Realtime Strategies for Customer Satisfaction

Our "1996 Japan PC Network Satisfaction Study" survey, conducted in late 1995, found that when planning and maintaining their company's computer networks, information technology (IT) managers generally do not base their decisions on the information provided by computer manufacturers or dealers. Instead, they rely on articles in computer- and IT-related magazines.

With technological innovation taking place so quickly, IT managers are keenly aware of the necessity to stay abreast of the latest developments and global standards when making decisions about network hardware and software. And to get such information, they turn to PC magazines. Corporate IT managers consider the information they read in magazines to be up-to-date and objective. They feel that the data they receive from computer manufacturers and dealers, on the other hand, is biased and self-promotional.

Often, Japanese corporate users are better informed about the latest status of the industry than their suppliers. This leads to lower user satisfaction with vendors. The situation in the IT segment is quite different from that in other business fields, where decision-makers are much more influenced by information received from manufacturers and dealers.

Our "Consumer Trends in Personal Information Equipment" survey found that Japanese consumers, too (particularly those who own PCs), frequently rely on computer magazines and other popular media as their primary information source about the use of PCs. Consumers' information sources vary, however, based on accessibility to a PC.

Those who do not own a PC (or are not much interested in computers) are more influenced by computer product commercials on TV. This difference in preferred information sources among consumers is greatly affecting manufacturers' marketing strategies for the information appliances (PC peripherals, PC alternatives, communications products, and audiovisual products) that have appeared on the market in the wake of Japan's Internet boom.

Among recent new information appliances, digital cameras have enjoyed spectacular sales, triggered by the introduction of a low-priced (under JPY60,000) model by Casio in 1995. When Casio first joined the market, digital cameras were used mainly with video printers. Today, they are used with home PCs and considered to be a PC peripheral.

PC alternatives include the popular wapuro (Japanese word processor), PDAs (personal digital assistants), and Internet terminals and Web TVs. As PCs have become simpler to use and less expensive, sales of the wapuro have plummeted from 5 million units just a few years ago to only 1.6 million units in 1996. Communications products like cellular phones, PHS (personal handyphone system) handsets, and facsimiles, and audiovisual products such as DVD (digital versatile disc) and MD (minidisk) units and digital camcorders, are not much affected by PC ownership.

Considering corporate and consumer preferences for sources of PC-related information, it seems clear that different media should be used depending on the product to be promoted. PCs and PC peripherals, for example, are best promoted through magazines. The success of digital cameras, which were marketed as a PC peripheral, owes much to their extensive coverage in PC magazines.

Meanwhile, PC alternatives, which are being marketed to PC non-users, need a different marketing approach. The most successful media will not be PC magazines, but "popular" magazines or TV commercials. Product promotions at stores often prove an effective strategy as well.

As more new products, such as Internet TVs and smart phones, are introduced to the market, their success (both for individual products, and as future technologies) will depend on proper sales promotion strategies.