It has been an amazing class/trip to Japan. I learned a lot about mobile consumer behavior and the cultural characteristics that drive some of the behavioral differences. In the end, if you boil the trip down to its base element(s), it all comes down to culture.  When I started this class, the equation I came up with for mobile consumer behavior was Psychology + Culture + Capability = Mobile Consumer Behavior. We got some feeling for the psychology of the Japanese through our interviews. The capability of the mobile devices we/Japanese utilize were learned during our class time. The culture was the final piece of the puzzle. Every moment was jam packed with activity. Every activity we did was to get closer to the Japanese culture. Of course the best one can hope for is snapshots of a culture. This is because it’s constantly changing and is a matter of perspective. Culture is becoming more and more a matter of personal perspective as we become less tied to one cultural group and move more fragmented.
I got to Kansai Airport early. Maybe a little too early but I didn’t want to take any chances with missing my flight. I hung around and walked through some of the luxury stores they have there. Rolex, Tiffany & CO and Coach to mention a few. It’s pretty surreal leaving given all that we did before we left and while we were here. Not melancholy yet, but I’ll get there.  :)
