Value Creation and Disruptive Innovation by Robots: An Abstract

In 1921, the Czech Writer Karel Čapek Introduced the Word Robot in His Science-Fiction Play, R.U.R. (Jordan, 2019; Mims, 2021). One Hundred Years Later, Robots Play a Part in Our Society, Such as in Retail and Service Encounters. These Robots Are Called RSAs (Robotic Service Assistants), and Pioneering Work Has Been Conducted to Understand the Roles of RSAs in Retail and Service Contexts. Today, Some RSAs, Such as Pepper Robot, Can Autonomously Communicate with Customers and Enhance Retail and Service Experiences. Other RSAs, Such as Servi Robot and Whiz Robot Enhance These Experiences Without Directly Interacting with Customers. Servi Robot Autonomously Brings Dishes to Customers in Restaurants. in the Innovation Radar Proposed by Sawhney Et Al. (2006), RSAs Could Improve Process, Enhance Customer Experience, and Create Value for Customers. for Instance, Servi Robot Can Autonomously Serve Tables 300 Times a Day (Chiba, 2021), and Thus Improve the Process of Serving Food to Customers at Restaurants and Enhance the Customer Experience (E.g., Shorter Wait Time, Touchless Service during Covid-19 Pandemic). Another RSA, Whiz Robot, is an Autonomous Robotic Cleaner Softbank Robotics Utilizes to Disrupt the Commercial Cleaning Sector (McSweeney, 2019). However, in Recent Years, Some Companies Have Experienced Challenges in Sustaining the Presence of RSAs (E.g., Lalley, 2020). What Determines the Successful Application of RSAs? How Can Retailers Introduce RSAs in a Way that Creates Value for Customers? How Does the Introduction of RSAs Uniquely Affect the Digital Transformation of Companies? How Could RSAs Disrupt Industries? through Interviewing Executives of Softbank Robotics (A Manufacturer of RSAs, Including Pepper, Whiz, and Servi Robots), We Will Seek to Answer Those Questions. in Particular, We Explore How RSAs Could Create Customer Value, Trigger Digital Transformation, and Enhance Disruptive Innovation. Series of Propositions Have Been Generated in Relation to These Roles of RSAs. We Discuss Theoretical and Managerial Implications from Insights Generated through Executive Interviews

Generation of Marketing Data through Use of Technology:

In recent years, the environment surrounding companies and consumers has been markedly changed with advancement of technology. In particular, the evolution of AI-related technologies, especially machine learning, has enabled companies to collect and analyze big data, providing opportunities to create and communicate customer value. However, in today’s rapidly changing market, it is very difficult to acquire, analyze, and interpret data and link it appropriately to marketing. This paper introduces the efforts of REVISIO Inc. (REVISIO), a company that has achieved growth by acquiring unique data from households and providing companies with comprehensive services, including analysis and solutions. REVISIO collects TV commercial viewing data using proprietary methods and analyzes these data using proprietary metrics. This approach has gained the support of its clients; that is, advertising companies that place TV commercials. In this paper, we examine why REVISIO’s data were accepted by their clients by evaluating the factors behind the success of REVISIO based on interviews. The findings reveal that REVISIO’s marketing satisfies the 4As of the clients and that REVISIO’s efforts create value for their clients

Being Old Doesn’t Mean “All the Same”:

It has dawned on marketers that the senior market is not a single homogeneous segment, but a diverse group of consumers, and that marketing strategies should be tailored to this diversity. However, existing research has not provided a sufficient framework for capturing heterogeneity in the senior market. In this study, we used future time perspective (FTP) and future self-continuity (FSC) as indicators of diversity in the senior market and conducted an exploratory survey among senior women. The results showed that FTP had a negative impact on purchasing activity for non-consumable goods, while FSC had a positive impact. An interaction effect of FTP and FSC was also observed, indicating that the most active consumers were “senior women who have a strong connection with their future selves, but feel that their remaining time is not long.” On the contrary, “senior women who have a strong connection with their future selves and feel that their remaining time is long” tended to refrain from financial expenditures on the aforementioned goods

Behavioral Relations in Across-Culture Distribution System: Influence, Control and Conflict in U.S., Japanese Marketing Channels

A mail survey of Japanese distributors of U.S. products provided data for an examination of how perceptions of influence affect control and conflict in the relationship. Results indicated that aggressive influence evoked resistance and conflict, while more subtle influence strategies appeared to reduce conflict. Results suggested that influence, as practiced in western channels, may not be effective in relationship such as these.© 1990 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (1990) 21, 639–655

Retail buyer decision-making in Japan: What US sellers need to know

With formal trade barriers in Japan virtually eliminated, attention has turned to the structural or non-tariff barriers that might help explain persistent trade deficits with Japan that the US and many other countries have experienced. In this study, the first empirical examination of its kind, we analyze how the Japanese distribution system serves as a structural barrier to entry. To do so, we surveyed Japanese supermarket buyers about the individual and relative importance of five key factors in their choice of suppliers. In addition, we used similar data from a previous study of retail buyers in the United States to develop the first cross-cultural comparison of retailer decision-making. Important differences in the nature and conduct of business relationships in the two countries suggest several ways that US sellers - and indeed, all foreign sellers - might address the disadvantages they face in the Japanese market