Decision-making for Corporate Exhibitions: Anxiety and Necessary Information Fragmented by Role. Second Survey Reveals Structural Issues.

Y's Assist Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director: Kentaro Yano) conducted its second survey on the actual situation of corporate exhibitions. This survey analyzed the differences in anxieties and necessary information for decision-making among roles involved in exhibition participation.

The results revealed that individuals involved in exhibition participation do not all face the same challenges; rather, they experience different anxieties depending on their role, while commonly confronting a "lack of decision-making materials."

Survey Result ①

Different anxieties by role complicate decision-making

"What is most concerning about participating in corporate exhibitions" by role of stakeholders

This survey analyzed respondents by their position, revealing that the content of anxieties regarding exhibition participation varies significantly by role.

Among managers with budget authority, "uncertainty about achieving results commensurate with exhibition costs" was highest (23.4%), indicating strong anxiety about the validity of investment decisions.

Conversely, among practical managers responsible for exhibition operations, "inability to judge if it's optimal compared to other exhibitions" was most common (26.3%), highlighting anxiety about the selection accuracy itself.

Furthermore, among those involved in on-site operations and some sales/marketing, "anxiety about being able to explain results after participation" was highest (27.5%), revealing challenges related to accountability after the exhibition.

These results indicate that challenges in exhibition participation are not uniform, and decisions must be made while struggling under different circumstances and responsibilities depending on the role.

＜Tenjiro / Beta Monitor Company Information＞

Tenjiro is currently recruiting beta monitor companies. The full version of the exhibition survey report (with all questions and detailed analysis) is provided free of charge. -Limited to companies considering or implementing exhibition participation- ▶ Apply for monitoring here

Survey Result ②

The closer to decision-making, the stronger the recognition of the importance of third-party information

"Importance of third-party information" by role of corporate exhibition stakeholders

Regarding the importance of third-party information, 75.4% of budget decision-makers and 86.0% of practical managers for exhibition operations responded "important" or "somewhat important."

Especially in the practical manager layer, the total of "very important" and "somewhat important" reached 86.0%, suggesting a high dependence on external information to improve the accuracy of comparison and selection.

From this result, it can be inferred that they believe it is necessary to make decisions on the necessity and suitability of exhibition participation using information that includes a third-party perspective, rather than relying solely on internal company information.

Survey Result ③

What is sought are "comparable information" and "actual visitor data"

"Information needed to facilitate decision-making" by role of corporate exhibition stakeholders

As information needed to facilitate decision-making, "detailed visitor attribute data" was ranked high regardless of role.

Also, for budget decision-makers, "objective data that is easy to compare" (32.5%) was highest; for practical managers, "detailed visitor attribute data" (43.9%); and for on-site staff, "reference indicators for ROI/ROAS" (24.2%) were highest, respectively.

From these results, it is clear that companies are seeking not just general exhibition information, but information that can be directly used for decision-making, such as:

・ Quality and attributes of visitors

・ Comparability with other exhibitions

・ Results and achievements of other companies

Analysis of Survey Results

It's not that they "cannot decide," but that "comparable materials are lacking"

What emerged from this survey is not that companies cannot make decisions, but that they are making decisions about exhibition participation with limited information, while harboring different anxieties depending on their role.

Budget decision-makers are anxious about the validity of investment decisions, practical managers about the accuracy of comparison and selection, and on-site staff about explaining results, and each requires different information.

What is common, however, is a strong need for external benchmarks such as visitor attributes, comparable data, and case studies from similar companies.

In other words, the fundamental challenge in decision-making for exhibition participation is not the absence of information, but the lack of decision-making materials that are comparable and organized in a way that can withstand internal explanation.

The challenges in exhibition participation, which have been considered "natural to worry about," may not be problems dependent on individual experience or intuition, but rather structurally occurring decision-making challenges.

Against the backdrop of such structural challenges, the necessity of a data platform to support decision-making is increasing.

About Tenjiro

"Tenjiro" supports decision-making for exhibition stakeholders with objective data, regardless of role

"Tenjiro," provided by Y's Assist Co., Ltd., is being developed as a data platform to support corporate exhibitions from "pre-exhibition comparison, selection, and decision-making" to "post-exhibition performance verification."

As revealed in this survey, there are different judgment criteria, anxieties, and concerns for each role in exhibition participation.

Tenjiro aims to realize decision-making that does not depend on individual judgment by, based on these differences:

・ Providing comparable exhibition data

・ Visualizing exhibition cases of similar companies

・ Developing metrics that can be used for decision-making

【Invitation to Tenjiro Beta Monitor Recruitment】

The full version of this survey report is provided free of charge to monitor companies only

Tenjiro is currently recruiting beta monitor companies on a first-come, first-served basis.

Monitor companies receive the following benefits free of charge:

・ Full version of this survey report (with all questions and detailed analysis)

・ Information provision useful for exhibition comparison, selection, and improvement consideration

・ Early access to the exhibition ROI diagnostic function

*The full version of this survey report (with all questions and detailed analysis) is exclusively available to monitor companies. *This invitation is limited to companies considering or implementing exhibition participation.

▶︎Apply for monitoring here

▪️Survey Overview

Survey Name: Corporate Exhibition Participation and Operation Survey 2026 (Second Edition)

Survey Method: Internet survey (Freeasy)

Survey Period: March 2026

Survey Target: Business professionals with experience in corporate exhibition participation and operation

Valid Responses: 295 (Cross-analysis by role was conducted on 254 individuals)

Survey Organizer: Y's Assist Co., Ltd.

*This survey was conducted exclusively for respondents who answered "have experience in corporate exhibition participation and operation" in the previous survey.