Women who fill the institutional voids: Why does Yakult succeed in obtaining emerging markts?

This study examines why the Yakult’s specific marketing method Yakult Lady System is effective in developing and emerging markets. Yakult, a Japanese beverage maker, established a unique marketing method called Yakult lady system in Japan during 20th century. It utilizes the system in emerging markets and obtained stable market shares in more than ten emerging countries. Previous studies have revealed that the Yakult lady system is consistent with the philosophy of sustainable development, such as poverty alleviation and improvement of social status of women. In fact, the system was followed by many firms such as Hindustan Lever and Grameen Danone in several emerging markets for sustainable community development. However, sufficient research has not been done as to why the Yakult lady system is effective in acquiring the market shares in emerging markets. Because Yakult succeeded in more than a dozen emerging countries worldwide, it is natural to think that there exists a sort of competitive rational mechanism that meets the unique environments of emerging countries. Using the theoretical framework of institutional voids, this paper reveals that the Yakult lady system can effectively acquire the market because it works as a mean to fill in several institutional voids.