Shoji Makiguchi is a Japanese marketing scholar and Professor in the Faculty of Commerce at Kyushu Sangyo University. After joining Hakuhodo, he worked at Hakuhodo Consulting, where he specialized in brand strategy and corporate consulting, eventually serving as President and CEO and later Chairman. His research and writing focus on marketing, brand strategy, and consumer behavior, combining extensive business experience with academic analysis. His best-known work, "Kaiwai Keizaiken" ("The Sphere Economy"), explores how communities formed around shared interests and identities create new markets and offers a framework for understanding and engaging these emerging consumer ecosystems.
