Profile

Masanobu NAGAO, Ph.D.

InstituteInstitute of Humanities and Social Sciences
School/FacultyGraduate School of Modern Society and Culture/ Faculty of Engineering Department of Engineering Engineering Management program
Job TitleAssociate Professor
Research Fieldsplace branding, relationship marketing, CSV(Creating Shared Value), Collaboration
DegreeB.A.(Environment and Information Studies) Faculty of Environmental Information, Keio University,
Master of Media and Governance [M.M.G.] Media and Governance, Keio University
Ph.D., Business administration, Keio University

Introduction of Our laboratory

While economic and technological development has enriched human life, it has also placed a burden on the natural environment and society, endangering its survival. In order to enhance the sustainability of nature and society, how should people and organizations interact with the environment (nature, local communities, etc.) surrounding them?

Our laboratory is exploring relationship design in collaboration with researchers from different fields, companies, local governments, and civic organizations. Specific research themes include place branding and CSV (Creating Shared Value: balancing the economic and social values of a company).

Place branding aims to attract tourists and other visitors and immigrants to an area and to achieve economic development, while at the same time revitalizing the local community by fostering attachment of the local area among residents. In addition, place branding is also tied to local disaster preparedness in the face of frequent extreme weather events around the world and frequent natural disasters in Japan. How do people perceive and find meaning in the region, its nature, history, culture, lifestyle, etc.?

Our laboratory is exploring these issues by combining analysis of linguistic and image data collected through questionnaires and social listening on SNS, qualitative analysis based on fieldwork and interview surveys, and workshops with companies and local people. Based on such basic research, we make policy recommendations to local governments and local residents for the sustainable development of the region, and in collaboration with companies, we work on the development and branding of products and services with a focus on solving social issues.

Students participating in the research groups improve their ability to discover problems, plan and communicate through collaborative projects with other research institutions, companies, and local governments.