Market convergence and advertising standardization in the European Union

In this study, we draw on industrial organization and institutional research to explore the relationship between market convergence and standardization of advertising programs. We argue that environmental isomorphism, which maintains that the external market environment is a principal driver of firms’ institutional structures, places pressure on firms to adapt their organizational structures and strategies to changing institutional conditions. We propose that the convergence associated with European market integration will lead firms to emphasize three advertising strategies: creating a uniform brand image, appealing to cross-market segments, and increasing cost performance in advertising. Further, we hypothesize that these strategies will be associated with an overall tendency to standardize advertising strategy and execution. Results of a survey of managers of subsidiaries of Japanese and U.S. firms operating in the EU suggest that firms that believe the EU is converging are more likely to engage in these standardized advertising strategies. Additionally, our findings suggest that firms that seek to create a uniform brand image and appeal to cross-market segments are more likely to standardize their overall advertising programs. Finally, we find that firms’ desire to create a uniform brand image is a function of their goal of building brand equity, regardless of the level to which markets converge. We draw implications for research and practice regarding firm responses to market convergence.     

Banking System Reform in China: The Challenges to Improving Its Efficiency in Serving the Real Economy

The Chinese banking system reform since the country's accession to the World Trade Organization has yielded remarkable success. The major listed commercial banks have improved their operational performance significantly. However, there are some signs of changes in their financial results recently. The expanding debt of non‐profitable enterprises and local governments raises a question on the achievements of the previous reform. Considering that the competition among banks will become severer with financial liberalization under slower economic growth, the banks and supervisory authorities must continue to make greater efforts towards further reform in order to improve the banks' corporate governance and the risk management system.     

Physicians' appraisal of mobile health monitoring

This study addresses what factors influence and moderate Japanese physicians' mobile health monitoring (MHM) adoption for diabetic patients. In light of the multilevel sequential check theory, the study tests whether novelty seeking, self-efficacy, and compatibility moderate the effects of overall quality, net benefits, and perceived value of MHM on physicians' usage intention. Self-efficacy serves as an evaluation of resources for coping with an event, while compatibility involves the judgment of an event's congruence with a motive or goal. The study results support four out of nine moderation hypotheses. Our findings clearly indicate that the impact of overall quality and net benefits on physicians' intention to use MHM would be significantly strengthened by self-efficacy and compatibility, but not by novelty seeking.     

Technological innovation and diffusion of wind power in Japan

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the diffusion of wind power in Japan by focusing on the value chain and the interaction between technology and markets and to contribute towards recommendations on technology policy and management. This paper proposes a framework for analyzing the early stage diffusion of wind power systems by combining the use of several approaches considering wind power system as a complex technological system. Firstly, the business system approach is used as an analytical framework by focusing on efficiency, effectiveness and development criteria. As a second approach, the technological trajectory was analyzed based on the concept of technological disequilibrium and the evolutionary patterns of innovation of wind power generation systems were analyzed and the relationship between innovations at the sub-system, modular, and system level was identified. We apply the framework to investigate why wind power diffusion has not picked up momentum in Japan.The results include the following: (1) Technological imbalances within the product system were solved by technological innovation (2) The wind power business in Japan is insufficiently effective due to organizational disequilibrium (3) The technology system has begun to evolve in the direction of micro grid systems. (4) It is important to consider the demand-pull measures for wind power generation so that Japanese institution can have a “time slot” for ”learning by doing” to catch up and accelerate diffusion of wind power generation, including institutional reform of RPS law. Also further technological development related to stabilizing unstable wind energy is required.     

Micro-aspects of monetary policy: Lender of Last Resort and selection of banks in pre-war Japan

This paper explores how the Bank of Japan (BOJ) dealt with the trade-off between stability of the financial system and the moral hazard of banks in pre-war Japan. The BOJ concentrated Lender of Last Resort (LLR) loans with those banks that had an established transaction relationship with the BOJ. At the same time, the BOJ carefully selected its transaction counterparts, and did not hesitate to end the relationship if the performance of a counterpart declined. Further, the BOJ was selective in providing LLR loans. Through this policy, the BOJ could avoid the moral hazard that the LLR policy might otherwise have incurred.     

What is SMS advertising and why do multinationals adopt it? Answers from an empirical study in European markets

This study examines the factors associated with the intention of multinational corporations operating in Europe to implement SMS advertising. It hypothesizes that managerial intentions to use this medium are related to the perceptions of four factors: (1) the ability to build brand image; (2) the ability to use location-based marketing; (3) the perceptions of how well consumers accept SMS advertising; and (4) the perceptions of the technological infrastructure. Results support the notion that managers from the European Union, Japan, and the United States will be more likely to adopt SMS advertising if they perceive it has the ability to help build the brand. They are also likely to perceive information security as a threat to the ability to “push” the product through the wireless channel. Results also suggest that managers give significant weight to the penetration of the technological infrastructure needed to run the ads through SMS-based messaging service.     

Do Global Brands Use Similar Executional Styles Across Cultures? A Comparison of U.S. and Japanese Television Advertising

A major development in global marketing research is the evolution of global consumer culture theory and the notion that global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) strategies can be effective across markets. This study compares the content of a large sample of U.S. versus Japanese television advertising and looks at several executional variables (timing and counting variables) used in prior studies to explore whether global brands use more similar executions across the United States and Japan in comparison with local brands. Results indicate fewer differences for global brands on these dimensions. This pattern of results appears to be consistent with the notion that the use of GCCP strategies aimed at responding to the trend toward global consumer culture have taken hold and that for global brands it is more possible to standardize executions, in addition to strategy, than was the case in the past. However, results suggest that the amount of time that visuals are on screen is more difficult to standardize than other elements of the ad, and that ads for services show somewhat more similarities than ads for physical products. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.     

The Performance of Development Banks: The Case of the Reconstruction Finance Bank

This paper analyzes the performance of the Reconstruction Finance Bank (RFB) in order to shed light on the role of development banks in fostering economic growth. The RFB played a large role in Japan′s transition from war-time command economy to a market economy in the early post-war period. We use individual firm level data on sales, profits, and loans from the RFB, and find that, initially, the RFB was making loans to firms with below-average performance. We then find that this was partly a result of political interventions into the loan policy of the RFB. In fact, we also find evidence of improvements in the performance of the RFB after its loan policy became more independent. Implications for developing economies are also discussed. J. Japan. Int. Econ., Dec. 1995, 9(4), pp. 486-504. Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 13, Japan.