A Portrait of Japan in Change 
     
     
     
   Japan VALS is a consumer segmentation system developed specifically
   for understanding Japanese consumers. Funded by the Research Institute
   of System Science (RISS) of NTT Data & Communications Corp., Japan
   VALS is the product of an 18-month development effort led by SRI
   International. Incorporating a questionnaire of 49 attitude items,
   Japan VALS is the most reliable and powerful market analysis tool for
   Japan available today.
     
   Change Regions and Life Orientations
     
   Japan VALS was designed to explain and model social change in
   Japan--not only change in institutions or ideas, but change in
   consumer markets and media as well.
   Japan VALS divides society into segments based on two key consumer
   attributes: life orientation and attitudes to social change. Life
   orientation is simply what interests or animates a person the
   most--life goals, occupational duties, recreational interests. Japan
   VALS identifies four primary life orientations: Traditional Ways,
   Occupations, Innovation, and Self-Expression. Each orientation
   provides a life theme around which activities, interests and personal
   goals are woven.
   
   Crosscutting the variety of life orientations, change attitudes 
   stratify society into distinct layers, like overturned bowls nested
   one inside another (click for diagram). The change leading segments  
   are found in the outermost layers of society, while the change
   resisting segments are located at the center. Change diffuses from one
   layer to the next, primarily along the channels created around
   different life orientations.
   
   This design permits Japan VALS to clarify the processes of social
   change and innovation diffusion in Japanese society. It also
   identifies the consumer segments at the core of most consumer markets:
   
     * Integrators. [4% of population] Highest on the Japan VALS measure
       of Innovation, these consumers active, inquisitive, trend-leading,
       informed, and affluent. They travel frequently and consume a wide
       range of media--print and broadcast, niche and foreign. 
   
     * Self Innovators and Self Adapters [7% and 11% of population] score
       high on Self-Expression. These consumers desire personalexperience,
       fashionable display, social activities, daring ideas
       and exciting, graphic entertainment.
   
     * Ryoshiki Innovators and Ryoshiki Adapters [6% and 10% of
       population] score highest on Occupations. Education, career
       achievement, and professional knowledge are their personal focus, 
       but home, family and social status are their guiding concerns.
   
     * Tradition Innovators and Tradition Adapters [6% and 10% of
       population] score highest on the measure of Traditional Ways.
       These consumers adhere to traditional religions and customs,
       prefer long-familiar home furnishings and dress, and hold
       conservative social opinions.
     
     * High Pragmatics and Low Pragmatics [14% and 17% of population] do
       not score high on any life orientation dimension. They are not
       very active and not well informed; they have few interests, and
       seem flexible or even uncommitted in their lifestyle choices.
     
     * Sustainers [15% of population] score lowest on the Innovation and
       Self-Expression dimensions. Lacking money, youth and higheducation,
       these consumers dislike innovation and are typicallyoriented to
       sustaining the past.
     
   How Japan VALS Can Help

   The Japan VALS image of society provides a unique perspective on the
   processes of product diffusion and social evolution. Most consumer
   segmentation systems only provide a two-dimensional snapshot of 
   segments arrayed in a static picture of society. Japan VALS sets that
   picture in motion, contrasting change leaders with change resisters.
   Japan VALS explains why the members of each group act as they do,
   making Japan VALS a tool that has application in all phases of
   consumer products development and marketing. With Japan VALS,
   businesses can: 

     * Monitor lifestyle trends and forecasts and interpret significant
       changes in the consumer environment--for example, spot consumption
       trends by monitoring the behavior of innovative Japan VALSsegments.
     * Identify unfilled consumer needs and generate new product ideas.
     Thinking about Japan VALS types leads to striking new strategies,
     concepts, ideas, package designs, and line extensions.
   
     * Segment the market. Japan VALS is an ideal method to answer such
       questions as "To whom should I market my product?" "What should 
       the main benefit be?"
   
     * Differentiate a brand. Determining the Japan VALS profile of a   
       product compared to that of its competitors demonstrates unfilled
       positioning and helps to set the brand apart through 
       sales-promotion activities, packaging, and advertising.   
   
     * Develop more effective, targeted selling tools and strategies.
       Examining the attitudes and behavior of a selected segment can
       lead to startling insights about how to make merchandising and
       promotions more efficient.
     * Communicate effectively with the target audience. Marketing people
     need to have a feel for their prospective market beyond broad
       demographics. Japan VALS provides the understanding of people's
       psychology to develop advertising that talks to them in their own
       language.