businessmen thought that"Made in Japan"
products were least carefully andmeticulously made in comparison
with the others.During the past eight years, however, Japanese
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Product Image Survey / 99
EXHIBIT 2 IQuestion B. "Supposing That Many CountriesHad an Item
Equal in Price, Quality, and Styling,Which Country's Products Would
You Select?"
"Madein"
U.S.A.EnglandGermanyJapanFrance
ItalyDon't Know
First(1967)
3%14%21%57%
4%
1 %
(1975)
13%37%*
46%*2%
2%
Second(1967)19%
14%
4 1 %
17%
8%1%
(1975)15%14%35%20%14%*
2%
Last
(1967) (1975)38%
8%5%
16%28%
5%
products have moved ahead of U.S. products in"careful and
meticulous workmanship," thoughthey still fall below the products
of Germany, Eng-land, and France.
As for technical advancement, mass-produc-tion, and world-wide
distribution, the semanticdifferential profile of "Made in Japan"
has substan-tially improved. Japan now is next to the U.S.A.
inmass-production, surpassing Germany; it is nowranked No. 1 in
world-wide distribution over theU.S.A. and Germany. But the image
of its imita-tiveness stays the same as 1967.
Just as in the case of eight years ago, theJapanese feel little
pride of ownership of their ownproducts, and they take much more
pride in pos-sessing U.S. and European products, especiallyGerman
and French products.
In short, the overall image of Japanese prod-ucts has improved
dramatically.
Made in Gennany, England, FranceIn contrast to products "Made in
U.S.A.," theimage of products "Made in Germany" has im-proved to a
great extent during the past eight years.The Japanese businessmen
evaluate "Made in Ger-many" highest among the five countries in
terms ofcareful and meticulous workmanship, technical ad-vancement,
and inventiveness.
The Japanese businessmen have consistentlyheld the image of
English products as handmade,with a tradition of careful and
meticulous work-manship. Now, the image of England as a modernand
progressive industrial society is fading away.The reliability image
of English products has de-clined significantly compared with eight
years ago.
EXHIBIT 2Question C. "Which Country Do You ThinkProduces the
Product of Greatest Value WhenOne Considers Price, Quality, Design,
Service,Etc.?"
Product Country (1967) (1975)
Automobiles U.S.A.GermanyEnglandJapanOthers
54%251353
19%*55 7
12 7
ElectricalAppliances
U.S.A.JapanGermanyOthers
40%48102
36%49105
Textiles EnglandU.S.A.JapanFranceAustraliaOthers
59%
27644
58%31
6
Cosmetics FranceU.S.A.Japan
81%109
68%*1212
Foods
PharmaceuticalProducts
U.S.A.JapanFranceOthers
GermanyJapanU.S.A.Others
44%39
611
68%18122
58%*17 *3
22
76%9 '2
13
The overall image of "Made in France" hasmoved in a positive
direction, though the profileitself has not changed much. Now, more
than ever,Japanese businessmen feel that owning Frenchproducts
brings the highest prestige because theyare handsome, unique,
expensive, and luxurious.
The Supplemental QuestionnaireAs was the case in 1967, three
questions were ad-ministered in addition to the semantic
differentialmethod used in the basic questionnaire: an un-aided
recall question and two image ones.
Question APlease List the Products WhichCome First to Your Mind
When You See theFollowing "Made In" Labels.
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100 / Journal of Marketing, July 1977
Question BSupposing That Many CountriesHad an Item Equal in
Price, Quality, and Styl-ing, Which Country's Products Would
YouSelect?
Question CWhich Country Do You ThinkProduces the Product of
Greater Value WhenOne Considers Price, Quality, Design, Ser-vice,
Etc.?Exhibit 2 outlines the comparative results of
these questions in 1967 and 1975. Because of therelatively small
samples, some of the findings forQuestions B and C are not
statistically significant.However, most of the major changes
incurred dur-ing the period of 1967 through 1975 do pass the
test;these are noted by an asterisk symbol (*).
In general, these findings confirm the resultsof the semantic
differential method and supply fur-ther details by product. Again
it becomes clear theU.S.A. image has deteriorated in many ways
dur-ing the eight years, 1967-1975.
ENDNOTES1. Akira Nagashima, "A Comparison of Japanese andU.S.
Attitudes Toward Foreign Products," Journal ofMarketing, Vol. 34
No. 1 {January 1970), pp. 68-74.2. C.E. Osgood, G.J. Suci, and P.H.
Tannenbaum, TheMeasurement of Meaning (Urbana, IL: University of
Il-linois Press, 1957); C.E. Osgood, "The Nature and Mea-surement
of Meaning," Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 49(May 1952), pp.
197-262; and W.A. Mindak, "Fitting theSemantic Differential to the
Marketing Problem," Journalof Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 2 (April
1961), pp. 28-33.
Atarketing Memo
The International Division tends to be a temporary organization
. . .
As the big enterprises of the United States, Europe, and Japan
have developed theirmultinational interests, they have adjusted
their internal structures in quite regular andpredictable ways. One
interim stage in the organizational change, especially in the case
ofU.S. firms, has been the appearance of the international
division. A decade or two after theestablishment of the
international division, it has generally been dissolved. The very
growthand success of such divisions often led to their demise, as
top managers have reacted to theneed to fold them more completely
into the main structure of the firm.
Raymond Vernon, "A Decade of StudyingMultinational Enterprises,"
Harvard BusinessSchool Bulletin, Vol. 52, No. 5. (September/October
1976), pp. 24-27, at pg. 26.
