Cultural Analysis of Japanese Tourists Challenges Tourism Marketers

European Journal of Marketing
A cultural analysis of Japanese tourists: challenges for tourism marketers

Yvette Reisinger, Lindsay Turner,
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A cultural analysis of A cultural

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,
February 1998
Lindsay Turner
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
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
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, lack of sophisticated packaging, home-made products
(McArthur, 1988), lack of good manners by service staff, poor command of
Asian languages (Kennedy, 1988), slow service, communication problems
(McGee, 1988), and the Australian pattern of weekend penalty hours (Ostrow,
1988). The Japanese began to return home retaining one third of the money they
intended to spend in Australia, because shops were closed and they could not
find the souvenirs they wanted (Harris, 1988). Although Japanese tourists
perceived local providers positively on arrival to Australia (the average mean
score was between 3 and 4 on a 5-point scale), their perceptions of Australian
providers were significantly less favourable on departure. For instance, hotel
and food establishment employees and shop assistants were perceived as
significantly less concerned about tourist needs, less helpful and less
informative; Australian tour guides were perceived as less knowledgeable of
Australian history and culture; and all Australian providers were perceived as
significantly less able to speak the Japanese language than tourists expected,
prior to their arrival in Australia (Reisinger and Waryszak, 1994a; 1994b;
1994c; 1994d).
The problems encountered in the area of service generated a quite high level
of dissatisfaction among Japanese tourists since the service the Japanese
tourists had received did not match their expectations. Approximately 22 per
cent (1992) and 31 per cent (1995) of the Japanese tourists were dissatisfied with
the times when shops were open, 6 per cent were not happy about the cost of
goods in shops, 10 per cent were dissatisfied with the availability of service
providers with language skills other than English, 9 per cent were dissatisfied
with the availability of interpreters, 8 per cent were dissatisfied with the
availability of foreign language signs, and 15 per cent were unhappy about the
availability of handicapped facilities (BTR, 1992, 1995).
There could have been several factors which generated problems in serving
Japanese tourists at the consumption stage and their disappointment at the
post-consumption stage of buyer behaviour such as technical elements of
service provision or previous Australian holiday experiences. However, these
factors seem to be irrelevant. The technical elements of service did not create
dissatisfaction among other international tourist markets, and nearly three
quarters of the Japanese tourists to Australia were first-time visitors with no
previous experience of Australia.
European A major factor influencing Japanese evaluation of Australian service
Journal of might be the cultural difference in values and expectations of Japanese
Marketing customers. The extremely high expectations of service of the Japanese might
also be one of the reasons for the decline in the growth rate of Japanese
33,11/12 arrivals to Australia. According to Turcq and Usunier (1985), the Japanese
are extremely keen on detail, aesthetics, quality and service. They are more
1206 demanding and have higher service expectations than other international
tourists and are driven by a Japanese service philosophy determined by
cultural beliefs about how service should be properly performed. Japanese
cultural traits set very high standards for service, and Australian standards
of service did not match this standard. Goodrich (1997) noted that Japanese
tourists are unique and different from other tourists and that it is imperative
to understand and adjust to their culture by tailoring services to distinctive

Japanese characteristics.
However, this paper does not argue that Western hosts should change their
mode of service provision to suit the needs of the Japanese tourist market. This
would be in conflict with the Japanese motivation to experience Western
culture. However, this paper does argue that Western hosts should become
more aware of the significant cultural variations in the expected standards of
service between themselves and the Japanese market, as well as other
culturally different tourist markets. The cultural differences in service
determine expectations from service and its required standard. Tourism
marketers and service providers should respond to the culturally accepted
standards of the markets they serve. Current marketing strategies, which aim
at various international tourist markets, are inadequate in emphasising the role
of a tourist and a host culture for developing tourist positive perceptions of
their holiday and, in particular, the level of service received.
Japanese and Western cultural orientation

A review of literature has revealed that much has been written on Japanese
culture (Argyle, 1975; Befu, 1980; Benedict, 1946, 1974; Graburn, 1983;
Hendry, 1987; Lebra, 1976; Moeran and Graburn, 1983; Morsbach, 1981;
Nakane, 1973; Neustupny, 1987; Zimmerman, 1985). There is a consensus
among writers that there are cultural differences between Japanese and
Western societies. Perhaps, the most relevant literature on Japanese cultural
orientation is Hofstede's (1980a) study which identified the four cultural
dimensions of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and
collectivism, and masculinity and femininity on which the Japanese and
Western cultures could be compared. According to Hofstede (1980a), Japanese
society belongs to a high power distance culture and believes in authority,
supervision and hierarchy. The seniority system dictates respect for age,
wisdom and subordination to those of higher social position. In contrast,
Western societies believe that social hierarchy and inequality should be
minimised. The Japanese appear to belong to the high uncertainty avoidance
culture: they avoid conflict, competition and risk-taking to preserve social
harmony. On the other hand, Westerners belong to the lower uncertainty A cultural
avoidance culture: they tolerate ambiguity, new ideas and different analysis of
behaviours. The Japanese appear to be collectivist in nature: they foster the Japanese tourists
development of strong cohesive groups and focus on group needs. Japanese
individual preferences are sacrificed for the harmony of the family and the
group. Decisions are based on group consensus to avoid conflict. By contrast,
Westerners appear to be the opposite: concerned about individual needs and 1207
goals. Finally, although family and group are the major considerations of
Japanese culture, Japanese society is a masculine society: the focus is on
performance and growth. In contrast, although it appears that materialism,
possession and financial status are of major importance in Western cultures,
Western societies are less masculine oriented: they focus on quality of life and
the welfare of others (see Table I).

Other studies which support a notion of cultural differences between
Japanese and Western populations are Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961), Hall
(1976), Glenn (1981), Condon (1978), Samovar and Porter (1988), and Argyle
et al. (1986). Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961) distinguished between three
types of culture: individualistic, collateral and linear. According to
Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck (1961), the Japanese belong to a collectivistic
culture because they focus on group needs and goals. They also belong to a
collateral culture because they believe that the individual is part of a social
order which results from extended relationships. They focus on group norms
and consensus, and emphasise co-existence with the extended family. The
Japanese also belong to a linear culture because they believe in social
succession, hierarchy and submission to elders and superiors. Doi (1974) and
Usunier (1993) reported what they considered to be a unique feature of
Japanese society, that is, ``the anatomy of dependence'' ± passive love
surrounding and supporting the individual in a group, whether family,
neighbourhood or the world. Similarly, Shimaguchi (1978) reported close
dependency and high expectations of others in a group. Nakane (1973)
emphasised the role of amae in developing and maintaining group bonds. In
contrast, Westerners belong to individualistic cultures because they focus on
individual needs and well being. They do not focus on extended families and
Power Uncertainty Individualism/ Masculinity/

Country distance avoidance collectivism femininity
Japan 29 27 2 14
Australia 22 4 22 1 Table I.
Note: A low ranking (e.g. 3) indicates a high rating on that dimension. Maximum ranking is Ranking of Japan and
40 Australia on Hofstede's
four cultural
Source: Hofstede (1980a, p. 315) dimensions
European dependent relationships to the degree of the Japanese, and they believe more
Journal of in democracy, equality and advancement through their own work and
Marketing achievements rather than co-existence with others.
33,11/12 According to Hall (1976), the Japanese appear to belong to a high context
culture where the meaning of information received is implied through non-
verbal cues, and depends on the situation and personal relationships.
1208 Westerners belong to a low context culture and transmit their messages in
spoken or written words. Similarly, Glenn (1981) noted the importance of
associative communication in Japan with a focus on situation and context, and
abstractive communication in Western cultures with a focus on arguments and
facts. Condon (1978) reported that in Japanese culture, which focuses on
indirect and implicit communication, silence is regarded as a symbol of power
and strength. In Western cultures, which focus on direct and explicit

communication, silence is regarded as a symbol of weakness. According to
Samovar and Porter (1988), in a formal culture such as Japan, people behave
according to strict social rules. In informal Western cultures little attention is
paid to formal rules.
A review of the tourism literature has revealed that many studies have been
focussed on the cultural characteristics of the Japanese tourist behaviour
(Ahmed and Krohn, 1992; Dace, 1995; Keown, 1989; Lang et al., 1993; Lebra,
1976; Sheldon and Fox, 1988). Ahmed and Krohn (1992) examined the unique
cultural characteristics of the behaviour of Japanese tourists visiting the USA.
They cited ten major elements in Japanese culture which influence their
consumer behaviour:
(1) belongingness (travelling in groups and seeking comfort in
togetherness);
(2) family influence (purchasing gifts for close friends and family members
and reciprocating);
(3) empathy (projecting the feelings of others and not expressing true
personal feelings, including displeasure);
(4) dependency (being loyal and devoted in exchange for security and
protection);
(5) hierarchical acknowledgement (behaving in accordance to social status);
(6) propensity to save (accumulating funds for an emergency and saving for
a home to overcome feelings of insecurity);
(7) the concept of kinen (collecting evidence of travel to prestigious tourist
destinations);
(8) tourist photography (importance of photography);
(9) passivity (avoidance of participating in physical activities); and
(10) risk avoidance (avoidance of adventurous leisure pursuits).
It was reported that Japanese regard complaining or expressing dissatisfaction A cultural
as inappropriate. Ahmed and Krohn (1992, p. 81) argued that ``Japanese tourists analysis of
rarely display displeasure even if they are not pleased with a tourism service or Japanese tourists
product''. Keown (1989), who tried to evaluate the Japanese tourists' perceptions
of Hawaiian stores versus Japanese stores, noted that the very polite Japanese
tourists refrained from criticising Hawaiian stores. Ahmed and Krohn (1992, p.
81) noted that Japanese tourists ``save all complaints until they return home. 1209
They believe that expression of the personal feelings would be disruptive''.
Lebra (1976) discussed the concept of enryo as self-restraint exercised to avoid
causing displeasure for others. Similarly, Dace (1995) described the concepts of
wa (harmony with surroundings) and enryo (group harmony through self-
restraint). Reisinger and Waryszak (1994d, p. 36) reported that ``the cultural
background of Japanese tourists could indicate the necessity of saving face and
not embarrassing the Australian tourism industry officials by expressing
negative opinions''.
It was noted that in order to influence Japanese arrivals in Canada attention
should be focused on the habit persistence variable rather than on exchange
rate and income since the effect of the former was more consistent and
significant (Hui and Chi-Ching, 1996). The importance of developing and
maintaining good personal relationships with the Japanese, and differing
cultural and behavioural communication norms was identified as one of the
major issues in the relationships between Japanese wholesalers and Australian
suppliers (March, 1997).
Cultural background strongly influences Japanese tourist consumer
behaviour. For instance, a Japanese tourist selects a holiday destination
differently to a domestic tourist in Australia. A major consideration in
choosing a tourist destination is the effect of the destination choice on the
family members. All members of Japanese families participate in choosing a
holiday destination. The chosen destination should be preferred by everyone
to preserve group harmony. In order to maximise the benefits of their
holidays, Japanese also carefully pre-plan their travel arrangements. They
examine all alternative destinations, their pros and cons, and consider
various pricing policies to save additional funds. As a result, in the pre-
purchase stage of consumer behaviour Japanese spend a lot of time on
decision making. Consequently, the process of their decision making is
longer when compared to Western consumers. On the other hand, the
purchase stage itself is speedier than in Western countries because Japanese
try to avoid offending and disturbing the harmony of the group (Ziff-Levine,
1990). In the evaluation stage, Japanese assess the product and services
consumed depending on the situation and personal relationships. This
assessment is expressed implicitly through non-verbal meanings, and its
interpretation must be done with caution. The Japanese holiday satisfaction
level should always be weighted against the degree of the Japanese
reluctance to express negative emotions. In contrast, the process of decision
making of an average Australian tourist is shorter in the pre-purchased
European stage. Australians do not spend much time on deciding about their holiday
Journal of destinations. Their holidays are often unplanned, worry-free and relaxed.
Marketing They are also designed around the individual's needs. However, the
purchase stage is longer because Australian tourists often shop around to
33,11/12 get the best deal in various travel agencies. In the evaluation stage,
Australians express their holiday dis/satisfaction openly and directly, they
1210 often argue and refer to facts.
The above studies show that there are cultural differences in consumer
behaviour between the Japanese and Western nationalities. The major reasons
for these differences were found to be related to various religious beliefs. The
Japanese have been indoctrinated on Buddhist, Shintoist and Confucian
thought, whereas Western cultures have Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian
cultural backgrounds. Consequently, these differences should be analysed and

accommodated to prevent cultural misunderstanding.
Purpose of the study

The major purposes of this study are to:
. determine the dimensions of the cultural differences between the
Japanese and Australian populations in a tourism context;
. investigate their key indicators in the framework of structural equation
modelling; and
. determine which cultural themes should be emphasised in tourism
promotional strategies aiming at the Japanese tourist market.
In particular, the study aims to identify the effect of the cultural differences on
the interpersonal elements of service delivery, that is, social interaction
between Japanese tourists and Australian service providers, as representative
of Western culture. It is hypothesised that there are significant cultural
differences between the Japanese and Australian populations in a tourism
context. These differences can be presented in several cultural dimensions
which are correlated with the dimension of social interaction.
Japanese and Australian culture is analysed in this article from the broad
national perspective rather than the regional or an individual perspective.
Culture in this article refers to `èverything that people have in common''
(Hofstede, 1980b). Most individuals from the same nation share a dominant
cultural character which is difficult to change. On the other hand, the regional
culture or the culture of individuals can be influenced by an individual's
demographic, socio-economic or psychographic characteristics.
Interestingly, from the national perspective, Japan is the most homogeneous
in the world with respect to its socio-cultural characteristics. According to
Ahmed and Krohn (1992), all Japanese speak the same language, practice the
same religion, and share the same socio-cultural values, when compared to
Western nationals, which often are aggregates of the world's various cultures.
It has been argued that Japan tends to be seen `às one whole, and the Japanese
as all of the same kind''. In fact, Japan is as diverse as any other country. To A cultural
speak of it as of a single and indivisible entity is unrealistic'' (Neustupny, 1987, analysis of
p. 27). Japanese tourists
The Japanese travel outbound market is heterogeneous and one must also
take into account demographic characteristics, different propensities for
physical activity, different ways of experiencing culture and nature, since these
define specific market segments (Iverson, 1997). These segments share the 1211
same dominant cultural character. Therefore, it is important to understand the
national cultural character of the total Japanese market when analysing
Japanese tourist behaviour and motivation.
This paper analyses a national dominant cultural character of most Japanese
which distinguishes them from Westerners and, in particular, Australians as
presented in the paper.
Research methodology
Sample
The study reported in the paper formed part of a larger research project on the
cultural differences between Asian and Australian populations in a tourism
context. The total population investigated in that study consisted of 618 Asian
tourists visiting the Gold Coast region, Queensland, the major tourist
destination in Australia. The total population of Asian tourists was divided
into mutually exclusive and exhaustive strata (Asian language groups), of
which one was the Japanese tourist market. A sample of 108 Japanese tourists
comprised the Japanese strata. Japanese tourists were approached in places of
their most frequent visitation such as theme parks, restaurants, hotels and
shops. In addition, 250 Australian tourism providers were chosen randomly
from a variety of sectors of the tourism and hospitality industry such as
accommodation, transportation, food and beverage, retail, entertainment and
customs. In these sectors the Japanese tourists came into direct contact with
local providers.
Measuring instrument and its design

A structured interview questionnaire was used to collect the data. The
questionnaire was divided into six parts: the first part measured cultural
values. The Rokeach (1973) Values Survey was chosen as the most appropriate
for measuring human values. The second part measured rules of social
behaviour and the items were adapted from Argyle et al.'s (1986) study on
cross-cultural variations in relationship rules. However, the original instrument
was modified so that rules of conforming to social etiquette, having a sense of
shame, avoiding embarrassment and many other questions were included to
make the instrument more applicable to the Japanese culture. The third part of
the questionnaire measured perceptions of service. Many items were adapted
from Parasuraman et al.'s (1986) study on service quality dimensions as they
covered the most important criteria of service quality. However, additional
variables such as knowledge of Japanese culture and customs, knowledge of
European Australian history and culture, and ability to speak the Japanese and English
Journal of languages were added to the questionnaire. These variables had been found to
Marketing be useful in measuring Japanese tourist perceptions of Australian service
providers' attributes (Reisinger and Waryszak, 1994a; 1994b; 1994c; 1994d).
33,11/12 The fourth part of the questionnaire measured tourist-host social interaction.
The measuring items were adapted from the direct and indirect measures of
1212 social contact identified by Feather (1980) and Kamal and Maruyama (1990).
The fifth part of the questionnaire measured seven components of satisfaction
with tourist-host contact. Additional socio-demographic information was also
collected. All questions were identical for both the Australian and Japanese
samples to permit comparison of answers. The tourist questionnaire was
translated into the Japanese language and back translated from Japanese into
English to achieve equivalence of concepts.

The questionnaire was pretested twice on a sample of 30 Japanese tourists and
20 Australian providers. The questionnaire was administered by a professionally
trained interviewer speaking the English and Japanese languages.
Operationalization of measures
All measuring items were rated on a 6-point scale according to their
importance; 1 was assigned to an item rated as the least important and 6 was
assigned to an item rated as the most important.
Analysis
The data were analysed using a Mann-Whitney U Test to identify the
significant cultural differences between both populations. A principal
components analysis with orthogonal varimax rotation was used to determine
the major cultural dimensions and their key indicators on which the Japanese
and Australian cultures differed. Orthogonal rotation was chosen to reduce a
total number of 117 variables to a smaller set of individual factors regardless of
their meanings. The varimax approach was used to:
. maximise the variance of factor loadings across variables and make
high loadings higher and low loadings lower, for each factor;
. achieve a clearer separation of the factors; and
. identify the variables most representative of these factors (with the
highest loadings).
Further, a LISREL 7.20 computer program (Joreskog and Sorbom, 1989)
Submodel 1 was used to: examine a series of interrelated relationships between
the identified cultural dimensions and the multiple variables which represented
these dimensions; and assess the relationships between the dimensions, and
their statistical significance. The LISREL was not performed on all identified
latent dimensions as one group. The sample size was too small in relation to the
number of variables analysed to run a single overall LISREL analysis. If such
analysis were done, measurement error would increase, and the statistical
rigour of the results would decrease. Therefore, the LISREL analysis was A cultural
performed in parts. analysis of
Since the aim was to find out which dimensions and which indicators were Japanese tourists
the most critical in determining social interaction between tourists and hosts,
each latent dimension was separately paired with the interaction dimension.
The strength of the relationships between the paired dimensions was
measured. These relationships are presented as one diagram in order to clearly 1213
see the total set of interrelationships. As such Figure 1 is only misleading to the
degree that each of the sets of separate analyses have been amalgamated
together, whereas the analysis was actually done in parts. Hence, the
interaction dimension has as many listings of the variable loadings as there are
pairs of dimensions. Only sets with the best goodness of fit index (GFI),
adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) and the highest total coefficient of
determination (TCD) were included in Figure 1.
Study results
Respondents' profile
The Japanese sample tended to be older than the sample of Australian
providers with more than 56 per cent of the former being 25-38 years of age
compared with nearly 31 per cent of the latter. The Japanese sample had a very
high proportion with a university degree (52 per cent) compared with only 13
per cent in the Australian sample. The largest sub-groups of the Japanese
tourists were professionals (22 per cent), followed by salespeople and clerks,
while the largest sub-groups of the Australian providers were food and
beverage staff (approximately 20 per cent) followed by front office and
housekeeping. Nearly 90 per cent of the Japanese tourists came to Australia for
the purpose of holiday, 86 per cent were on inclusive package tours and had
been exposed to an intensive contact with local providers such as front office
employees, waitresses, shop keepers, salespeople, bus drivers or custom
officers. The majority of the Japanese tourists (75 per cent) had been served by
more than ten providers during their stay in Australia. About one quarter of
the Japanese tourists did not develop any relationship with local hosts and the
same proportion made close friends of one host only. The majority of the
Japanese tourists (55 per cent) believed that it was very difficult to interact with
Australian providers. Approximately 64 per cent did not speak any English at
all, or spoke very little. More than 80 per cent preferred a high degree of
interaction with Australian hosts.
Cultural dimensions
Out of 117 areas of measurement, 83 showed significant differences in all five
groups of cultural indicators, that is, cultural values, rules of social behaviour,
perceptions of service, preferred forms of social interaction and satisfaction
with interaction. A principal components analysis reduced the number of
significant differences to a set of five cultural dimensions on which the
Japanese and Australian cultures differed. Factor loadings from a varimax
European
Journal of
Marketing
33,11/12
1214
Figure 1.
Model of the cultural
differences between
Japanese tourists and
Australian hosts
rotated solution greater than 0.6 were considered significant. The five A cultural
dimensions, which differed between Japanese tourists and Australian hosts, analysis of
were defined as courtesy and responsiveness, competence, interaction, idealism Japanese tourists
and communication. The Cronbach's Alpha of each of the five dimensions
ranged from 0.75 to 0.95 and indicated that the five-factor solution was highly
reliable. The pattern of loadings and factor structure is shown in Table II. The
five cultural dimensions identified in Table II were summarised as follows: 1215
(1) Courtesy and responsiveness consisted of variables that described the
providers' ability to respond to tourists' needs such as being helpful,
accurate, prompt, respectful, trustworthy, confident and polite. It
included the providers' ability to solve problems, perform the service
required, answer all questions and behave in a way which indicates that
tourists are treated as guests.

(2) Competence consisted of variables that described the cues associated
with accomplishment such as being logical, intellectual, independent,
cheerful and self-respected, and implies the providers' ability to think
and behave in a professional manner.
(3) Interaction described the preference for forms of social interaction such
as having a personal relationship, sharing a meal, playing sport
together, inviting home and exchanging gifts.
(4) Idealism related to the need for peace, happiness and beauty.
(5) Communication reflected the need for adequate communication between
providers and tourists, that is, the providers' ability to keep tourists
informed, provide adequate explanations, listen to tourists and be
concerned about the tourists' well-being.
The LISREL model for the Japanese tourist market showed, first, that out of
five cultural dimensions identified by a principal components analysis, only
three were the most critical to the Japanese market. These were courtesy and
responsiveness, competence and interaction. The dimension of courtesy and
responsiveness represented perceptions of service, the dimension of
competence represented cultural values, and the dimension of interaction
represented preferred forms of interaction. Second, the LISREL analysis did not
identify dimensions which represented rules of social behaviour and
satisfaction.
Third, the most critical indicators of the courtesy and responsiveness
dimension were: being helpful, able to provide accurate information and
prompt service, being respectful, trustworthy, responsive to tourists' needs,
confident, polite, and able to solve problems. The most critical indicator of the
competence dimension was being intellectual. The most critical indicators of
the interaction dimension were having a personal relationship and sharing a
meal (see Figure 1).
Fourth, the correlations between the interaction dimension and the other two
dimensions, that is, the dimension of courtesy and responsiveness and the
European Significant factor
Journal of Variable loading
Marketing
33,11/12 F1. Courtesy/responsiveness
Helpful 0.84543
Provide accurate information 0.82831
1216 Prompt service 0.82359
Respectful 0.81244
Trustworthy 0.80590
Responsive to tourists' needs 0.79710
Confident 0.78180
Treat as guests 0.77825
Polite 0.77713
Solve problems 0.76961
Perform service required 0.69388
Answer questions 0.68158
Reliability Cronbach's Alpha 0.9493
F2. Competence
Logical 0.82227
Intellectual 0.74677
Independent 0.72062
Cheerful 0.64293
Self-respect 0.62906
F3. Interaction
Have personal relationship 0.85514
Share a meal 0.79028
Play sport 0.76709
Invite home 0.72695
Exchange gifts 0.71184
F4. Idealism
World of peace 0.83749
Happiness 0.71278
Table II. World of beauty 0.65220
Results of the varimax Reliability Cronbach's Alpha 0.7467
rotated factor matrix in
the Japanese sample F5. Communication
for the variables which Give adequate explanations 0.69634
differed between
Keep informed 0.68321
Australian hosts and
Japanese tourists Listen to tourists 0.63054
(significant factor Concerned about tourists' welfare 0.61324
loadings only) Reliability Cronbach's Alpha 0.8932
dimension of competence, were extremely weak (0.252, t 2:404 between A cultural
interaction and competence) and non-existent (0.185, t 1:804 between analysis of
interaction and courtesy and responsiveness). Obviously, the interaction Japanese tourists
dimension was not correlated with the dimension of courtesy and
responsiveness, and the dimension of competence (see Figure 1).
The LISREL model of the cultural differences between Japanese tourists and
Australian hosts is displayed in Figure 1. The measures of absolute fit for the 1217
LISREL analysis are presented in Table III.
Marketing implications
The LISREL model identified three key cultural dimensions of the differences
between Japanese and Australian populations in a tourism context, that is,
courtesy and responsiveness, competence and interaction. The variables which

significantly loaded on these dimensions represent the key cultural differences
between Japanese tourists' and Australian providers' behaviour. These
variables should draw attention of tourism marketers as they indicate the key
cultural characteristics of the Japanese tourists which determine their holiday
expectations and experiences. Australian tourism marketers should learn to
appreciate these characteristics and develop products and services that appeal
to Japanese tourists. Marketers should adopt strategies which would utilise
these cultural characteristics to meet the expectations and needs of the
Japanese visitors and promote Australia to the Japanese market in a more
effective and efficient way. The important reason for learning the cultural
behaviour of Japanese tourists is to develop better marketing strategies and
increase the rate of Japanese repeat visitation to Australia.
Dimension of courtesy and responsiveness

Accurate information. As members of a high uncertainty avoidance culture
Japanese tourists have a strong need to avoid any possible risk associated with
their travel. Given that Australians belong to a low uncertainty avoidance
culture and are not concerned with travel risk to such a degree as the Japanese,
efforts should be made to reduce travel risk for the Japanese tourist. The
predominant strategy should involve the provision of adequate and reliable
information about the Australian tourism product. However, the type of
information and its source should depend on what type of risk tourists might
experience and which types of risk particular tourism products create for
travellers.
Values-interaction Perceptions-interaction
Goodness of fit index (GFI) 0.829 0.644 Table III.

Adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI) 0.797 0.563 LISREL model fit
Total coefficient of determination (TCD) 0.983 0.995 estimates for Japanese
Root mean square residuals (RMSR) 0.080 0.084 cultural model
European The Japanese tourists can perceive several types of risks when travelling
Journal of overseas: performance risk, the risk that the product and services will not
Marketing perform as expected; financial risk, the risk that the product will not be worth
its cost in money, either because it will be too expensive or will not be of high
33,11/12 quality; time risk, the risk that it would be a waste of time to travel to
Australia; physical risk, the risk that the tourism product will cause safety
1218 problems and be harmful; psychosocial risk, a combination of social and
psychological risk, the risk that a poor product choice may result in
embarrassment before others or harm the tourist's ego; and cultural risk, the
risk of culture shock if the destination's culture is too dissimilar from what
the traveller was expecting.
The above risks should be reduced by a number of possible risk reduction
strategies. Tourism marketers should use various information sources. The

sources, which would be treated by the Japanese tourists as the most credible
and trustworthy, are personal experiences from family members, friends, and
neighbours. Their impact on the Japanese travellers' information search
behaviour would be the most effective. Capella and Greco (1987) found that
families and friends greatly influenced destination choice. Therefore, the
goodwill of past Japanese visitors should be fostered as they give favourable
impressions about their visits and make recommendations to their families and
acquaintances. Also, commercial (advertising, salespeople) and public (mass
media, travel organisations, travel shows, travel literature and brochures)
sources should be utilised. For instance, signs and informative posters should
be placed in hotel lobbies with information on travel itineraries, flight
schedules or trading hours. Promotional brochures should be distributed to
tourists on arrival and include details on all places of tourist visitation,
activities and services available.
Personal sources of information should be used when financial risk is a
consideration (Houston, 1979). When tourists are concerned about time risk, the
travel agent and other non-personal sources of information should be
consulted. When tourists are concerned about high cultural risk, the marketer
should suggest a travel consultant as a source of information. Marketers should
also use word of mouth to provide information to travellers about dealing with
cultural risk. Moutinho (1987) acknowledged that the primary source of
communication for tourists was word of mouth. In addition, references from
public celebrities and leaders, who are well known as having good knowledge
and experience with the Australian tourism product and whose judgement the
Japanese tourists trust, would also greatly reduce uncertainty and could be
even more effective than TV and radio advertising.
Marketers should reduce the effort required by tourists to search for extra
information by directing tourists to only knowledgeable and credible sources.
The more adequate and knowledgeable the information provided to tourists,
the fewer the number of information sources tourists will consult for
opposing information which might lead to the discovery of other risks, which
in turn might increase total risk, rather than reduce it. Provision of accurate
and adequate information and, thus, reducing the number of sources A cultural
consulted by tourists would provide marketers with a competitive advantage. analysis of
In order to achieve this marketers should motivate travel agents to increase Japanese tourists
their level of knowledge about the product marketed to Japanese tourists and
aim to be perceived as trustworthy and well-known suppliers of information.
If the credibility of the information becomes a concern for tourists, marketers
should institute a change in their distribution (the choice of intermediaries), 1219
as well as promotion decisions (e.g. advertising, brochures). In addition, the
tour products should be designed with the awareness that an increasing
number of Japanese tourists are repeat visitors who do not want to have the
same or similar experiences in subsequent visits. New markets and new
marketing channels should be established to inform repeat visitors about new
tourism products.
Also, marketers should show how Japanese tourists themselves could reduce
their uncertainty. For example, marketers should direct Japanese tourists to
government travel reports, encourage repeat visits and to purchase the more
expensive product, not overpromise to lower tourist expectations, offer high
quality service guarantees, and refer to the friends and families of tourists for
recommendations.
Marketers should also attempt to develop a destination loyalty strategy by
ensuring the Japanese tourist is satisfied with any high-risk purchase such as
an adventure product, and make the tourist unwilling to experience a different
product at a different destination.
Prompt service. Although the Japanese tend to resist pressures on deadlines,
they are punctual. Punctuality is regarded by the Japanese masculine society not
only as a sign of good manners and respect to others but also as a measure of
professionalism and performance. Being in a more feminine society, with a focus
on casual life style and lack of promptness, Australian providers should not delay
services for the Japanese tourist, as this would be an indication of the providers'
inability to deliver quality and a sign of incompetence. If service delays are
anticipated, providers should make waiting entertaining. Japanese tourists need to
be occupied, for example, given menus to look at while waiting in a restaurant or a
travel journal to read while waiting in a hotel lobby or at an airport.
Entertainment is required, preferably related to the upcoming service to make
tourists perceive that the service has started and they are no longer actively
waiting. For instance, watching a videotape of Australia could at the same time
educate the Japanese tourist and reduce perceptions of waiting. Offering Japanese
tourists something to do will also reduce their anxiety. Additionally, Japanese
tourists should also be told how long they will have to wait to reduce their
uncertainty about the wait and be given reasons for the cause of the waiting. If a
delay is unavoidable waiting should be organised in groups. As collectivists the
Japanese would feel more comfortable to wait with other members of a group
rather than alone. Also, the distractions provided by other members of a group
and opportunities to share the waiting experience will make waiting more
European tolerable. Further, marketers should conform to the apologetic behaviour of the
Journal of Japanese with small apology gifts given to tourists if a delay is unavoidable.
Marketing Words of apology from senior management would also be appropriate.
Respect. In a high power distance culture such as Japan where a society
33,11/12 values authority and hierarchical structure (Isomura et al., 1987) various
degrees of respect are shown to people in different social positions and in
1220 different age groups. Australian marketers, who are members of a low power
distance culture valuing equality, should differentiate their Japanese customers
by segmenting them on the basis of social stratification and developing distinct
promotional messages to the individual segments. Careful attention should be
paid to showing respect to the tourist's social position and age. Local providers
should determine the order in which tourists should be served. Also, providers
should wear work uniforms with badges which indicate their own social and
employment status. As Turcq and Usunier (1985) reported the Japanese are
very concerned about aesthetics and detail. Thus, the physical appearance of
service providers must also be marketed.
Trustworthiness. In a high context culture such as Japan, the concepts of
truth and sincerity are relative and depend upon the social situation and time.
Truthfulness and sincerity in Japan are shown by maintaining harmony in
social relations, being concerned about the consequences of one's own
behaviour for other people, fulfilling social obligations, not revealing negative
thoughts, avoiding negative answers and offence. By contrast, in a low
context culture such as Australia, sincerity means straightforwardness and
directness. Consequently, cultural differences in understanding the concept of
truth can create difficulties in communication between Japanese and
Australians, interpretation of their intentions, and understanding as to what
is truly important. Thus, Australian marketers should adopt various
communication strategies when dealing with the Japanese tourist. Firstly,
any communication with the Japanese should be carried out in an ill-defined
context so as to preclude personal interpretation of the spoken words.
Secondly, tourism marketers should utilise their knowledge of cross-cultural
differences on the interpretation of messages and use professional
interpreters for dealings and negotiated agreements, deciding communication
channels, and developing advertising messages. They should also manage
tourist expectations through an appropriate form of communication. Thirdly,
only front office employees who are familiar with the cultural nuances of the
Japanese communication style should be hired. However, since this strategy
may do little to remove the cultural barrier, training courses in
communication style and understanding the meanings of Japanese words and
expressions should be organised. Such training would show how to
differentiate between words spoken and their true meanings, and how to
understand the real intentions of the Japanese.
Responsiveness. As a collectivistic society, which subordinates individual
interests and needs to group goals (Moeran, 1984) and stresses group loyalty
(Mouer and Sugimoto, 1979), the Japanese may perceive individualistic
Australians as not being responsive to Japanese tourist needs. In order to A cultural
respond to the group needs of the Japanese tourist Australian tourism analysis of
marketers should promote group oriented activities such as group dining, Japanese tourists
sightseeing, entertainment or shopping.
Confidence. In a Japanese high context culture, which focuses on implicit
communication and silence, confidence is regarded with suspicion and even as
rude behaviour. Humility, an apologetic attitude and consideration to the 1221
effects of one's own behaviour on others (Ziff-Levine, 1990) is an essential
element of Japanese behaviour. In contrast, Australians, who are members of a
low uncertainty avoidance culture and who value freedom and directness,
regard confidence as a sign of strength. Consequently, the promotional
messages to the Japanese market should not emphasise the providers'
confidence in service provision. Rather attention should be drawn to the

providers' consideration for Japanese feelings, controlling emotions,
suppressing feelings (Argyle et al., 1986), avoiding conflict (Lebra, 1976), being
peaceful and able to live in harmony with others.
Politeness. The ideological side of Japanese formal culture emphasises being
polite, courteous and adhering to rules of social etiquette. In Japan politeness is
an expression of good manners rather than kindness or respect as it is in
Australia. The rules of politeness are designed to prevent conflict, damage of
reputation, and to preserve social harmony in a high uncertainty avoidance
culture such as Japan. For Australians, to whom manners play a lesser role in
their life, real intentions and feelings are more important. Thus, emphasis in
promotional messages to the Japanese should be on social etiquette. Politeness
could be portrayed in TV advertisements showing providers inquiring about
the Japanese tourists' trip, family and health.
Problem solving. Being able to solve problems also seems to be a very
important element of polite and responsive service as seen by the Japanese. For
example, in Australia, the Japanese can feel threatened by their inability to
speak the English language, talk to culturally different people and behave
according to Western standards. Thus, acquiring some basic principles of the
Japanese language and not making the Japanese dependent upon the services of
the Japanese tour operators and interpreters, whose knowledge of the
Australian tourism product and lifestyle can be patchy, would be a great help
to the Japanese tourist, gain the Australian hosts' respect, and create a
perception of them as being polite, informative and responsive to tourist needs.
Dimension of competence
Intellectualism. In the masculine Japanese culture intellectual achievements and
the professional competence of an individual are extremely important. Japanese
society values training and education, which are manifested in the quality of
their work. Rather than being a sport hero and having financial wealth, as is the
case in Australia, the Japanese appreciate education which is seen as a
preparation for life. Consequently, Australian marketers should show respect to
European Japanese intellectuals and develop specific promotional messages which would
Journal of highlight and admire the intellectual achievements of the Japanese people.
Marketing
Dimension of interaction
33,11/12 Personal relationships. The collectivist Japanese society, which emphasises
collateral extended relationships, lineal succession, submission to group
1222 decision, consensus and avoidance of conflict, demands the Australian host to
create opportunities for developing human relations with the Japanese which
are based on closeness and co-operation. Ziff-Levine (1990) stressed the
importance of trust in relationship building. This means that relationships
between Japanese tourists and their hosts should be personalised ones, even
when members belong to different cultures. Preferences for individual needs,
well-being, comfort and independence, characteristic for Australian society,

should be de-emphasised as they are seen by the Japanese as selfish, resulting
in friction, and disharmony. As a result, group activities such as group
sightseeing, shopping or dining, which give the Japanese opportunities for
socialising, should be promoted and be the focus of the travel itineraries for the
Japanese tourist. Frequent meetings of hosts with tourists are required for
maintaining close human relationships. Similarly, visits of Australian
suppliers (producers and/or tour wholesalers) to their Japanese retailers are
necessary for developing human relationships in the distribution channels and
fostering the quality of the services offered to the potential tourists.
Sharing a meal. Since the Japanese belong to a high uncertainty culture, avoid
threatening situations in which they have to deal with strangers and are
characterised by a high degree of anticonformity (Frager, 1970) marketers should
utilise the Japanese techniques of developing successful social relations to
promote satisfying relations between tourists and local hosts. Some of these
techniques include performing acts of politeness. Others refer to obligation,
indebtedness and duty (Lebra, 1976). Sharing a meal or spending time with
Japanese guests to develop relations built on trust could also be examples of
successful relationship building. Morsbach (1977) reported the importance of gift
giving. Although, in Australia gift giving often seems to be inappropriate and
the donor can be suspected of a bribe, the Japanese would be pleased seeing
Australian hosts follow their custom. Small greeting and thank-you gifts such as
a box of golf balls or small koala toys would be appropriate for Japanese tourists
and a great marketing tool for Australian souvenir products. In addition, the
techniques of a formal introduction in personal relations with Japanese tourists
should be promoted. For instance, the use of name-cards, translated into the
Japanese language, to help the Japanese to determine the social positions of the
introduced person, and the way they should respond to this person; bowing
instead of handshaking, favoured by many Australians; and referring to the
Japanese by their second names, official titles or functions instead of first names,
would be most appreciated by the Japanese tourist and a great marketing tool to
promote the local providers' politeness, competence and willingness to adjust
and treat the Japanese tourists according to their cultural standards.
Conclusion A cultural
The results of the study do support the notion that there are cultural differences analysis of
between Japanese tourists and Australian hosts. Three cultural dimensions have Japanese tourists
been identified as critical to the Japanese tourist market, that is, courtesy and
responsiveness, competence and interaction. The variables, which significantly
loaded on these three dimensions, are the key indicators of the cultural
differences between Japanese tourists and Australian hosts. Tourism marketers 1223
should capitalise on these variables when promoting the Australian tourism
product to the Japanese market. Since the biggest number of critical cultural
differences between Japanese and Australian populations were found to be
represented by the dimension of courtesy and responsiveness marketers should
draw specific attention to this dimension. This dimension indicates the Japanese
tourist expectations of service providers and implies potential difficulties the

Japanese tourists could experience with Western standards of service.
Australia should position itself in the Japanese tourist market by offering
services tailored to Japanese cultural characteristics. The focus should be on
delivering a significantly higher level of service quality and adopting the
mentality of Japanese tourists. The emphasis should be on service punctuality,
professional competence and apologetic attitude by service providers, social
etiquette, customer differentiation based on social status and age, sense of order,
politeness and respect, accuracy and adequacy of information, concern about the
collectivistic needs of the Japanese tourists, and binding personal relations. The
image of the Australian tourism product projected by the Australian marketers
should correspond to the image and character of the product desired by Japanese
tourists. Capitalising on Japanese cultural traits when delivering services to the
Japanese tourist would also help marketers anticipate the Japanese tourists'
future behavioural reactions and develop strategies that would reduce potential
for their dissatisfaction. Thus, the challenge is to incorporate the cultural
behaviour of Japanese into marketing strategies.
Also, contrary to expectations, the results did not show significant paths
between the three dimensions. This might suggest that other dimensions
represented by demographic or socio-economic factors need to be taken into
account when determining Japanese holiday preferences.
Limitations and recommendations

In interpreting the results several limitations of the study should be noted. The
first limitation is related to the concept of culture and its complexity. There is
no universally accepted definition of culture, and there are no transcultural
variables by which the cultures could be completely distinguished and
successfully compared. These difficulties create methodological problems in
the analysis of culture such as cultural bias inherent to the questionnaire data
collection, levels of analysis or interpretation of findings.
A second limitation is that there is no universal scale to measure cultural
differences. The measurement items for the presented study were adapted from
European other studies. Even though internal reliabilities of factors were found
Journal of acceptable, future research should improve a measurement scale by adding
Marketing items or deleting some items according to the cultures analysed.
A third limitation pertains to the small sample size. However, it is important
33,11/12 to note that the study was exploratory in nature. While recognising that
generalisations of results to the whole spectrum of Japanese tourists is not
1224 possible due to the small sample size, it is felt that specific differences
attributable to Japanese and Australian culture did emerge, and it is these
differences that are important to discuss. It is possible that the same cultural
differences might emerge and be even more apparent if a bigger sample of
Japanese tourists was used.
Finally, the purpose of the study was not to identify new cultural differences,
which the literature does not mention, and present the tourists' interpretation of
these differences. Rather the purpose was to empirically show the existence of
these differences and to suggest possible steps which should be adopted to
better appeal to the Japanese tourist market. Also, the aim was to open up to
possible avenues for future research in what has been a very under-researched
area, that is, cross-cultural tourism marketing.
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Cultural Analysis of Japanese Tourists Challenges Tourism Marketers

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A cultural analysis of Japanese tourists: challenges for tourism marketers

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A cultural analysis of A cultural

for tourism marketers

needed. Thus, this paper attempts to develop such an approach by exploring

to understand and adjust to their culture by tailoring services to distinctive

Japanese and Western cultural orientation

the welfare of others (see Table I).

Power Uncertainty Individualism/ Masculinity/

and strength. In Western cultures, which focus on direct and explicit

cultural backgrounds. Consequently, these differences should be analysed and

Purpose of the study

presented in the paper.

Measuring instrument and its design

English to achieve equivalence of concepts.

tourists are treated as guests.

courtesy and responsiveness, competence and interaction. The variables which

Dimension of courtesy and responsiveness

Goodness of fit index (GFI) 0.829 0.644 Table III.

strategies. Tourism marketers should use various information sources. The

confidence in service provision. Rather attention should be drawn to the

well-being, comfort and independence, characteristic for Australian society,

tourist expectations of service providers and implies potential difficulties the

Limitations and recommendations

Morsbach, H. (1977), ``The psychological importance of ritualized gift exchange in modern

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