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This study adapts and extends the cultural, administrative, geographic, and economic distance framework. The framework was proposed in the field of international business studies to examine the effect of distances between home and host countries on tourist preference for specialty products. We proposed four hypotheses based on segmentation and distance studies and conducted an empirical analysis of a questionnaire survey of 4474 foreign tourists from 49 different countries and regions visiting Japan. The results suggest that the four dimensions of distance have different impacts on the purchasing behavior of tourists. Moreover, the quadratic model results further suggest the existence of an optimal point of distance. In the discussion, we proposed effective segmentation strategies to increase inbound tourism.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the country-of-origin (COO) effect on product evaluation to determine the different effects of COO in Asian nations. Design/methodology/approach – The authors focus on automobiles as the target product category and conduct consumer surveys in three Asian countries – China, Japan, and South Korea – and the USA. Since these four countries are the major global production bases and consumption markets, the authors can examine the reciprocal effects of COO across countries. The authors propose a hierarchical conjoint analysis and estimate parameters. For the attributes of conjoint analysis, the authors incorporate both the COO of products and other functional aspects such as price and fuel consumption to compare their effects on consumer evaluation. Findings – The authors find different tendencies in each country’s COO effect. Further, the authors discuss the factors affecting consumer evaluation in each country based on the country’s culture and general product images. Originality/value – The authors’ contributions to the literature are as follows. First, in the research design, the authors incorporate COO information as an attribute of automobiles. This enables us to compare the COO effect with the effects of other functional aspects. The authors find that the COO effect is substantially the same as the effect of other functional attributes. Second, the authors assume a hierarchical structure in the conjoint analysis and discuss the different preferences in each country. This hierarchical structure enables to extract the reciprocal effects of COO across countries.

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We analyze the smartphone usage behavior of individuals against the background of the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to classify usage behaviors and examine the factors that lead to change. Specifically, we examine the differences in smartphone usage between the first wave and the second wave of the epidemic in Japan. On average, the frequency of use increased, especially during the first wave of the epidemic. Next, we classify the changes in usage behavior and examine the differences between individuals whose smartphone usage time increased and those whose usage time decreased. Our analysis using personal characteristics as explanatory variables suggests that demographic variables may explain behavioral changes. We were able to classify the factors into three categories: positive factors that promote an increase in usage time, negative factors that promote a decrease, and variation factors that promote fluctuations.