The impact of the lost decade on advertising in Japan: a grounded theory approach

This study describes the perceptions of Japanese advertising professionals regarding the evolution of advertising planning and execution over a three-decade period.

The impact of the lost decade on advertising in Japan: a grounded theory approach

Shintaro Okazaki

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

Barbara Mueller

San Diego State University

Introduction

Research has documented that the Japanese have traditionally valued indirect and intuitive communications, whereas Americans have tended to value direct, exact and unambiguous communications (Lazer et al. 1985).Based on advertisements that appeared in Japan during the 1980s, Mueller (1987) suggested that the nature of Japanese advertising was very different from that of American advertising. Her content analysis found that Japanese advertising was far less direct and informative than American-style advertising,...

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