Purchasing sensitivity among Japanese consumers has changed over the last two recessions, with the driver switching from “price” to “savvy”.
“What’s different this time is that consumers aren’t simply looking only for low prices, they’re being more selective and hunting for higher quality and more fashionable products,” according to economist Teruhiko Mano. And analysis of Internet search data bears this out.
A review of keywords that experienced a surge on Yahoo! Japan in May leads to several sites that allow people to save on normally high-price items. (Of course, flu fears and the usual celebrity and sports news also featured heavily.)
Searches soared for “5.5 million yen house,” a keyword used by real estate agency Aqura Home for a new service offering made-to-order houses for 5.5 million yen, around US$55,000.
In mid-May, there was a huge volume of searches for sisyokukai.jp a new service that promotes new restaurants. Users receive discounts of 50-80% for meals in exchange for providing feedback to the restaurants, who are trying to perfect their service.
This week, there has been a large number of searches for “kane no tamago service,” which introduces consumers to apprentice nail artists and hairdressers, who provide manicures and cuts for large discounts or even free.
One luxury item that did enjoy increased search interest was the Segway, as the transport device is rumored to soon become legal on the streets of Yokohama.