Est-il Possible Que Le Japon Devienne Un Pays Attractif ? (document en anglais)

Is Japan able to become an attractive

country? Nation Branding in Tourism

OSAMU FUKUDA

Dissertation submitted to Oxford Brookes

University for the partial fulfilment of the requirement

for the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

September 2003

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DECLARATION

This dissertation is a product of my own work and is the result of nothing done

in collaboration.

I consent to the University’s free use, including online reproduction, including

electronically, and adaptation for teaching and education activities of any

whole or part item of this dissertation. I agree that this dissertation my be

available for reference and photocopying at the discretion of the University.

Osamu Fukuda

Word length: 20,049 words

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Great thanks to my wife, Ikuko Fukuda, and my daughters, Murasaki and

Kanon.

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ABSTRACT

Until recently, Japan has exported not only electrical products but also tourists

to all over the world. People know about Japanese products that are

fashionable, reliable or trustworthy. Therefore, Japan has an established brand

image for consumers as product oriented country.

On the other hand, as an economic consequence, the reception of inbound

international visitors has in some extent been over looked and tended to be at

low-key level over the years. At last, Japanese government determined to take

the initiative in tourism, which is called as the inbound tourism initiative of

Japan.

This paper seeks to examine the assumption that nation branding – which will

affect the consumer behaviour – is important to help foreigners understand

Japan not only as a country of industry but also as a tourism country.

This paper investigates into generic brand theory, destination branding theory,

and as a challenge, Beanie Babies (BB) model, a high

involvement/relationship-prone brand model, for destination branding.

To test this model, BB model, this paper compares three characteristic

destinations such as New Zealand, Spain, and Central Eastern Europe (CEE)

or Croatia. Then, Japan’s case is applied to the model.

Based on the result of these case studies, this paper puts forward the

recommendation.

In parallel with the main discussion, methodology, especially generalisation,

is stated.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1. Introduction.................................................................................1

CHAPTER 2. Background.................................................................................3

CHAPTER 3. Objectives ...................................................................................8

CHAPTER 4. Methodology...............................................................................9

4.1. Research prerequisites ............................................................................9

4.1.1. Research philosophy ........................................................................9

4.1.2. Research approaches......................................................................10

Deduction: testing theory.....................................................................10

4.2. Literature search....................................................................................11

Database...............................................................................................11

Books ...................................................................................................11

Library..................................................................................................11

The Internet..........................................................................................12

Assessment...........................................................................................12

4.3. Critical literature review .......................................................................13

4.4. Model a framework...............................................................................14

4.5. Semi-structured and in-depth interview................................................15

4.5.1. Data quality issue...........................................................................16

4.5.2. To overcome data quality issues....................................................16

Reliability.............................................................................................16

Interviewer and interviewee bias .........................................................16

Generalisability....................................................................................17

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