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A Cultural Analysis of Japanese Tourists: Challenges for Tourism European Journal of Marketing A cultural analysis of Japanese tourists: challenges for tourism marketers Yvette Reisinger, Lindsay Turner, Article information: To cite this document: Yvette Reisinger, Lindsay Turner, (1999) "A cultural analysis of Japanese tourists: challenges for tourism marketers", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 33 Issue: 11/12, pp.1203-1227, https:// doi.org/10.1108/03090569910292348 Permanent link to this document: https://doi.org/10.1108/03090569910292348 Downloaded on: 12 October 2017, At: 09:12 (PT) References: this document contains references to 63 other documents. To copy this document: [email protected] The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 9432 times since 2006* Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: (2009),"Marketing Japan's travel and tourism industry to international tourists", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 21 Iss 3 pp. 356-365 <a href="https:// doi.org/10.1108/09596110910948341">https://doi.org/10.1108/09596110910948341</a> (2000),"Tourists’ perceptions towards and satisfaction with service quality in the cross-cultural service encounter: implications for hospitality and tourism management", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 10 Iss 6 pp. 397-409 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/09604520010351220">https:// doi.org/10.1108/09604520010351220</a> Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:616458 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. Downloaded by ABE, Miss Claire Siegel At 09:12 12 October 2017 (PT) About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. *Related content and download information correct at time of download. The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com A cultural A cultural analysis of analysis of Japanese tourists: challenges Japanese tourists for tourism marketers Yvette Reisinger 1203 Department of Marketing, Monash University, Melbourne, Received April 1997 Victoria, Australia, and Revised October 1997, Lindsay Turner February 1998 Department of Applied Economics, Victoria University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia Keywords Service providers, Australia, Japan, Cultural diversity, Tourism, Marketing strategy Abstract Presents the results of an empirical analysis of the cultural differences between Australian and Japanese populations in a tourism context. Argues that the challenge for tourism marketers lies in understanding the cultural make-up of the Japanese market, and developing culture-oriented marketing strategies. Identifies the major reasons for the decline in Japanese tourist arrivals to Australia. Compares the Japanese and Western cultural orientation. Describes and interprets the cultural dimensions identified by a principal components analysis. Determines the most critical cultural dimensions and their indicators by a LISREL analysis. The findings show that the key cultural factors influencing Japanese holiday experiences in Australia are culturally determined perceptions of service and interpersonal relations with hosts. Presents the impact of cultural traits on Japanese tourist perceptions of Australian service and interpersonal contact with hosts. Discusses the implications of these findings for tourism marketers. Introduction Today's tourism business environment and multicultural diversity of international tourists points to the importance of developing a better understanding of the culturally different tourist. Cultural variations in value orientations and social behaviour have direct impacts on tourist holiday experiences. The hosts' ability to respond effectively to a culturally different Downloaded by ABE, Miss Claire Siegel At 09:12 12 October 2017 (PT) tourist is an important element determining positive tourist holiday experiences and satisfaction. During the last decade the international tourism industry experienced an increase in Japanese outbound traffic. The tourism forecasts show that Japan will be the main source of international outbound tourism in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Currently, Japan is the largest and the most important single source of international tourists to Australia representing 21 per cent of all international visitors (BTR, 1996). This market has also increased its visitation to Queensland, the major tourist holiday destination in Australia. The percentage of Japanese tourists visiting Queensland has been the highest, reaching 77 per cent of total visitors in 1996 (BTR, 1996). European Journal of Marketing, In response to this vast influx of Japanese tourists, who are culturally Vol. 33 No. 11/12, 1999, pp. 1203-1227. # MCB University different from Western populations, it is imperative that tourism marketers Press, 0309-0566 European understand the cultural characteristics of the Japanese tourist. Cultural traits Journal of lead to different holiday expectations and experiences and, consequently, a Marketing different degree of holiday satisfaction. Marketers should understand the way Japanese tourists select tourist destinations and evaluate them. 33,11/12 Several models of buyer behaviour have been developed for marketing purposes. Although these models form the base for contemporary marketing, 1204 they cannot be easily adopted to explain the purchasing behaviour and satisfaction of the international tourist. These models ignore the influence of cultural variables on the purchase experiences of the culturally different buyer. A new marketing approach allowing for logical deductions about international tourist behaviour and providing a potential framework for the development of appropriate marketing strategies for international tourists is needed. Thus, this paper attempts to develop such an approach by exploring the influence of cultural variables on Japanese buyer behaviour in a tourism context. The traditional model of buyer behaviour consists of three stages: pre- purchase, consumption and post-consumption. The first pre-purchase stage begins with problem or need recognition, and is followed by a search for information, arrival at a set of solutions and selection of the option. In the consumption stage buyers seek benefits which are delivered through an interactive process between themselves and service providers. At this stage buyers evaluate the services while interacting with the providers. At the post- consumption stage buyers evaluate services by comparing the service they perceived they had received with their expectations about what they should have received. At the pre-purchase stage of buyer behaviour Japanese tourists realise their need to travel overseas and consider the available holiday destinations. The main reason why the Japanese travel overseas is their desire to experience Western civilisation (Hendry, 1987; Leiper, 1985, 1987; Zimmerman, 1985). The main reason for their visitation to Australia is the concept of a safe and clean destination, with unique nature, beautiful beaches, warm climate, and modern Downloaded by ABE, Miss Claire Siegel At 09:12 12 October 2017 (PT) facilities. The Japanese desire to visit Australia was recently greatly enhanced by heavy publicity and aggressive marketing of Australia as a tourist destination in Japan. In addition, a favourable exchange rate has made travel to Australia cheap for Japanese tourists. However, in today's competitive tourism marketplace Australia has to compete with other destinations for Japanese tourists. Many of these destinations offer similar products: luxury hotels, transportation and appealing tourist attractions. Unfortunately, Australia cannot compete with many of these destinations in the areas of culture, history and shopping. Presently, Australia's competing destinations for the Japanese market are the USA (including Hawaii and Guam) and the short-haul destinations in Asia such as Hong Kong. The growth rate of Japanese arrivals to Australia has been decreasing since 1988 when Japanese tourist arrivals grew at a rate of 63 per cent (BTR, 1988). In 1996 the growth rate reached only 9 per cent (BTR, 1996) and it is predicted that A cultural it will drop to 4.1 per cent in the year 2004 (ATC, 1994). In addition, the level of analysis of repeat visitation from the Japanese market to Australia has declined to 25 per Japanese tourists cent (BTR, 1996). Also, the Gold Coast region, the major holiday destination for Japanese tourists, has begun to lose its appeal as a preferred tourist destination for Japanese honeymooners in favour of Hawaii. At the consumption stage of buyer behaviour Japanese tourists to Australia 1205 have experienced problems with Australian service provision. The Japanese complained about a lack of professional service in restaurants, poor organisation of tours,
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