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UNIVERSITY OF WALES

MODULE NAME: DISSERTATION (MARKETING)

COURSE: MBA – UNIVERSITY OF WALES

NAME: HARSH DEVANG DESAI

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DATE OF SUBMISSION: 12-12-2011

KENSINGTON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

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MBA DISSERTATION REPORT

A Case Study On

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It takes a combined effort of many to complete this report. Through this brief note, I

would like to express my gratitude to all those who contributed to the making of this

report. This report is a small step to pen down whatever I have learnt while working on

this project.

I would like to thank our Principal, for providing us such a wonderful opportunity to

work on this project. Moreover, I thank my college KCB for availing me such an

efficient infrastructural facility throughout the process.

This enriching experience would not have been possible without the personal attention

and training of Mr. Cilliers Diedericks

I have thoroughly enjoyed this learning experience. Last but not the least I take this

opportunity to thank all the readers of project. I hope it would be interesting to you.

Thanking you,

HARSH DESAI

KCB, LONDON

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DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the dissertation report entitled “A critical

analysis of the factors which are influencing consumer behaviour in

UK’s fast food industry taking example of MacDonald’s and how it

is responding to this change and its consumer behaviour process”,

submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of Master of Business

Administration to the University of Wales, UK is a record of

independent research work carried out by me under the guidance of

Mr Cilliers Diedericks. I also declare that this dissertation report is

the result of my own effort and has not been submitted earlier for the

award of any other degree / diploma / associate ship and prize by any

other university.

London, England, December – 2011

Mr. Harsh Desai

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TABLE OF CONTENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................08

CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION..................................................................................10

1.1/1.2/1.3. Research Topic/Aim/Objective..............................................................10

1.4. Research Questions.............................................................................................10

1.5. Research Benefits...............................................................................................11

1.6. Reason for selecting MacDonald’s.....................................................................12

1.7. Consumer Behaviour..........................................................................................12

1.8. Factors affecting consumer behaviour................................................................13

1.9. Fast food.............................................................................................................14

1.10.Obesity in UK.....................................................................................................14

1.11.UK Fast food industry........................................................................................14

1.12.Case study background.......................................................................................15

1.13.Dissertation Framework.....................................................................................15

CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW.......................................................................18

2.1. Introduction........................................................................................................18

2.2. European Fast food industry...............................................................................19

2.3. MacDonald’s financial performance..................................................................19

2.4. International Presence.........................................................................................20

2.5. Major competitors...............................................................................................20

2.6. Consumer choice and decision making process.................................................22

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2.7. Theories influencing Consumer Choice.............................................................23

2.8.Formation and change of consumer behaviour.....................................................25

2.9.Internal Determinants...........................................................................................26

2.10.External Determinants........................................................................................28

2.11.Marketing mix....................................................................................................34

2.12.Major concept of marketing mix........................................................................35

2.13.Marketing mix characteristics............................................................................36

2.14.Element of Marketing mix..................................................................................37

CHAPTER 3 - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................41

3.1. Introduction........................................................................................................41

3.2. Research philosophy...........................................................................................41

3.3. Research approach..............................................................................................41

3.4. Purpose of research.............................................................................................42

3.5. Research Strategy...............................................................................................42

3.6. Non empirical research.......................................................................................43

3.7. Qualitative/Quantitative approach......................................................................43

3.8. Deductive/Inductive approach............................................................................44

3.9. Subjective/Objective...........................................................................................44

3.10.Empirical research..............................................................................................45

3.11.General research objective..................................................................................45

3.12.Sample selection.................................................................................................46

3.13.Data collection....................................................................................................46

3.14.Models employed in dissertation........................................................................47

3.16.Research limitations...........................................................................................50

CHAPTER 4 - FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS ...........................................................52

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4.1. Introduction........................................................................................................52

4.2. Data analysis.......................................................................................................52

4.3. Secondary Research Findings – External Analysis............................................53

4.3.1 UK fast food industry analysis.................................................................53

4.3.2 PESTLE framework analysis....................................................................55

4.3.3 Key drivers of change...............................................................................58

4.4. Primary Research Findings – Focus Group........................................................59

4.4.1 Investigate consumer attitude with respect to fast food...........................60

4.4.2 Impact from external over consumer decision making process...............65

4.5. Primary Research Findings – Survey Questionnaire..........................................67

CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .................................74

5.1. Conclusion..........................................................................................................74

5.2. Recommendation................................................................................................75

5.3. Areas of further study.........................................................................................77

CHAPTER 6 - BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................79

CHAPTER 7 - APPENDIX.............................................................................................87

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The sole aim of this research dissertation is to examine the factors, which are shaping up

the consumer decision-making processes in terms of the fast food industry of United

Kingdom. Furthermore, it aims to investigate how a company like McDonald’s is

responding this change in consumer behaviour and environment. This is an interesting

topic to explore considering the high public and political debate about obesity in UK

and its after affects especially in young children.

A thorough observation of various online journals, articles and website was conducted

to understand the background and problems relating to the fast food industry issues and

also in regards to the process of consumer decision making which are compiled in the

chapter of literature review. Also, a focus group was conducted for the purpose of

qualitative analysis with an aim to understand the consumer attitudes towards

McDonald’s and fast industry, in general. Thereafter, key themes from these focus

groups were used to create questions for the survey questionnaire. This survey was

scrutinized to comprehend whether the respondents views are indeed the voice of a

large group.

Furthermore, to examine McDonald’s as a company and how it is evolving, along with

to understand the key change drivers that could influence the future European fast food

industry, PESTEL framework was conducted. Out of the many attributes, the ever

changing consumer lifestyle and Governmental influence were pointed out as the two

major drivers of change.

To list the key themes from the focus group, they are: Fast food quality, Ethics

(animal/crop welfare) & Trust worthiness of company brand and its impact on

consumer behaviour among many others.

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Out of the many adjectives that were associated by the questionnaire respondents, some

of them were unhealthy, cheap, tasty and fatty. Respondents ranked McDonald’s food

(with complete exception to its salad and fruit menu) as worst quality. A third majority

listed the ethical issue related to chicken processing as a the main cause for avoiding

chicken at McDonald’s.

Also, nearly 27% of respondents who were familiar with the current public debate about

obesity in UK have given or reduced their intake of fast food especially from

McDonald’s. A great 35% of the respondents claimed that the documentary “Super

Size Me” has stopped them from eating in McDonald’s anymore. Majority of the fast

food purchases are termed as impulsive decision, since the knowledge of fast food

consumer about it is negative and therefore their attitudes are also negative.

There are strong external influences that are having negative impact on consumer

decision making process such as the current high political or public debate about obesity

in UK and other media initiatives about having healthy lifestyle. McDonald is as a

responsible corporate house is responding well to these environmental changes by

introducing healthier menus and ingredients. Negative influences to the consumer are

resulting in it not trusting McDonald’s and affecting consumer decision making process.

However, the marketing team at McDonald’s are trying to negate this risk of negative

consumer decision process by providing information about their food. The research

provides recommendation and conclusion to McDonald’s and about influencing the

consumer decision and other environmental processes to retain its brand equity and trust

among its ever growing consumers.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION1.1 Research Topic

A critical analysis of the factors which are influencing consumer behaviour in UK’s fast

food industry taking example of McDonald’s and how it is responding to this change

and its consumer behaviour process.

1.2 Research Aim

The sole aim of this research dissertation is to examine the factors which are shaping up

the consumer decision making processes in terms of the fast food industry of United

Kingdom. Furthermore, it aims to investigate how a company like McDonald’s is

responding this change in consumer behaviour and environment. This is an interesting

topic to explore considering the high public and political debate about obesity in UK

and it’s after affects especially in young children.

1.3 Research Objective

McDonald’s has been a victim of generalization by the market forces which are

negatively influencing the consumer decision making process. These factors are driving

consumer towards a negative attitude curve which are effecting the revenue generation

of McDonald. The objective of this dissertation research is to critically examine the

various factors responsible for the negative influence over the loyal consumer of

McDonald’s and offer recommendation to the case study about how it can overcome

this challenge and increase its market share.

1.4 Research Questions

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Our topic “A critical analysis of the factors which are influencing consumer behaviour

in UK’s fast food industry taking example of McDonald’s and how it is responding to

this change and its consumer behaviour process” is further divided into three main areas

of research in order to provide the targeted questions. The three main research areas are

listed below for your kind perusal.

1. To understand how our chosen organization (McDonald’s) is evolving during

the change in consumer decision making process:

A selective application of PESTEL Framework will be applied so as to identify

the various major key change drivers that might have an impact on the future of

UK fast food industry. .

2. To understand and identify the important factors which are influencing

consumer purchasing decisions in regards to the fast food products:

An examination of the Consumer Decision Making Process will be conducted,

in particular to the psychological areas, primarily focusing on fast food

consumers attitudes towards McDonald’s products. Furthermore, the various

socio-cultural environmental attributes will be observed that had an influence on

consumer decision making process.

3. Corporate responses and strategy formulation in regards to the above changes:

Learning about how McDonald’s is responding to these changes using its unique

marketing mix and communication strategy. The researches also seek to

propose certain recommendations aiming at future marketing actions of

McDonald’s corporation.

1.5 Research Benefits

Any study that is related to the consumer helps the organization to improve its

marketing strategies and overall development by comprehending issues such as the

following:

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The consumer psychology of how it thinks, reasons, feels about, and makes a

choice between different provided alternatives (i.e., brands, products, and

retailers).

The consumer psychology of how it is getting influenced by his/her

environmental factors such as culture, family, signs, media).

The consumer behavior and its decision making approach while shopping or

making other marketing decisions.

To understand the limitations of consumer knowledge or its information learning

abilities thereby hampering its decisions and marketing outcomes.  

How consumer motivation and decision strategies differ between products that

differ in their level of importance or interest that they entail for the consumer.

The most important of it about how the marketing team can change and adapt

themselves to further achieving proximity to the consumer.

1.6 Reason for Selecting McDonald’s

McDonald's is a pioneer in the fast food industry and today world leader in the sector.

The company has over 31,000 fast food restaurants in over 120 countries. The

company operates primarily in the US and the UK. It is headquartered in Oak Brook,

Illinois and employs 447,000 people all over the world. McDonalds currently operates

in more than 1,316 restaurants throughout the UK. Its profits grew by 55% in 2010.

(Datamonitor, 2010)

In 2003 the company was loosing money for the fist time in its five-decade history, as it

was serving mainly greasy food and therefore fuelling obesity epidemic. Moreover the

company was losing important consumers trust due to release of the documentary

‘Super size me’ and critical book “Fast Food Nation”. However, McDonalds

introduced healthier menus and just recently in Annual Financial Report of 2011 has

announced that its sales had rocketed, sending its shares soaring to a six year high.

British restaurants were singled out among the biggest improvers in performance

(Clark, 2008).

1.7 Consumer Behaviour

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Consumer behaviour can be defined as the analysis of the functions/processes which are

engaged when an individual or a collective set of individuals decides to choose, buy, use

or give away products/services/ideas or their shopping experiences. The core focus of

this behaviour pattern is based on various methods using which individual or a

collective set of individuals take decision for spending their accessible funds on items

related to consumption (Solomon, 2006). That includes what they buy, why they buy,

when they buy, where they buy it, how often they buy it how often they use it, how they

evaluate it after they purchase and the impact of such evaluations on future purchases,

and how they dispose it (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004).

1.8 Factors Impacting Consumer Behaviour

A variety of factors influence the decision making process of a consumer. The key

factors are listed below for reader’s ease and reference.

1) Monetary factors: The monetary factors consists of customers purchasing power,

his/her expected future income levels, necessities of life, size of his/her family

and the accessible spending level of the customer. Analysing these factors a

consumer makes a decision about purchasing any products or services available

in the market.

2) Societal factors: It is a proven fact that human being is a social animal living in a

surrounding which consists of a variety of factors that impact his behaviour and

thinking power. These factors include his/her social status, adopted customs or

traditions, family members influence that include opinions and advice.

3) Psychosomatic factors: There are various psychological aspects that influence

the consumer’s psychosomatic behaviour. These factors include necessities of a

human being, trust and perception of a consumer, maturity level, age,

individualism and every day routine.

4) Cultural factors: A human being is deeply influenced by culture as demonstrated

in his research by Knowles (2009). These factors includes association with

family, moral and family values, use of technology, religious inclination,

adopted traditions and demographics.

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5) Individual factors: Every human being has an independent and unique

characteristic. These factors include influence of peer, choice of lifestyle,

ambitions and shopping orientation.

All the above factors are critically important due to their influence on the consumer

behaviour and therefore it becomes extremely important to consider each of these

factors for a research involving consumer behaviour.

1.9 Fast Food

As per the definition offered by dictionary.com website (2011), fast food is any

food that is available at an inexpensive price in an easily accessible restaurant

for eating or take away and which is being prepared in a bulk quantities using a

standardized method and that can be easily dispensed.

As per the Food Survey report (2011), junk food is the name given to a food

product that is extremely low in nutritional value and which is usually highly

greasy or highly processed and which is consumed instead of or along with a

well balanced meal.

Bairs (2008) demonstrated in his research that the term which is commonly used

to describe fast food is junk food and recently, there are furious debates over its

usage for describing unhealthy food, whether it is justified or not. Many

industry experts believe that the term junk food is used for selective description

depending upon the location of the food outlet, as most of the food outlets in

urban or suburban locations are termed junk food outlets whereas it is not used

to describe posh locations. Therefore, it is being seen that the term junk food is

used to disapprove a selective category of food products.

1.10 Obesity in UK

Boseley (2008) has demonstrated in his research that it is nowadays very common to be

fat or obese in UK; which is proven by the official statistics that shows that

approximately two third of men and nearly 58 percent of women are extremely

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overweight in UK. The research further reveal that UK is the state which ranks number

one for the highest number of obese or fat population across all the 27 states of Europe

which was termed as grotesque by the UK health secretary.

1.11 UK Fast Food Industry

It is surprising to hear that that even though there are numerous serious concern against

fast food in UK and for it being linked with various issues such as obesity, diabetes,

heart burning, food poisoning, scares and animal cruelty adverts, the UK fast food

industry still remains the fast growing industry during the last few years. In terms of

per capita expenditure, between 2005 and 2010, the fast food outlets have been growing

at the fastest pace within the consumer food service sector (Euro Monitor, 2010).

1.12 Case Study (McDonald) Background

As per Euro Monitor report (2010), McDonald's Corporation is ranked as the number

one restaurant offering fast food items across all parts of UK, with an approximate 32 %

of market share which proves that it has a wide lead over its nearest rival i.e. KFC

(under the Yum brand leadership) and Burger King which has a market share of just 11

percent across UK.

Company Name Market share in percentage

McDonald's Corporation

KFC (i.e. Yum Brands)

32.30

11.20

Burger King Corporation 8.3

Eat/Pret-a-Manger Europe Limited 3.12

Compass Group Plc 2.10

Nando's Group Holdings Limited 1.20

Figure 1.1: Share of McDonald’s across all region of UK (2010)

Source: Euro monitor report, 2010

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1.13 Dissertation Framework

To build up conceptual structure for the research, study will be divided into the different

chapters. This framework would be helpful to the reader for easy navigation and study

of this research report. A brief summary of each of the dissertation chapters are

provided below to simplify the dissertation structure.

Introduction

The first chapter of this research report will provide clear and lucid information about

the research aim/objectives, research questions, problem statement that is targeted in

this research. A brief introduction of the chosen organisations background, key terms of

research, fast food industry, obesity issue of UK will be presented.

Literature Review

The literature review provides readers with a background for understanding current

knowledge on a topic and illuminates the significance for the new study. It will help the

reader to understand and identify research procedures and instruments that have been

utilized successfully in the past. Thereby, it identifies, does comparisons and contrasts

views and theories of other writers in relation to the research topic. Furthermore, it

provides the stepping stone towards the research methodology chapter of this research

work.

Research Methodology

This chapter is solely devoted to provide insights into the various research

methodologies that are available and thereby develops into providing the design and the

research methodology which is used to answer the research question in this dissertation.

Furthermore, it provides a clear descriptive analysis of the research models and concept.

Findings & Analysis

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This is one of the most important chapters of this dissertation research work and

provides detail presentation of the information and data which was obtained using the

various research tools and methodology. To make it further simple to understand, this

chapter is divided into parts, firstly, the PESTEL analysis is applied in order to explain

the evolvement of McDonald’s and secondly the key factors which are influencing the

process of consumer decision making is analysed and discussed.

Recommendations

As the name suggests, this chapter is concerning the providing recommendations to our

chosen case study i.e. McDonald’s in order to face the challenges of changing consumer

behaviour.

Scope for future research

Various areas of research that could have been explored during the course of this

dissertation are listed in this chapter to provide the reader a view for further research

reading.

Conclusion

The dissertation is concluded with this chapter which provides conclusive evidence in

answering the research question.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 IntroductionThis literature review will provide pointers towards formation of probable marketing

strategies and recommendations that our case study organization might pursue so as to

provide a strong and positive response to the changing consumer behaviour and

environment. This review will provide the reader with an insight into the following

theories related to:

Process of consumer decision making.

Change and formation of consumer attitude.

Innovative mix of marketing.

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PART 1 – CASE STUDY (MCDONALD’S) REVIEW

2.2 European Fast Food Industry

Figure 1.2: European market position of McDonald’s as of 2010

(All financial values listed in pound sterling and published as of September 2010)

Source: Retail Index Website, 2011

As we can clearly understand from the above figure that McDonald’s remains at the

peak of the market share across European Union. It has an yearly turnover which is

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massively ahead of its nearest competitors and therefore leaves no doubt how critical it

is for McDonald’s to maintain this top position.

2.3 McDonald’s Financial Performance

Figure 1.3: Company Financial Results for the year 2011

Source: moneycentral.msn.com,

The above figure is accessed from the annual report 2011 of McDonald’s as published

on the msn website. The company has shown more than 20 percent net profit margin

which is a great achievement in this fast paced fast food market. As mentioned in the

financial report, the company has announced bonus along with dividend payouts.

Above information clearly signifies the strong growth and success of McDonald’s.

2.4 International Presence

Majority of the sales of McDonald's products occur outside the regions of United States

of America as it has a substantial and sizeable international visibility. Along with the

highly developed countries such as Australia, Japan, Canada, UK, North & South

Korea, McDonald’s also sell in upcoming or emerging economies such as India,

Russian, Brazil, China and Eastern European states. By cashing into the growing trend

of international middle class, McDonald’s global operations have repeatedly posted

positive and strong sales revenues, especially in China and India as both countries have

offered immense fast food potential.

As per the AT Kearney report (2010), particularly the regions of Asia pacific, Central

Africa and Middle-East were the chief revenue generator for the McDonald’s brand

along with China, Australia and Japan showing growing and strong promise. These

strong financial results have laid emphasis on the significance of McDonald’s core

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product offerings i.e. Value meal and multiple choice in the breakfast menus.

Particularly, McDonald’s attempt to grow in the international markets signifies that it

can break into the market segment which is lesser concerned about the health

consciousness thereby allowing McDonald’s to make use of product offerings which is

less dependent on costly regular change of products.

2.5 Major Competitors

As we have seen above from the market share position from the figure 1.2 that

McDonald’s is a clear topper in this list in terms of turnover and market presence, it

faces great competition from other fast food retailers in terms of product innovation,

launches and price. If we single out a product i.e. Hamburger and try to analyze its

competition in the international market we will see that a specific pattern in this market.

As listed below, the major competitors for Hamburger market in fast food industry are:

Burger King Holdings stands to be the second biggest hamburger fast food chain

in international perspective. Although, Burger King have an advantage over

McDonald’s in terms of franchise outlet share, still it lags behind McDonald’s in

revenue generation due to McDonald’s size advantage. .

Wendy’s proves to be the third in rank behind McDonald’s in hamburger fast

food market. One of the drawback of Wendy’s is its low operating margin due

to which its more likely to be in red during this recessionary period.

Along with the above mentioned 3 competitors of McDonald’s which are

competitive purely in the market segment consisting of Hamburger, it also has to

compete with other brands which are pushing for a market share in the non

hamburger market such as Sanera Toast Company (STRA), Dominos, Pizza Hut,

Cheap dine in restaurants, Chicken & chips shops, Starbucks along with corner

shop offering cheap greasy food and meal offerings of bigger supermarkets.

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PART 2 – KEY RESEARCH CONCEPTS & THEORIES REVIEW

2.6 Consumer Choice & Decision Making

As it’s evident in the field of marketing that the purchase decision of a consumer

whether its to buy or not to buy is extremely vital for any organization. This is a

parameter to judge whether the marketing strategy had the true wisdom, insightfulness

and effectiveness or whether it completely miss the consumer’s imagination as being

poorly executed. Therefore the marketing teams are extremely keen on closely

watching this whole process of consumer decision making process (Schiffman and

Kanuk, 2004). During any point of time all through the consumer decision making

process, opinions and selections/choices are influenced by a number of stimulus factors

from the external and internal environment along with the internal and characteristics

and process of the individual consumer (Ayarts, 2008).

Brian (2009) offered a categorization that listed 3 different types of factors of influence

defined as Service related factors, Food property based factors and Environmental

factors. Larossi (2010) demonstrated the notion of influences over the consumer’s

decision making process amongst which he highlights the actual stage of buying being

one of the key factors that persuades the consumer decision making process.

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While a research was performed by Morgan and Ramford (2009), analyzing and

observing the influence of corporate social responsibility values of companies such as

McDonald’s and KFC over their immediate consumer purchasing behaviour, they

proposed that the purchase of any fast food item is purely based on impulsive binge and

therefore suggested a very low influence in each of these case. Also, they suggested

that the consumer decisions among the younger age groups are influenced by

knowledge of nutritional awareness. This information of knowledge is acquired by

these youngsters during school, college or other social involvements. Furthermore, they

indicated that education plays a vital role in modelling the behaviour of consumer

purchasing decisions.

In their study of consumer decision behaviour, Noir et al. (2010) proved that the

existing consumer decision models are insufficient to counter the current complex

behaviour of consumer buying decisions. The limitations of consumer decision

understanding fail to provide correct purchasing behaviour. Therefore, the existing

models were proved to be insufficient and out of date for offering the correct and

current research outcome.

However, the analysis of various decision making process and theories would offer the

reader a meaningful insight into the general overview of the various major factors that

influence consumer purchasing behaviour. We will make efforts to identify and focus

on consumer attitudes and also other socio-cultural aspect of the consumer decision

making process for e.g., influence of various media channels such as print, electronic

and mass media highlighting negative aspects of fast food, public debate about obesity

etc.

2.7 Theories Influencing Consumer Choice

The phenomena of consumer behaviour depend upon the consumer choice. To

understand this phenomenon we need to understand the factors which influence

consumer to change its behaviours toward the products or services. There are two

theories which influence the consumer choice and behaviour, one is attitude theory and

second one is social physiology theory. Therefore, by merger of these two theory new

concept of “change” emerge. The Social Physiology theory depends upon the cultural

and society trends and attitude theory depends on the perception about the product.

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These two theory combine together facilitate the consumer to take decision and make a

perception about the product. But the theory of economics does not believe the

consumer behaviour and perception; it believes the process which influence consumer

to select the product or service.

Attitude theory also inter related with the theory of information. In theory of

information search, consumer search for the information which satisfies its needs.

There are two types of information available for the consumer External information and

Internal Information. In External information, there are two types of approaches work,

Economic approach and psychological/information processing approach. The

economical approach search information on basis of cost/benefit. Consumer select the

product which is less costly with good quality and it fulfil the requirement of its needs.

In psychological approach, consumer goes through various sources to find the

information or data, then it process the data or information and take a decision. In this

approach, consumer also consider the product characteristic and situation which fit for

its needs (Kiel and Layton, 2010).

Initially the consumer verifies the internally information available, the past purchases

and outcome of that product. “If that product satisfied it needs and fulfil the minimum

requirement then it purchased again” (Larossi, R., Tami, P and Muller, J. (2010); Gays,

P. & Cummins, S. 2008). Also, when consumer feel empowered and additionally

confident with regards to their capability to make judgement, they start acquiring

further information. This signifies that the relationship between quality and knowledge

is directly proportional to each other (Collins & Michael (2009); and Blois, Rothschild

and Michelle, 2009).

External information about the product or services are availed by the consumer by

individual/personal inspection or through other relevant sources such as like

wholesalers, store assistant or product description and comparing with competitive

products in the market. Another type of consumers who are not interested in the

gathering of information or description they follow the trend. The last of consumers

who already have enough information and they do not want more information on their

past experiences take the decision.

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Experience also matter when consumer is gathering information about the product. The

experience consumers take decision by comparing different products. They compare

the product with alternatives and reach on conclusion, where as new consumers first get

the information and make their mind. The situational and Time constraints are also

important for making decision. A consumer always takes decision in particular

situation, where situational constrain focus on the quantity and quality and time factor

crates a pressure on consumer to buy a product.

In consumer decision making processes there is important factor of “Alternative or

assessment of alternatives”. In an existing market, searching through all the available

alternatives for the information is next to impossible, so consumers always gather

information about renowned products and limit their search. The reduction in consumer

choice is also being said as consumer behaviour (Anne and Noel (2009). It depends

upon the consumer to decide which criterion sh/e adopts to reach on final decision. In

some cases consumer face confusion about the product where many product fit in the

criteria of consumer, in the case consumer analyze the attributes of the product and find

new attributes.

2.8 Formation of Change of Consumer Attitude

Attitudes are classically proven to be the foremost influencing factor of consumer

behaviour intent. In context of this research study which is based on the consumer

behaviour, it can be said that attitude is an educated inclination to conduct in a

consistently unfavourable or favourable way with regards to a specified product or

service (Balkisson, 2008). Also, majority of the academicians have an agreement over

the theory that consumer attitudes consists of 3 distinct attributes such as Affect (its

about the consumer feelings and emotions about the offered object), Behaviour (its

about the consumers intention to act with respect to a specified attitude object) and

finally Cognition (attitude which is self developed by the consumer).

An examination towards a consumers influence towards making a decision for

purchasing a meat product, it was revealed that a consumers mind go through various

mental stages which are set in a hierarchy which in itself are responding to various

commercial and marketing messages of various brands and companies. In context of

this research, wherein the attitude object is a fast food product, in addition to the

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consideration that fast food is deemed to be an involvement product of lower level, the

low involvement hierarchy of effects would take place.

As we have read in the above paragraphs that the knowledge/information and

perceptions (which are cognitive component) of an attitude plays a vital part. In

addition, the characteristics of the production and processing of fast food are becoming

additionally significant to the consumer. Furthermore, the perspective of ethical

production with regards to the human and animal welfare and the protection of

environment are getting of highest significance (Collins, 2005).

Moreover, the rising importance of quality standards, sensory and biological properties

of fast food and concerns relating to safety of food and human health have already

achieved substantial attention and significance (Zavier et al. 2008).

An attitude can be formed in a number of different ways, depending on a singular

hierarchy of effects in operation and hence; the consumer attitude formation is deeply

impacted by individual experience, influence of friends and family, mass media and

channels of direct marketing (Wild, 2010). The author will yet again attempt to connect

the current human health and concerns relating to obesity and overweight issues which

have direct effect on formation of attitudes.

An investigation by Holes in 2010 who investigated the influence societal values in

respect to fast food related attitudes, clearly observes that marketing team, consumer

psychologist and various Government decision makers have a distinct interest involving

consumers personal and social values. It also involves what is important in consumer

lives in terms of consumer attitude and decision making behaviour. Highlighting the

desired end-states or ways of living, values may in part symbolize few of the essential

and fundamental reasons that influence and drive the consumer behaviour. It was noted

by Homer and Hummings (2009) that the impact of values might not necessarily limit to

the life’s over involvement aspects, but also directly influential to the least involving

areas including fast food consumption.

Consumer attitudes towards consumption of fast food purchase are also determined by

fear of risk and benefits as well. Therefore, when the assumed fear of risk is

considerably high, it influence badly on consumers purchasing behaviour. This directly

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relates to fast food consumption as well, as eating greasy food risk of obesity and other

fat related diseases.

2.9 Internal Determinants

Every consumer possesses a different type of mental and emotional characteristics

which allow him to take decision and think differently. These internal characteristics

would be Motivation, Attitude, Perception, Personality, self confidence and life Style.

In this Section we are analyzed these factors which influence consumer to take effective

decision and what forces operating on consumer at the time of decision.

A) MotivationMotivation is a key factor to bringing consumer in the market. When need arise

consumer start think which product and which location I need to go. The need is a

source of motivation. The initial state when consumer not bothers about the need and

just in the state of no motion, then the motivation invoke consumer to start search

desired need and acquire their goal. It is difficult for the consumer to get the desired

product but by motivating we can achieve our goal. Our goal is to motivate the

consumer to buy our product and that product satisfies the consumer needs. The only

power is motivation which achieves the desired results. Needs can be categories into

Utilitarian and hedonic/Experiential needs. Utilitarian needs always consider the

attributes and benefits of the product and consider the product related issues. However,

“Hedonic/Experiential needs believed on subjective responses, pleasures and aesthetic

considerations” Diwakar & Dolon, 2008). The gap between desired and actual state is

increased but due to motivation it decreases. The huge advantage of motivation is

bringing consumer from initial state to a state of done.

B) AttitudeAttitude is referred to an overall consumers believes, behaviours and cognitive believes.

Attitude has many attributes like it could vary in strength, positive or negative

directions or stability (Hawkins, 2009). Attitude does not have same degree of trust and

they vary consumer to consumer. Also attitude based on the consumer behaviours, when

experience is good then attitude is different when experience is bad then attitude is bad

or approach is different. Consumer wants more information about the product before

making any type of decision because they are not confident in attitude. With less

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attitude the confidence of the consumer is always be suspected about the product, in the

case of McDonald consumer attitude vary because of products and services they offer.

The best defined by the Extended Fishbein in his model where he claimed that attitude

revolved against the intention and he built his whole theory about it (Mathew &

Penguin, 2009).

C) PerceptionPerception related to recognizing, understanding, point of view, thought, interpreting,

and stimuli to make the sense about the world (Le Anre, 2010). Consumer always

believe on their perceptions about the brand or product but they do not understand the

needs, attitudes, believes and actions. Before making any sort of perception about the

product it important to understand that it not conflict with attitude, aspiration and

motivations. If consumer initial perception is positive then customer will see the menu

otherwise it ignore the product and pass away.

D) PersonalityPersonality is a key feature of the organization and decision making process. First

impression is a last impression, customer always go in that place where staff is friendly

and helpful. In this criteria Personality of staff and management matters. If sales man

personality is not good then nobody will come to him and it effect the sales. Personality

represents the culture of the organization and standard at which organization stands.

E) Self Confidence and Life StyleAs per Hawkes & Merlyn (2008), life style gives the idea how the consumer lives,

thoughts and take decision. It also gives the insight that how consumer spends the

money, time and what they consider the important factors and their activities. Consumer

interests and Opinions are also comes in the light of life style. There are different factors

which related to the lifestyle like population, if population increase it increase the

submarket and new phenomena emerge of competitions and it difficult for the consumer

to take decision about the product.

In above we describe the internal consumer behaviour characteristic which influencing

consumer to make decision but there are external consumer behaviour factors also

which has their own impact and weight age.

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2.10 External Determinants

Consumers not live in isolation. The surrounding environment effect the consumer

decisions like values, believes and opinions. The external factors which influence the

customers are culture, social class, family and social groups.

A) CultureCulture consist of traditions, customs, social believes, norms, and artefacts. Values can

be shared peoples follows the trends. People discussion and thought become the

cultures. If parents bring their children to McDonald and then it share where we did

dinner to his friend (Fitzgerald, Chatrier and Ralph, 2010). This trend becomes a

culture so other peoples start following this trend. Values are inter related with the

cultures and values define the nation character. Values influence the society and at the

end it become culture like there was a trend to go to fast food outlets but know it is a

part of the culture people went there eat food and discuss their issues. These restaurants

become a part of their culture and meeting point. By selecting a good fast food out let

represent the decision making by the consumer and mostly consumer take the decision

on the basis of the culture and values.

B) Social ClassClasses always describe the social categories of the people. It also indicates the people

power, prestige and status which they belongs too. There are many variables which

emerged from research in which social class based on. Economical and Political factors

are important which describe different types of classes (Haysman, 2009). There are

main there classes, upper, middle and lower class. What upper class adopts, the other

two classes also try to be copied. This class culture identified the consumer purchasing

power and but in the case of McDonald this class culture not important because this fast

food restaurant has number of items which are reachable to lower class consumer.

C) FamilyThe family is most influential group where everyone influence each other decision.

Selecting the restaurant or menu everyone has its own choice but family always believe

the rule of majority is authority. Family values and believes are very important ,some

people do like public gathering and some people like public gather, some people like

privacy and some people enjoy with everyone. So mostly the decision is so

controversial and delayed. The consumer behaviour is so complicated in the case of the

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family. Clarke (2008) believes that families changes over time and this is called a

family life cycle where new members of family added so there point of view with time

is different too and varies according to the needs.

D) Social Groups Number of people who has same school thought make a group and implement their

point of view on whole society. In this type of consumer behaviour where collections of

people take decision heavily impact on the business. If consumer belongs to some

influential group then it insist the other members of the groups to follow its experience

about the product or avoid the product. These types of groups work on make or break

who make their own perception and strictly follows the rules.

E) Variables Driving Choice

In this section we discuss in detail that consumer behaviour change due to environment

friendly products. One of the major factors in consumer point of that product should be

environment friendly and according to the health principles. Therefore, nowadays it is a

one of major factor which influence consumer behaviour.

E.1 Belief and Knowledge

It is important to realize that how knowledge effect the consumer and ecological

behaviour. In some of the cases it is noticed that on the bases of the knowledge

consumer gather a information, organize and evaluate the information

(Schiffman & Kanuk, 2004). Consumer also fined that product which has

environment friendly behaviour (Wright, 2010). Knowledge is important to

make a right decision but wrong information causes a less favourable choice.

The very renowned example that soapsuds clean the clothes very effectively but

actually it give the “impression to the consumer that it will clean. But actually it

harms the environment (Zavier, 2008). In fast food industry also face criticism

about the product which are not accordingly health and safety or environment

friendly. It is also important educate consumer about recycle products, in fast

food industry mostly material is used from recycling material and consumers

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have many misconceptions about the material which used in packing and

serving.

E.2 Demographics

In this research I want to include the green consumers. We know that on this

issue so much research has been done but it is very important factor. Based on

past studies, demographic consumers fall into these categories: Education, Age,

Gender, Income, Intentions.

E.2.1 EducationEducation is very important for the consumer. The education about the

product or Consumer personal education both related to green consumer

behaviour and attitude. Most of work already done on the green

consumer education where behaviour and education is correlated with

each other positively (Fitzgerald, Chatrier and Ralph, 2010). Education

gives the idea to choose between good or bad and distinguishes your

choice. McDonald offers number of items or deals in their outlets but if

the consumer is educated then it chose the right choice and save the

money. It is also good for the company as well as because the perception

of consumer is very important after leaving the outlet. McDonald also

gives details in their Menu list to avoid from any sort of

misunderstanding or confusion.

E.2.2 AgeAging affect the consumer behaviour and choice. Demographic profile of

young people base on uncertainty. The choice and behaviour of young

people cannot be predicted so long period and they switch the services in

very short time. Aging affect mostly business and in fast food industry

mostly focused the consumers between 5 to 20 years. Therefore, Fast

food industry never trusts these customers and for motivation brings new

deals and services. Green consumers are older than these consumers and

the relationship between behaviour and choice is negatively correlated

between them. It is also found that the relationship between these aging

groups is uncertain and more research needed in this area.

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E.2.3 GenderGender relates studies are very difficult because it involves number of

areas in which you need to look into and then you reach at any

conclusion. It also noticed that females are more like to be ecologically

conscious (Baines, Pomael and Joel, 2009). The relationship between

gender and environment is concern and their relationship would be

significant (Abraham, 2009). The female consumers are more conscious

about the environment and they purchased products which are more

environments friendly. In fast food industry also care the environment

and bring new campaign to attract these consumers.

E.2.4 IncomeThe power of purchasing and income is directly proportional. If the

consumer earns more than they spent more. It also be noticed that

consumers are price conscious in every industry. Especially in food

industry consumer want good food in low price, so competition in fast

food industry is high as well. McDonald offers good food in less price

but it need to keep eye in market competitors like KFC or Burger King

which also provides a fast food in low price. There is theory which

describe, if consumer spent less then there are more chances to save the

environment. So some people this theory and give alternative ways to

save the environment and not relate this theory with Income. Sales also

affect from the income and if the inflation rate is not controllable then

consumer behaviour is also changed.

E.2.5 IntentionIntention defined the actions and actions are taken due to intentions. If

consumer has an intention to save the environment they it purchase an

environment friendly product. Intentions are internal feelings which

motivate consumer a thing which going to be wrong or un predicted

event. It is also said that intentions are decisive factor to take decision.

There are many studies who distinguish between Intentions and actual

behaviour (Ayarts & Doris, 2008). Some companies take more money

from the consumers in the name of environment friendly product but

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some critics said it’s a company responsibility to give environment

friendly product without taking extra money.

There are two Intervening variables which affect consumer’s intentions:

Eco Labelling“Labelling is Confusion”, is it labelling give two thoughts? Yes some times in consumer

perspective. The improper labelling always confuses customers and some products are

labelled that they are environment friendly. If some companies attaching labels with

their product, it does not mean that consumer proper understand it too. (Baker and

Bayer, 2009). The approach to create awareness in consumer are used is called holistic

approach. This approach used to educate consumer using eco labelling, the impact of

product on environment. Companies need to understand that environment labelling

gives them support to increase a sale but actually they need to contribute by dumping

wastage product and in development process. Past studies shows that labelling play a

important part when consumer taking purchasing decision and if the message convey

properly then consumer trust the product more.

Consumer BacklashEvery one claims that, their products are environment friendly or part of the green

environment. According to the research of Fairbrother (2010), 63 percent of consumers

think that product are not environment friendly and their manufacturing in suspicious.

By claiming every company that they are environment friendly, consumer are confused.

Know they do believe on their saying. Media played an important role to expose these

companies and create confusion in the mind of consumers. People are resisting to give

more money which products are tagged environment friendly because their trust is

shatter due to miss trust. Peoples think that companies are misleading and take

advantage of nature (Brooks and Javier 2009).

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PART 3 – MARKETING CONCEPTS/THEORIES REVIEW

2.11 Marketing Mix

Marketing mix referred as a variable, by controlling this variable manager’s control the

brand sales and market share. Traditionally, we recognize them as four P’s of

marketing involving Product, Price, Promotion and Place (Vladimir and Essex, 2009).

The main objective of the marketing is to deliver the product in the market which fulfils

the customer needs. This involve of number of decisions like the product or products at

which they need to offer to sale and the market where these products are going to be

sale it out, it means that communication with customer is very important. All these

decision form a decision Mix.

However, due to the growth and importance of service in recent years, a special

attention is concentrated towards marketing of services. Various academicians have

suggested and theoretically recognized additional variables, that can be easily

supplemented to the existing four P’s of marketing. Also, the added variables are now

an integral part of the marketing mix i.e. Process, Physical and People (Morgan, 2009).

We are trying to apply the seven P’s for interpreting the marketing mix of this research

case study i.e. McDonald in the following way:

1. Product – Quality/Features and Quantity.

2. Place – Number of business locations.

3. Price – Pricing Strategy, Price Determinants.

4. Promotion – Innovative Promotions, PR, Advertising.

5. People – HR, Promotion, Recognition, Quality.

6. Process – Legal Procedures, Automation.

7. Physical – Customer Relationship, Restaurant Décor, Ambience.

The reader should note that in this research dissertation, the author will not be

elaborating each of this marketing mix from the 7P’s, as not all are relevant to our

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research investigation. The real focus would be emphasized on Product, Promotion and

Physical features of the marketing mix.

As demonstrated earlier, that the consumer purchases the products related to fast food

category rather impulsively, therefore they are deemed products of low involvement. It

is acknowledged that the extent of consumer involvement in a product category has turn

out to be a chief factor pertinent to strategies of promotion and advertising (Diwakar &

Dolon 2008).

Therefore, we can safely suggest that McDonald’s would want hire expert advertising

and marketing professionals so as to positively influence the consumer attitudes.

2.12 Major Concepts of Marketing Mix

The processes of Marketing and distribution products are very important and it is

management responsibility to give attention until the product is not sale out. Marketing

mix is the process in which number of elopements is integrated and design in this way

that it achieve an enterprise objective. These elements are stated as Product, Price, Place

and promotion. The Marketing Mix term also be described that number techniques and

tactics used to achieve goal by marketing its products or services. It is important for

every company that ensures them marketing right product, right place, right person,

right price and right time. For example in McDonald, The burger is a product, Low

price (price), Selling at McDonald Outlets (place), promoting it by distributing leaflets.

In marketing targeting an audience is very important. So choosing a right group of

people and selling the product is real task in marketing.

In 4p’s, decision which related to the product include number of decision in which

labelling, production and packaging of the product. Decision relating to price is very

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important, because sale is directly affected by this element of Marketing Mix. Managers

need to take decision about taking uniform price for the product or different prices for

the same product in different markets. 3rd element is Place where this product is going to

be sale it out. Therefore, Identification of market is key of success. Last element is

Promotion, in what ways sale could be increase. Managers need to think about the

promotion of product and need to adopt different techniques and tools which improve

the sale of the product.

Manager also need to consider the consumer behaviour which is external force, like in

the case of the McDonald new deals are offered and for attracting children toys are

offered by the company. Consumer behaviour is important for the managers and

company and other market competitor strategy as well.

2.13 Characteristics of Marketing Mix

Crux of Marketing Mix:

Number of elements are involved in the marketing mix, so each element has its

own weightage. Anne (2009) believes that mixing in way that each element do

not lose it weightage and not exceed from it weightage give us desired result. So

it important for the managers keep balance between these elements and not

ignore any of the element.

Changing Needs and Constant Review of Marketing Mix :

The constantly changing factors of the markets need to considered by the

management as a priority. Changes such as change in price of a product or

service belonging to a competitor should be instantly upgraded in the marketing

mix elements for offering competition to this new change (Bernard, 2008).

Regularly revisiting the marketing strategy is the actual key to success and

which give newer ideas for improvement of a companies product and services in

turn increasing the revenues.

Change in External Environment insist to change in Marketing Mix :

As per Noir (2010), external Environment never remains constant all the time.

The most important factor in external environment is consumer. The change in

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behaviour of customer in product approach always create problem for the

managers. Managers need to understand the customer’s needs and react timely

to fulfil the customer requirement.

Change in Internal Environment insist to change in Marketing Mix :

The marketing mix calls for an action of change due to the change in internal

environment as it is equally important as external environment. Some of the

internal environment changes includes change in technological attributes,

product line, sizing and scalability of internal operations. All these changes

require immediate change in the marketing mix and related processes of a

company (Wright, 2010).

2.14 Elements of Marketing Mix

There are 7 major elements as listed below

Product

Price

Promotion

Place

People

Process

Physical Evidence

Product:Marketing is about identifying the customer needs and fulfilling the customer needs. It

is important for the manager to choose right menu in fast food industry. Like in

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McDonald number of items are included in menu list but manager need to understand

that customer spend a money where he get good food and at low price. Adding items in

list is not a big thing but it important that what customer want. Therefore, in case of

McDonald it emphasizes on menu list and adds more items which is highly demandable

by the customers. It is important to understand the customer psychology, an item today

is very demandable and part of the fashion, may be discarded tomorrow. Marketing

mean to continuous analyzing customer demands and needs.

Product can be physical or services or idea which fulfils the consumer needs which he

willing to pay (McCarthy, 1996). Product is Key element of the Marketing Mix in

which we need to consider these factors:

Attribute Related to product

Product Branding

Product Packaging and Labelling

Product Support Services

Product Mix

Attribute related to product are quality, design and size. Like in McDonald, it is very

important the quality of burger should be better than other competitor’s burger. The

design in which product is made means in the case of burger shape is important and the

size of burger is important because against all these consumer is paying for it. In

competitor market product is distinguish based on the taste as if McDonald and KFC

burger have different taste.

Branding is another factor which is very important in product element. Some of the

products are recognized by the brand name. Like Cheese burger, saver menu and other

products which are renowned by the brand name and consumer always remember the

brand name of the product. When branding a product, it is important for managers that it

should be easy to pronounce, easy in reading and it has appeal which attract customers

to bring them into restaurant.

Packaging is another important factor which attract customer and it related to the

product. Packaging and labelling is a quite difficult decision and packaging means that

putting product in box or packet like we have big boxes are available at McDonald

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when we purchase a burger. Packaging is important because in this way product remains

protected and easy to carry. Polythene and Plastic is not considering as a good material

to pack the food product so it better to use the soft material. The plastic bags usage

should be avoided.

Another factor which is part of the packaging is labelling. Labelling indicates the name,

size, manufacturing date, expiry date and ingredients which used to develop the product.

All the information is given by the company should be authenticated and consumer who

are health conscious or not used some of the medical reasons need to know what they

are eating. Consumers also consider the expiry date because fast food cannot be

prevented so long.

In the context of fast of industry services in outlets are very important. After placing an

order customer want quick food in their table (Schwartz, 2009). Due to modern

technology product is order by phone or online ordering. In this context managers need

to provide quick service to reach product at destination so Service are directly related to

the Product. If the product is food then it is very important that order reach at

destination as soon as possible because of hygienic reasons.

Another decision about the product is where this product is offered. Finding a market

for the product and location of outlet need research. It depend upon the company where

this product is offered, sometime it happened that many product are launched

simultaneously and some time new product is launched in replacement on any product.

This type of decision is called a mix decision and product line decisions.

Promotion:As per Kiel and Layton (2010), there are two main objective of Promotion:

Telling existing customers or positional customer about the product.

Motivating customer to purchase the product.

It is very import element of marketing mix because without doing any type of

communication with customer we cannot increase sale and customer need to know, is

this product fulfil my needs?. The decision about the selecting the tool for promotion

depends upon the company. There are main four tools of Promotion Mix:

Advertising the product

Personal Selling

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Sales Promotion

Public Relation

Factors Governing Promotion Mix:

Nature of Product:

Every company has many products so each company in nature is different. For

each product there is different promotion mix. Like fast food industry it is good

for personal sale technique to adopt but for industrial goods this technique is not

good, because they need more technical knowledge.

Type of Market:

If the market is spread over large geographical area then advertisement

technique is good because there are large number of customers who spread all

over the areas. But if customer is not spread in large geographical area then

personal selling or sale promotion techniques are good.

Product Life cycle Stage:

All the stages are important for the product, the author has described in detail

Product life cycle in Product section.

Push Vs Pull Strategy:

In this strategy companies pushes the product into the middle man and he push

the product towards the consumer, it is called a push strategy. In this type of

strategy personal selling or display technique would be better as compare to

advertisement. In pull strategy company directly approaches to consumer

without involving middleman. Advertising consider more appropriate in this

case. In combination with proper tools we can achieve our results.

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CHAPTER 3 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter define the research design and the research methodology use to answer the

research question, which explained and justified. It provides a clear description of

models and concept used for the analysis.

3.2 Research Philosophy

Research means a systematic and objective study to find facts, which can be answer to

questions and solutions to problems. The unexplained phenomenon is which have not

been explained by anyone are explained by research. Therefore, research explains

unexplained phenomenon to clarify all doubts and correct misconceived facts. The facts

which are not exposed to the world are exposed with the help of research to the world

for betterment. Research unfolds many facts to the society, business organizations for

their progress (Solomon, 2006). Research is important for studying the behavior of the

consumer. Different country people have different behavior and this can be study by

doing the research.

3.3 Research Approach

Quantitative approach and qualitative approach ate two main approaches for data

collection. When data is quantified for analysis, quantitative approach is the best

approach which includes collection of data for quantitative analysis. Techniques like

depth interviews, focus-group-interviews and projective analysis are used for data

collection.

During this dissertation research report, I would first start by gathering information

followed by the development of theory after the results are published. Also, the

research will have a special concern for the context in which the events are taking place

as we are genuinely interested to understand the context in which the events are taking

place. This research is vying more to understand why some things are happening rather

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explaining what is happening. This justifies why this methodology will be inductive

rather than deductive.

Research elements based on two main approaches which are empirical & non empirical.

For non-empirical approach we have three main areas need to see in which:

Qualitative/Quantitative

Inductive/Deductive

Subjective/Objective

These three approaches can be defined separately and each approach has its own way of

explanation.

3.4 Purpose of Research

During the initial part of this research work, the intent would be exploratory and

explanatory as well as this research aspires to explore consumer behaviour, attitudes and

aspects which are having an impact on the process of consumer decision making in the

UK fast-food market.

The second part of this research work is all about analysing our chosen case

organizations potential responses for the changing environment and the evolving

consumer behaviour. Once we get our needed understanding of the analysis of the fast

food industry and consumer behaviour we will be able to provide appropriate marketing

mix to generate a set of practical recommendations for MacDonald’s business.

3.5 Research Strategy

The strategy that is used in this dissertation research basically involve the empirical

examination of a modern phenomena based in its actual live settings utilizing multiple

evidence sources. Considering these factors, the strategy that would be selected will be

based on case study.

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3.6 Non Empirical Research

Non Empirical research based on pre existence body of knowledge which is already

exists in a particular field. This research also required the source of reference a work

which is already done or any one given a theory about that research. This source of

reference define the real work because we taking logical thoughts or inspiration from

his work then we need to reference his work (Collins, 2000). Some of the research

based on research method and it need detailed study of literature review and searching

on a particular topic. When we are conducting the Non Empirical research then we

need to care of referencing the actual work and most important the way we adopt the

idea from other work. If research nature is historical than it doesn’t need too much

investigation. According to the Stake (2007), literature review included:

We need to incorporate critical academic theories about selected area.

You also need to ensure that your research is up to date and newly published

papers are included.

It is also ensure that your research is related to previous research done by the

other peoples.

We need to consider that strengths and weakness of the past study and we need

to prove by arguments in favor and against.

For justification of our research we need to give proper referencing and provide

full information about the author.

It also is important that reference should be Harvard standard and information is

available like page number from where you cite.

By completely adhering to the acknowledgement guidelines you can prevent

yourself by plagiarism charge.

3.7 Qualitative/Quantitative Approach

Selection between qualitative or Quantitative approach is difficult for the new

researcher. Myers (1997) distinguishes between these two approaches in this way:

“Quantitative research method is developed for natural sciences for examining various

scientific phenomenons. The applications of Quantitative research methods seen in

survey, laboratory experiments, mathematical modeling, formal method, numerical

method and social sciences.

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Qualitative methods were design to analyze in social science by conducting research on

aspects of society and culture. Qualitative data is achieved by observations or

participants observation also called field work. This data is not in the form of number

but it based on interviews and questionnaire, document and texts, arguments and

conclusion written in the form of alphabets” (Myers, 1997).

The qualitative data is gathered in the context of social, cultural and people where they

live. The qualitative approach also defined by the Hussey (1997) as it is a subjective

approach by getting better understanding human and society. He also defined the

behavioural theory of people and using qualitative approach he analyzed the results.

3.8 Deductive/Inductive Approach

The selection of deductive or inductive approach is defined by the number of authors

(Cavaye, 1997; Hussey and Hussey, 1997; Myers, 1997).

Hussey and Hussy (1997), defined the deductive research approach as a deductive

approach in which we develop an intangible and hypothetical framework and examined

it using empirical observation, only particular points are deductive using common

theory”. The deductive method is used for the general idea to a particular idea where we

look more precisely and in depth.

The inductive approach is used for the developing theory in which, “It is a reverse

method of deductive approach in which from particular instance we induced general

instances. In this approach we move from selected point to general point and establish

our hypothesis”. Myers (1997) establishes a point where no one agrees or no one

disagree from its point of view and using both inductive and deductive approach he

establish a hypothesis.

3.9 Subjective/Objective

Another approach is available which tells about the researcher , if the researcher is

subjective then need to consider what type of impact on the research and if the

researcher used objective approach then it is independent and this type of approach is

used in fieldwork where everyone give his observation and participants has a

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independent point of view. Collins (2000) explained in his book that “researcher should

conduct the research independently otherwise validity of research will be questionable.

Phenomenological paradigm is very natural and subjective. The paradigm naturally

requires both real world scenario and researcher observation as well. Researcher needs

to understand the concept of object or subjective approach and he need to decide which

approach is appropriate for him self. He also relates both real world and outcome of his

research for better and good results. In subject approach any type of influence or

observation which impact researcher results or findings. The most important

understanding about phenomenological research that it is totally depends upon the

subjective approach.

3.10 Empirical Approach

In empirical Research it need a evidence and it does not matter that what is purpose of

research but evidence needed for conducting a empirical research (Hussey and Hussey,

1997). Empirical evidence can be also be explained as collection of knowledge based

on observational experience. The data base of observation or experiences research only

achieved when researcher do field work. In which he need to conduct the research

according to the requirement and it should be related to the topic and company

requirement. In our case empirical data is not required because we are doing case study

based research in which field work not necessary and we take the information from

other peoples works. We compare the results and reach at any conclusion so it better

for us by saving a time and resources to do a case study research.

3.11 General Research Objective

The objective or the purposes any of research are as follows:

Extending the knowledge of human beings, environment, and natural

phenomenon to others.

Bringing the information which is not developed fully during ordinary course of

life

Generalization.

Verifying existing facts and identifying the changes into these existing facts.

Developing facts for crucial evaluation.

Helping in planning and development.

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3.12 Sample Selection

As evident from past researches that age group belonging to 17 to 25 years generally

forms the major target market for fast-food businesses in United Kingdom, the research

sample was carefully selected to stay within this age group. I along with my 5 friends

will distribute and record responses from 100 respondents in diverse areas of Greater

London.

3.13 Data Collection

The data collection technique for this research work is based on Non Probability

sampling technique as we will make groups of about 40 women and 60 men out of 100

and taking their interviews. So in our case we used a sub type of probability sampling

is Quota sampling. The nature of data is qualitative in our research and some part of the

data is qualitative too but as a whole we consider qualitative so due to data nature we

selected the Non probability sampling techniques and this sampling technique give

broad view to analyze the consumer behaviours and most products are offer in menu are

written in text form.

GROUP INTERVIEWS – FOCUS GROUPS:

To get a better understanding of consumer behaviour, the qualitative data collection

technique was used in this dissertation research. To refer the questionnaire which was

discussed during focus groups and the related information, readers are requested to refer

Appendix A. Also, while the questions were designed for the focus groups, a special

attention was paid to make sure that the questions focussed primarily on the following

two aspects of the research:

Exploring consumers’ attitudes towards fast food industry and its products.

Identifying the immediate impacts from various external environmental factors

which might affect the consumer’s decision-making process regarding fast food

products.

Also, the consumer’s knowledge about the fast food and various different perceptions

will be examined. Furthermore, consumer attitude and belief towards different fast food

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providers will be examined as well. Finally, the influence of highly debated anti-

obesity campaigns on consumer will be examined.

QUESTIONNAIRE:

As the respondents to the questionnaire were not randomly selected for this study, we

cannot generalize from the resulting responses. The research aim was clearly

mentioned in the beginning of the questionnaire so as to clearly inform the respondents.

The key highlighter issues or themes were identified from this focus group study and

later on used as a basis to form the close ended questions. The important or the key

themes such as fast food quality, cruelty towards nature/animals, Brand equity, and

Media influence on consumer behaviour formed the crux of the questionnaire. The

reader can refer to the appendix B for gaining more information about the questionnaire.

3.14 Applied Research Model

A) Consumer Decision Making Process:

Most of the theories of consumer behaviour were based on the theory of economy

stating that the individuals are truly realistic for maximizing their satisfaction or benefits

while making purchase for a good or services. Further researches demonstrated that

individual consumers are more likely to make a purchase decision which is impulsive in

nature and this decision is not only influenced the consumer’s friends, families and

advertisement exercises but also by the emotional quotient, mood and situation during

purchase. Each of these attributes finally combine to offer a formation of exhaustive

consumer behaviour model reflecting both the emotional and cognitive aspects of

consumer decision making process (Baines, Pomael and Joel, 2009). This model of

consumer behaviour is further simplified and illustrated in figure 1.4, combining all

together social, psychological and cultural theories of consumer behaviour in a more

lucid framework.

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Figure 1.4: Simplified model of Consumer decision making process

The above illustration would offer reader and researcher alike, the critical information

about the factors which have deeper impact on the process of consumer decision

making. As we have seen in our literature review that most of these models are

insufficient under current complex consumer behaviour, we are still using these models

to understand the basic understanding of this process.

Hierarchy of Effects Concept:

When it is evident that all the 3 components of an attitude are significant, their

associated significance would vary as per the motivation level of consumer with respect

to the attitude object. This is the reason why the hierarchy of effects concept was

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evolved and developed so as to offer explanation about the respective influence of these

3 components. Researchers analysing the attitude aspect fundamentally assumed that

the attitudes were prearranged sequence, having beginning of the beliefs formation

(cognitions) with respect to the attitude object, which was followed by an analysis of

that object (affect) and finally ending with certain action (behaviour). However, it is

also proven that depending over the level of involvement of a consumer and the

circumstances, attitudes could result from different or other hierarchies of effects

(Abraham, 2009).

Therefore, in this research work it is proven that the attitude object is nothing but a

purely fast food product, which is also deemed to be a low involvement product, and

hence hierarchy of low involvement can be illustrated as in the figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5: The low-involvement hierarchy

Source: Abraham (2009)

As evident from the above illustration, in this sequence, the consumer generally do not

show any initial strong preference towards a single brand in comparison to another, but

in its place actions on the foundation of limited information and then later form an

analysis/evaluation only after s/he has made the purchase of the product or used it.

Therefore, considering the above scenario, it can be said that the consumer is influenced

primarily by the behavioural learning principles (Gilmour, 2009).

Therefore, in this dissertation research work the author has assumed that the fast food

consumer would form attitudes through the concept of hierarchy of effects (low

involvement) and in the end this concept would be interpreted in this research to offer

recommendation to the case study i.e. McDonald’s.

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PESTLE Framework:

External environment influencing the research case study would be analysed through

the application of PESTLE framework, which offers division of external environmental

factors across four diverse categories such as Political, Economic, Socio, Technological,

Legal and Environmental (Knowles and McMillan, 2009). The environmental

influences which are affecting McDonald’s are observed using this framework. This

framework is extremely useful when the influences of these factors are studied in

current and future perspective instead of providing a generic list of influences.

In this PESTLE analysis, the highest priority is given to identifying key drivers of

change so that we can learn about the important issues which fast food industry is facing

and how it might affect it in the future. However, not all the factors are important

considering our dissertation research, therefore, economic and technological factors will

be excluded from our analysis. The important factors would be Political and Socio-

Cultural as they directly influence the fast food industry.

Figure 1.6: PESTLE Framework

Source: Solomon et al. (2006)

3.15 Research Limitations

Like all experiential research studies, this research also has certain limitations and

conveniences. The major limitations, which the author has faced, include difficulty in

gathering the latest year references and statistics, also restrictions in terms of time

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availability during for conducting the survey and the time which was provided to the

respondents for answering the survey analysis.

Furthermore, the research sample size is restricted to 108, which offered a very limited

response validation, and therefore there is a high probability that the conclusions and the

results of this research would have been different in case the sample size would have

been larger and more diverse. Also, this research was conducted in the city of London

which is a cosmopolitan city and therefore caution should be utilized before

generalizing the conclusion due to the fact that the consumer perception are drastically

different in other lesser cosmopolitan cities.

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CHAPTER 4 – FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Introduction

This chapter is collated to offer the results of the data analysis and findings of primary

and secondary research. The chief objective of these findings is to provide the data

analysis result and to distinguish it from the market research so as to avail the findings

related to the investigative data, which was performed historically. This reader will be

provided with a simplified presentation of data and its analysis which was processed

using the methods and tools discussed in the previous chapter.

In order to provide analysis in an easy format, we have divided the data presentation

into two parts. First analysis is about the external factors which are influencing

McDonald’s and the second part is about the key factors which are influencing the

consumer decision-making process.

4.2 Data Analysis

In data analysis, we consider many factors but it important to understand the nature of

qualitative data we gathered and analyzed. We consider following point in our research

to analyze the data:

Detail about the company and results are compiled in logical way.

We categorise the data according to our criteria like age, education, gender in

different groups.

Data has different interpretation at different time of instance so we analysed

each bit of data which gathered at any time of instance.

There are different patterns are used for scrutinized the data and I adopt those

pattern in this research.

From this analysis conclusion is drawn and it give us overall picture of case

study.

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4.3 SECONDARY RESEARCH FINDINGS – External Analysis

As mentioned previously, this section is for understanding the external influences and

therefore, results and information from the PESTLE Framework will be applied. This

information will be utilized for further research later in this dissertation.

4.3.1 UK Fast Food Industry Analysis

The fast food market of UK garnered a total revenue in the range of GBP 5.9 billion

during the trading period of 2009-2010. As compared to 2008-2009, the revenues have

significantly increased from the earlier levels of GBP 3.5 billion. Moreover, the sales of

fast food offered to restaurants of quick service corresponded to be the most profitable

segment of the UK, generating revenues in range of GBP 3.6 billion in 2010, which is

nearly equivalent to a overall market share value of 61 percent (Euro monitor report,

2010).

Trading Year GBP Value in

Billions

Percentage of Growth

2006 2.32007 2.8 2.92008 3.7 3.62009 4.2 3.9.12010 5.9 7.2

Figure 1.7: United Kingdom Fast Food Market Value: £ and $ billion, 2009-2010

Source: Datamonitor, 2010

In spite of the numerous fears and concerns about the fast food being linked to obesity,

heart diseases and other health problems, the fast food industry in UK has shown strong

growth during the last five years. If we consider the per capita expenditure, between

2006 and 2010, than we will see that the fast food industry is one of the fastest growing

segment across all the service industry segments across UK (Euro monitor report,

2010).

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Figure 1.8: Expenditure on eating out by sector (growth): 2005 - 2009

Source: Euromonitor, 2010

As per Euromonitor report (2010), McDonald's Corporation is ranked as the number one

restaurant offering fast food items across all parts of UK, with an approximate 32 % of

market share which proves that it has a wide lead over its nearest rival i.e. KFC (under

the Yum brand leadership) and Burger King which has a market share of just 11 percent

across UK.

Figure 1.9: McDonald’s UK market share report (2009)Source: Euromonitor, 2010

To summarize its performance, McDonald's is presently operating fast food restaurants

across majority of the global market locations.

As per Marketline survey report (2010), McDonald’s have over 31,000 locations

of fast food restaurants in more than 120 countries.

Primarily the company has a major focus in the USA and UK markets, and is

headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois employing just over 445,000 employees

across all the sites around the world (Euro monitor report, 2010).

In terms of its presence in UK, it can seen that McDonald’s currently have

restaurant visibility across more than 1,316 restaurants across diverse parts of

UK. Its last year profits grew by nearly 46 percent (Euro monitor report, 2010).

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4.3.2 Pestle Framework Analysis

Political/Legal Conditions:

Boseley (2008) has demonstrated in his research that it is nowadays very common to be

fat or obese in UK; which is proven by the official Government statistics that shows that

approximately two third of men and nearly 58 percent of women are extremely

overweight in UK. The research further reveal that UK is the state which ranks number

one for the highest number of obese or fat population across all the 27 states of Europe

which was termed as grotesque by the UK health secretary.

Now let us study some of the important analysis of the PESTLE framework which is mentioned below:

Rising NHS costs due to obesity:

As per Stake (2007), in a reference to the health department of the Government, it is

proven than the fast growing crisis related to fatness and obesity is expected to involve

more thousands people in its stride thus causing more obese people. As per the recent

survey by Guardian newspaper, currently 10% of NHS resources are devoted to look

after ailments such as diabetes and obesity related cases and is predicted to be nearly

double in the next 3 years.

NHS in a unique way has introduced top up fees for those patient who are measured to

be obese as per clinical terms (Kiel, 2010). Fatness or obesity is proven to reduce life

expectancy by almost 8 years and is expected more in obese smokers. This is grave

concern as along with the human cost associated to the individual, there is another

associated direct cost due to obesity to the nation and is bared by tax payer’s money.

Nearly GBP 1 Billion is spent every year by the Government to control this crisis of

obesity and fatness across UK as per the Newsweek magazine survey (2009).

The White Paper:

During the year 2009, the Health Department of Government of UK published an

exhaustive White Paper with the topic “Health Choice – Easier Health Choices for Life”

and which actually recommended a variety of suggestions targeting citizens following a

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sedentary lifestyle for steering towards a better and healthy life pattern as per the

guidelines of UK Diet & Health analysis (Schmidt and Roger, 2010).

Some of the important points that came out as per the PESTLE framework conducted

by the Government of UK are listed below for reader’s reference:

Each product packaging of any processed food item should clearly indicate the

actual fat, salt and sugar content of the product in easily understandable

language, which is marked using a simple system of traffic lights.

A dedicated task force that would be independent in its operations will be set up

to look after and treat obesity syndrome.

A special mention for giving emphasis on the role of school to provide insights

into the benefit of healthier food to its students so as to create awareness in

young minds about the ill affects of fast food products.

Fast food advertisement will be regulated with special needs for children

audience.

Fat Tax:

As per the Telegraph Archive Report (2010), one of the landmark policy that is being

discussed by the Government bodies is the introduction of Fat tax to be applied on every

junk food for controlling the menace of obesity and fatness in UK. The strategy unit

from the office of UK Prime Minister have eagerly raised the need to apply additional

duty or VAT on most of the fatty foods after the NHS report (2009) revealed that the

obesity related heart attack are now UK’s biggest killer overtaking the dreaded cancer

deaths and many youngsters in the age group of 25 – 34 years are developing diabetes

syndrome. This steps and actions by the UK Government should be an actual warning

to the producers of junk food and to consumers alike serving them a warning that the

nutrition and vitality is the most important factor in any food product and consumption.

To further support this claim, the British Medical Journal research claimed that the

application of Fat Tax could assist in saving nearly 1000 premature deaths in UK which

happen to cholesterol related heart diseases each year (BBC Archive, 2010)

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Change in Socio-Culture:

According to the most recent survey by Consumer Lifestyles in London indicated that

the three most important family eating events of breakfast, lunch and dinner have turned

into sole events which are very much less structured. On the other hand fast food

products and snacking have replaced family events.

The factors which are influencing these changes are:

A sudden increase in the working women number thereby resulting less home

cooking events.

Extensive working hours and shortest eating breaks which lead to consumers

looking for quick and easy eating solutions like fast food and junk food.

The above mentioned factors have led an increased demand in food which is easily

available, ready for eating and do not need any cooking. This includes fast food items,

junk food, snacks, confectionary items, take away food and anything that has replaced

the home food products.

Celebrity Influence:

As per the Euro monitor survey (2010), one of the biggest positive influences on the

society in terms of awareness of healthy food is through the public appearances of Chef

Jamie Oliver. All his television appearances, books and series have a section that

highlights the immense negative aspects of junk food consumption and about how to

improve the school food quality in UK. This has created immense awareness among the

consumers to adopt a healthy life style. Also, it has given opportunities to the

Government of UK to create new policies and structure controlling the epidemic of

obesity in UK.

According to the BBC survey (2010), Chef Jamie Oliver is being chosen as the single

biggest factor responsible for the great improvement in the quality of school lunches.

Jamie Oliver is perceived to be having a larger influence than the UK Government,

Education authorities and locals school themselves.

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Negative Publicity:

As we have seen in the literature review chapter that various lifestyle changes have led

to an increased demand for fast food restaurants across UK, however, fast food industry

is still plagued by the negative publicity currently prevailing in the society. The major

reason that is evident is the association of these products with the tag of unhealthy food

and negative influence about child hood obesity syndrome. Therefore, eventually the

traditional growth in fast food sector of burgers, chips etc have been deeply affected by

innovative food concept sellers like Pret-a-Manger, Subway, etc.

4.3.3 Key Drivers of Change

The key drivers of change which have arisen due to the external environment and which

could have definite impact on the future fast food industry are analysed below:

Consumer Demand:

The lifestyle in UK is becoming ever increasingly busy with less free time, high

disposable income which is resulting in more consumers opting for take away food

service than preparing their own food. Also, the unstructured family events and

lifestyle changes have lead to unstructured meal pattern with consumer choosing easily

available fast food products. The above factors related to the lifestyle changes of the

UK consumer support the fast food industry growth in UK, however, at the same time

the junk food consumer is getting aware of the negative aspects of the junk food

consumption and getting more health conscious. Therefore, with this slow awareness of

health conscious food intake, the next key driver of change could be Government

interference.

Government Interference:

High profile Chef Jamie Oliver (2009) has acknowledged the fact that the current high

profile public and political debate about the epidemic of obesity and related health

concerns has been continuing for a long time and will probably continue until a

reasonable solution is drafted which is in equal favour of the consumer and businesses.

However, he adds that this debates and public awareness would definitely affect the

pizza, hamburger and chicken/chips sales of UK region. To support the above claim

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and make is more plausible, Hawkes (2008) demonstrate that the Government of UK

has still not being able to control the fatness or obesity epidemic for the last 9 years of

this campaign. Maybe the importance of the circumstances has at last persuaded the

UK Government to take additional domineering approach by ignoring the allegations of

being running a “soft state”.

These key drivers of change will surely affect the fast food industry; however, it is not

easy to predict what would be the impact in times of changing consumer demands and

lifestyle changes. These changing consumer patterns are strongly favouring fast food

industry, or escalating healthy living trend underpinned by a probable new legislative

government having negative impact on the fast food industry.

Now after analysing the various patterns of external factors and key drivers of change, it

is important to examine the consumer attitude towards fast food so as to develop

possible theories and strategies that would help McDonald’s to improve its brand

equity.

4.4 PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS – FOCUS GROUP

Focus Group (Analysis of Key Points) As mentioned in the chapter of Research Methodology that the focus groups would be

divided into two sections. The initial 3 questions are particularly designed to order to

focus on exploring and understanding the attitude of consumer towards the offerings of

the case study i.e. McDonald’s. Whereas the final 3 questions were developed to seek

any influence arising from the external environment which would have any impact on

the decision making process of the consumer with respect to fast food consumption.

The necessary list of questions which were discussed during the focus group exercise

were listed in the Appendix chapter in the end of this research report.

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4.4.1 Part 01: Investigate attitude of consumers’ with

respect to fast food

Quality of Fast Food

A fairly long debate took course with respect to the quality of McDonald’s fast food.

Majority of the participants categorized them as extremely low on food nutritional scale.

The debate continued about what sort of things beef burgers consist of. Majority of the

participants agreed to the fact that meat quality that is used in the in the hamburgers and

other McDonald’s product is of very poor quality. Some of the participants also

emphasize that they have heard about McDonald’s putting all different kinds of animals

parts to take advantage of economies of scale.

As pointed by one of the participant: “I do not think there exist any fast food restaurant

that offers quality food that would qualify as clean, nutritional and hygienic as per the

food safety guidelines.”

“The quality of vegetables which is used in the hamburgers or the double cheese burgers

is atrocious, when I open a burger and what I see is a lettuce which as turned yellow, if

not ugly brown. I do not understand how hard is for a company like McDonald’s to

make sure that the vegetables are kept fresh all the time”?

Furthermore, another interesting issue with regards to the product ingredients was

highlighted by one of the participant who said: “I have real evidence about the apples

which McDonald’s use in their Apple pie, I have heard that they are not actually made

from pure apples but with a mix of small quantity of pure apples and some cheap

chemical stuff. After which they add some apple syrup and cinnamon for making it

taste like a pure Scottish apple”.

This insight generated another short debate about the business interest of some huge

food flavouring and chemical companies which was rightly followed by this statement:

“I am real love with the taste ofo the McDonald’s fast food, but I am not going to touch

it again if I knew what it actually contain than what it says on the menu.” This

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statement followed by another participant who said: “Never in my life did I ever see

any real nutritional facts in any of the McDonald’s products or restaurant and to be

honest with you guys I will never trust such information even if it is shown to me.”

Ethical Constraints

The debate was than diverted towards discussion about the ethical issues involved with

respect to fast food restaurants especially McDonald’s.

One participant added saying that “The most important for me is the ethical aspect of a

fast food business and its product quality. I cannot believe that mass production of

chickens from the stage of hatching until full size takes about 3 months, which is

absolutely rubbish as the natural way is nearly 16 months for all these stages to fulfill. I

am disgusted to believe that the chickens are fed with steroids for the greedy gain of the

fast food businesses.”

Another added saying: “As a consumer I will never know how the animals were raised

which were consumed for fast food industry, the mystery will continue about the

conditions in which they live and it will never be disclosed what is actually inside our

Burgers.”

Someone said: “I am not going eat chicken anymore in fast food restaurants with respect

to the information I gained today in the research workshop on the basis on my

individual principles and conscience.”

Majority of the participants agreed that the fast food companies are not respecting the

ethical and moral issues with respect to the welfare of our ecology that includes animals

as well. As some of the participants responses or feedback seems biased, author

personally verified the content by visiting the McDonald’s website.

Critical Analysis:

Regardless of the fact as what McDonald’s profess to use in the production of their

products, the majority of the focus group participants surely did not want to believe it or

they were not aware of such information. The actual truth is that the participants

perception, knowledge and attitude towards fast food is extremely negative and of

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suspicious belief. However, it can be observed from the debate that though nutritional

value of fast food products and the ethical aspects related to fast food restaurants is of

significant to them, it will surely not determine the decision to visit a fast food

restaurant or not. Also, during the debate, the author noticed that the usage of the word

“Junk Food” was used most frequently than Fast Food signifying that the participants

have a set attitude of treating fast food as of low value and unhealthy for masses.

Fairbrother (2010) argues why the term “Junk Food” is only applied to a selective range

of food products and why not as per the nutritional balance or content of the actual

product line. It is evident from the secondary research findings that the Government

departments and celebrity chefs constantly discourage consumers from eating French

fries, however at the same time it can seen that they do not stop people from eating a

dish such as Duck a L’orange. The point to be noted here is that the French fries

servedin McDonald’s restaurants contains about 5 grams of fat whereas the Duch a

L’orange dish contains nearly 15 to 20 grams of fat in a single serving. Also, the ice

creams scoop commonly available in markets contains much more fat content than

McDonald’s French fries. The question now arise why the term of Junk Food should be

applied selectively. As per Peter Marsh (Researcher at Social Issues Research Centre in

Oxford) who studies the impact of unhealthy food on human bodies, describes that the

term Junk Food has become a simple matter of aesthetics, if said in a simpler terms than

a way of offering our polite disapproval to a particular brand of food items. The term

Junk Food is extremely unfortunate if clearly not misleading.

The above critical analysis and arguments proves that McDonald’s product offerings are

not cause of obesity or fatness as evident from the comparison from other food products

(in fact in some case the McDonald’s food products are less fatty than other commonly

available food items), however, the majority of the participants still described fast food

as to be simple junk food and indirectly associated them to unhealthy and fat,

cholesterol increaser and greasy food. This eventually influences the consumer decision

making process towards fast food as extremely negative.

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Emotional Attachment:

The majority of the group uttered mix emotions and feelings with respect to the

McDonald’s product offering in the market. Some of the participants loved it whereas

some of the participants hated it.

As mentioned by one participant about his reason for visiting McDonald’s as: “I am on

the verge of dying by hunger and there is nothing else in sight for me to eat and

therefore I eat in a McDonald’s restaurant.”

Other said: “It’s like a different feeling coming from nowhere, you know that you are

being driven by something towards McDonald’s and you cannot stop this craving, this

is the time when I head towards a McDonald’s restaurant”.

However, most of the participants described eating in a McDonald’s restaurant as

extremely convenient and economical: “Eating out in a McDonald’s restaurant is very

cheap an convenient for me, where else do you think you can eat a filling meal which

includes a chilled drink for less than 5 pounds in UK”?

Another participant added: “You are fairly tired, its midnight and you are on your way

home and than suddenly you see McDonald’s on your way and you decide to walk

inside….sometimes to be honest with you I smell McDonald’s”.

Similarly someone added: ”Most of time I go to a McDonald’s when I see that glowing

golden Arch….nothing else…simple…I am in love with the Arch..”

Critical Analysis

In spite of the fact that the focus groups participant described fast food as low on

nutritional and very unhealthy for a lifestyle, they are still enjoying eating out in such

fast food restaurants, though not very often. Maybe the occurrence of going to such

restaurants is presumably associated with emotional and psychological attributes and

linked with the internal determinants of consumer behaviour as discussed in the

literature review. This proves that eating fast food comes as a craving from certain

internal and external pattern of consumption. Having said that, the researcher would

like to associate the craving for fast food as the craving for chocolates as proved in past

researches in both men and women. This would perhaps offer the link between the

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conclusion of the infamous documentary “Super size me” with respect to McDonald’s

and fast food showing how its central character gains nearly 12 kilograms in a month of

eating out on a McDonald’s diet (this would be discussed in more detail in the next

section of this focus group findings)

It was suggested by the central character in the documentary that the fast food is more

or less an addiction. To underpin this theory, it would be important to quote the

scientist from the NHS research labs, which proved that addiction to fast food is more

or less similar to addiction to drugs. As per researches it has been proven that consumer

can over rely on sugar and fat good out of craving or addiction (BBC Archive, 2009).

As per Schiffman and Kanuk (2008), the extent of risk, which the consumer perceives

for a certain situation along with their individual tolerance to such risk, is the true

determinant which influence its purchase decision and strategy. As a company,

McDonald’s tries with all its effort to provide the necessary information with regards to

the risk and benefits associated with its products and it is very easy for a consumer to

view such information on its website. For example, a consumer can actually calculate

the risk involved before consuming a certain food product by calculating its nutritional

values on the website and can also compare with other available products which are

commonly used in real life. Furthermore, the website also offers information with

regards to the information pertaining to the animal and ecological welfare and all its

associated stake holder. These efforts are directed towards reducing the perceived risk

by the consumer. Also, McDonald’s is aggressively promoting active lifestyle by

sponsoring various outdoor activities such as Olympic games and football sporting

events.

The above analysis and the participant statements prove that purchase of a fast food

item is usually out of impulse, whereas people generally decide to eat at McDonald’s

due to various emotional and psychological reasons, not to miss the physical reason

when the actual product on offer tempt towards making a purchase suggesting that

products related to fast food category are actually low involvement product.

Considering these situations, it can be said that consumers are generally influenced by

the behavioural learning principles than anything else (Le Anre, 2010). That is the

reason why marketers at McDonald’s are focussing more on offering the information in

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their restaurants and websites and also on how this information is presented. The Model

of Elaboration Likehood (ELM) points out that the consumers involvement level while

processing of message is an important factor for determining the actual route leading to

persuasion is most likely to be effective. In cases when the involvement is very low,

sucha s fast food products, consumers are likely to follow the route of peripheral relying

increasingly on other elements of the message for formation of their attitude towards

making product choice (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004). This is one of the chief reason

why McDonald’s is still using the famous jingle in all their endorsement “I’m Lovin’ it”

which is again backed up another mainstream artist such as Justin Timberlake, as they

company makes efforts to increase the involvement of consumer using celebrity and

catch jingles.

4.4.2 Part 02: Impact from External Environment (Obesity

campaign, Media influence) over Consumer Decision

Making Process with respect to fast food

Super Size Me & Obesity Epidemic

It was a common fact among the focus group participant that they were aware about the

current obesity campaign in UK and also they admitted that it is not affecting them in

any way.

One participant said: “It is an obvious fact that people do not how to eat…when to eat

and how much to eat…you can live on a great fast food diet without getting fat or obese

if you have a disciplined life style involving exercise and other balance”.

Other said: “After watching the Super size documentary it has influenced me so much

that I am afraid to go into a McDonald’s again …”

This debate went to a interesting stage when participant said: “It is more to do with your

lifestyle..being couch potato and eating any food that taste good and stuffing your belly

without having the knowledge of what this food can do to your body…I believe its more

about making an educated choice than just blaming someone for this situation”.

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Furthermore someone added: ”If the parent are ignorant themselves and do not educate

their children about the benefits and drawbacks of eating out of control or in control

then they will become the same and will end up replicating the same things later in their

lives”.

Critical Analysis

It was very insightful while investigating the response of McDonald’s with respect to

the documentary Super Size Me. To everyone’s surprise, McDonald’s has mentioned

on their website that the they agree with the what is shown in the documentary and

completely endorse the message which says that everyone should follow a balanced diet

and lifestyle. Further, they argued that the central character ate a one-dimensional meal

for nearly 30 days which consisted on 5000 calories per day and which is double the

recommended amount for an adult. Also, he gave up an active lifestyle to a more

sedentary lifestyle stopping all his physical activities. On the contrary McDonald’s

supports all their consumers by offering healthy living guidance available in restaurants

and websites. McDonald’s also launched a website in response to the documentary to

offer various reasoning to the same.

Referring to WHO Report (2010), the education can play a vital part towards pursuit of

a greater understanding by consumer with respect to healthy food habits and lifestyle

and could take place within home, social environment or school. This could be reason

why among all the general participants, the group who has finished their final year

studies do not eat at McDonald’s.

Government Intervention

A very lengthy discussion took place concerning Government’s intervention for

bringing in laws to manage or regulate the fast food industry or to let the industry self

regulate itself and let the consumer be left to have a free choice. Majority of the group

supported the regulation in terms of issues related to children and advocated to leave the

adult for making their own choices.

Role of Fast Food Restaurants

There was a final debate over the last question that talks about fast food companies

being held responsible for the current obesity epidemic in UK, almost everyone except

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one participant said yes and added his defence by saying: “Fast food companies are well

aware about the products which they are serving in their restaurants and what impact it

had on the consumer….but they are more concerned about the adverse impact on the

people as they are busy making money for their business…these companies should

know where to draw the line…to be aware of what is wrong and what is right”.

4.5 PRIMARY RESEARCH FINDINGS – Survey Questionnaire Analysis

Key Factors Influencing Consumer Decision Making Process

Now reaching the final part of this research dissertation which is about understanding

the results of the analysis from the questionnaire, which was developed using the Focus

group interviews. It should be noted that the first three questions are designed to focus

on consumer’s attitudes towards fast food and McDonald’s as a company. While the

last three questions are exploring the impacts that might come from external

environment having influence on consumer decision making process in regards to the

fast food items. The complete questionnaire can be accessed in the Appendix chapter.

4.5.1 Questionnaire (Findings Analysis)

Though we conducted 100 surveys, only 71 participants proved to be legitimate as the

answers were logical and completely filled in. The ratio the gender was divided equally

between male and female (coming to as 49 percent for male and 51 percent for female).

As evident from the literature review that the fast food marketers target the consumer

age group of 17 years to 25 years, therefore, it was made sure that the majority of

respondents of this research survey nearly matched this global ratio with 88 percent

falling between the age group of 17 and 25 years.

A) QUESTION: HOW OFTEN DO YOU EAT FAST FOOD?

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As per the research results conducted by Mark & Jacob (2008), the actual international

target segment for fast food industry is between the age group of 17 and 25 years of age.

As evident from the survey result from the above question that which corrected matched

the respondent profile of the research questionnaire, with nearly 88 percent falling

between the age group of 17 and 25 years of age. Also, the survey result shows that 30

out of the 71 survey participants (i.e. 42.3 percent) ate fast food related products every

month every at least once.

Determining consumer’s trust in McDonald’s brand equity and product quality.

This research uses the “Selected Evaluative Scale” to understand consumer’s attitude

towards quality of fast food. Majority of the respondent ranked on every type of fast

food except Salad, Fruit as worst quality. This poor quality remark given by majority of

respondents clearly proves that consumer’s value nutrition of fast food as indeed

extremely poor.

A good 34% respondents have viewed the nutrition list in McDonald’s restaurants at

least once. However, whosoever have seen it they do not trust it. (Appendix C)

Surprisingly 83% of the consumer’s agreed that McDonald’s is indeed using chemicals

in their fast food products. (Question no 7)

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B) QUESTION: CHEMICAL IN MCDONALD’S FOOD?

Also, while putting remarks on the scale of 5, a good 31 out of 71 respondents believe

what McDonald’s has published on its website about usage of high quality ingredients

and best raw materials as utterly untrue. (Question no 8)

C) QUESTION: MCDONALD’S CLAIM OF HIGH QUALITY INGREDIENTS

(USING SCALE OF 1 to 5?

After the respondents were in formed that McDonald’s is actually using 100 percent

beef along with fresh vegetables and apples in their apples pies, than 34 percent

answered positively for visiting McDonald’s more often. 50 percent of the respondents

who have visited the McDonald’s website did not found it useful enough and it could

not engage its visitors. Moreover, 61 percent of respondent still not have any desire to

visit the McDonald’s website in near future.

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D) QUESTION: FINDING IT APPEALING?

Majority of the participants selected the option one signifying that visiting McDonald’s

was not the chosen option and was instead out of craving for fast food. Furthermore, 27

out of 71 participants that are nearly 38 percent selected option over convenient.

E) QUESTION: REASON FOR VISITING MCDONALD’S?

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A slight majority prefer going in McDonald due to having no other option, however,

there is a second majority that signifies that McDonald offers good value for me. This

is quiet contrasting to the majority as a company which is offering value for money

cannot be ignored in todays money crunch economical times. Also, it is interesting to

note that nearly 20% of the participants admitted that they do not go to a McDonald’s

restaurant which proves the inference from the focus group that the education people do

not eat fast food.

Determining consumer’s ethical concern in regards to fast food industry.

Majority of the respondents were aware of the ethical aspects in regards to animal

welfare especially concerning chicken. On the other hand, merely 31 percent of

respondents didn’t had any clue about this aspect. It came out as a conclusion that a

decent 25 percent of respondents believed this reason for not eating chicken in any

McDonald’s restaurant.

F) QUESTION: ETHICAL CONCERN WHILE CONSUMING CHICKEN AT

MCDONALD’S?

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The important highlight that must be noted here is that when the respondents were

informed that McDonald’s would be using naturally raised chicken ingredients than a

whopping 39 percent agreed to go and eat chicken at McDonald’s.

Determining impact of Government and Media on consumer’s buying behaviour.

A big majority of 76 percent agreed to have read about various Government campaign

against obesity and Jamie Oliver campaign. A small yet significant number of 15

percent agreed to have changed their outlook towards fast food after these awareness

campaigns. Furthermore, 28 percent have reduced their fast food intake after gaining

awareness from these campaigns.

G) QUESTION: OBESITY DEBATE AND FAST FOOD EATING DECISIONS?

The popular documentary “Super size me”, which 84 percent agreed to have seen had a

strong influence on their outlook towards fast food and out these 84 percent

respondents, 35 percent gave up eating in McDonald’s restaurants.

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H) QUESTION: IMPACT OF SUPER SIZE DOCUMENTARY?

Majority of respondents chose junk food to be the reason for UK being chosen as the

fattest country in Europe.

I) QUESTION: REASON FOR UK BEING CHOSEN AS FATTEST COUNTRY

IN EUROPE?

Majority of the respondents agreed that products associated with McDonald’s are

extremely unhealthy, cheap, tasteless and greasy. Except fruits and salads from its

menu, rest everything else was considered as of worst quality. Consumer are indeed

affected and influenced by ethical issues, obesity debates and documentary message in

recent times.

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CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

As we have seen that the desire or need for fast food products comes impulsively. It is

also proven during our questionnaire that people do not spend any time analysing

whether they should go into a McDonald’s restaurants or not. Consumer attitude

towards McDonald’s is basically due to the limited knowledge they have about fast

food. Also, the knowledge which majority of the consumers have is predominantly

negative which eventually results in negative outlook towards fast food industry. This

research has conclusive evidence that consumer treat McDonald’s food as unhealthy,

cheap, and of worst quality. Eating in McDonald’s restaurant is treated as the last

option and not out of choice, underpinned by the fact that McDonald’s is still perceived

as a typical junk food restaurant.

There are various external factors that have influenced consumer decision making

process which had a direct negative impact on consumer mind, which eventual results in

a behavioural change in consumer attitude and perceptions. One of the major influence

is obesity stigma and debate which is currently doing rounds in various media avenues.

This research report also revealed that consumer’s do not trust McDonald’s, and thereby

resulting in negative consumer decision process for eating in fast food restaurants.

Further into this research report it has been witnessed how McDonald’s is responding to

these changes in consumer behaviour and environment factors. Marketers at

McDonald’s are trying hard to minimize the negative perception by providing

maximum information to its consumers regarding its food line. They are also trying to

regain their consumer trust in its brand equity and attitudes to increase market share and

revenues. As per the PESTLE framework analysis it has been understood that one of

the major drivers of change that might affect the future of fast food industry perception

are obesity debates and various other health related awareness campaigns in UK.

However, McDonald’s have seen it all, it has been battered badly by numerous books

written against its unhealthy food, numerous health experts warnings, wide criticism by

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celebrities, documentaries revealing uglier sides of McDonald’s fast food. Moreover, it

has faced numerous law suits which never succeeded. Though, these factors had huge

impact on its brand image and negative effects on consumer behaviour and attitude.

In a response to such ill publicity, McDonald’s came out with healthier menus, reduced

unnecessary fat from its cooking ingredients, and published its side of story on its

website in response to the Super Size Me documentary. Considering its last years sales

performance it can be easily seen that it has succeeded in its efforts to conserve its brand

equity. Company shares have peaked during last 3 years and share holders are happier

to receive dividends and bonus as well. This has perhaps in fact made McDonald’s

more immune to the allegations against its reputation and made it more stronger than

before after all these years of naming and shaming business. Maybe in another ten year

of period, we might see McDonald’s popular for its organic fresh fruits and Salad menu

just like its current burger and fries popularity.

To conclude this part of research, it can be safely said that there was nothing to explore

with respect to the to consumer behaviour or attitude. Consumer still consider

McDonald’s as unhealthy, greasy and cheap, however, its sales performance signifies its

still available to exceed its selling targets. McDonald’s cannot control consumer’s view

towards its brand, however, what it can do is work toward providing as much

information about its product to its consumer. Finally it can just leave it up to the

consumer to decide whether they would like to trust its quality or not.

5.2 Recommendation

After reading the analysis of the various factors which influences the consumer

behaviour, it is very clear to us that various internal and external factors have diverse

affects on consumer decision making process in regards to fast food industry.

Therefore, we propose the following recommendation to McDonald’s to pursue in its

quest for retaining its consumer trust and confidence.

Since beginning of this research dissertation it is evident that though McDonald’s have

a negative image due to its fast food association, its profits have shown excellent growth

over period of time. However, there are still various areas in which it can improve its

image and brand equity, so as to boost its current sales level and share holders profit.

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McDonald’s can actually offer various options like increasing quality awareness of its

products, promoting active lifestyle through endorsement by celebrity sportsmen,

creating innovative healthier menu corresponding to today’s taste and likeness, redoing

its restaurants and its ambience and hiring celebrity chefs for brand promotion.

During this research, it has come to authors attention that consumer attitude towards

McDonald’s fast food products are always negative and various external and internal

factors are influencing it still further to be negative and unhealthy. Therefore, it become

very important to provide its consumer’s with the necessary nutritional information

about its food content. This can be attempted in various ways. It can persuade its

customer’s to visit its website. As evident from the questionnaire results that a

whopping 61 percent of respondents do not have any desire to visit its website and

therefore, it must provide some kind of incentive for its consumers to visit its website.

It can promote a discount in which the consumer must visit its website to gain a secret

code before availing this discount. This way it will might be able to persuade its

customers to visit its website and offer the necessary information.

Also, the website must be able to engage the consumer who visits it for recording the

secret promotion code. There should be some kind of games or puzzles offering some

more discount vouchers. These applications can be developed using information about

its products and nutritional values.

Also, as per the survey questionnaire, it is evident that a good 34 percent of respondents

are ready to visit McDonald’s restaurants if it informs them that 100 percent beef or

chicken is used in its burgers. Therefore, when a consumer reaches its website,

numerous benefits can be achieved by the company.

Furthermore, interesting fliers and discount coupons can be distributed outside or

nearby its restaurants to connect with non-customers. Also, in the serving tray, it can

publish interesting facts about the nutritional elements of its products, providing a

chance to its consumer to know its nutrition intake thereby gaining consumer trust. It

was evident from the analysis that consumer want to know what s/he is eating and

therefore by offering all these information, McDonald’s would build up a great rapport

with its consumer’s.

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Moreover, as nowadays consumers are demanding quality and healthier food, therefore,

McDonald’s should increase its frequency of launching innovative healthier food items

such as healthier sandwiches, salads. For its popular fries, it should offer an alternative

of oven fries instead of oil fry thereby promoting oil less food items. It can also switch

from offering white bread to a healthier brown bread. This would position them as a

healthier fast food company.

If McDonald’s is able to implement at least 50 percent of the above mentioned

recommendations than the author believes that they will be able to capture more market

share and retain its age old customers as well.

5.3 Areas of further study

Listed below are some of the research areas that can be explored to gain further insight

into this interesting topic of consumer behaviour of fast food industry. Due to words

limitations and time constraints, it was impossible to explore these areas of research and

therefore the author would like the reader to proceed further with these suggested topics

of research.

1. It can be seen that till today, McDonald’s have shunned itself from diversification

into non food related avenues as well as unrelated food options. What would be the

implications if they are explored by this company?

2. Research into the possibility of this assumption “Eventually, and much sooner it will

be a reality that there won’t be any new location available anywhere in the world for

McDonald’s to open new restaurants”, as a share holder what would be its suggestions.

3. Discuss whether the massive size of McDonald’s gives it a powerful retailing

advantage over its competitors? Why or why not?

4. Research about the McDonald’s near and long term potential as market leader and

employer?

5. Explore the possibility whether McDonald’s have indeed reached a saturation point

for its hamburgers market?

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6. Examining the desirability of McDonald’s efforts to insist on the same price (as per

PPP) across countries and continents.

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CHAPTER 8 – APPENDIX

APPENDIX 1

QUESTIONNAIREThe following is a research project conducting by students of MBA and we want to study about the effectiveness of consumer behaviour in fast food industry and how McDonald’s is able to counter this changing environment and consumer behaviour. This research is for academic purpose only. The information will be kept confidential and your name is not required. Your cooperation in completing this questionnaire by responding to the following questions will enrich our understanding and would be greatly appreciated.

A) FOCUS GROUP

Focus group took place at Guildhall library garden on 27 th of November 2011. The

group had participant of all age and background and ethic orientation.

QUESTIONS ASKED DURING FOCUS GROUP

1) Your general view about fast food industry (McDonalds) and its typical products?

a) Food quality/b) Ethical aspects

2) What do you feel about the fast food restaurants and fast food products in general?

3) Reason that drive you to eat in McDonald’s?

4) Have you heard about the current obesity issue in UK (e.g. the government anti-

obesity policy/Jamie Oliver campaign etc.), and does it have any affect on you?

5) Should there be a regulation on these fast food companies?

6) Are these fast food companies responsible for rising obesity in UK?

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APPENDIX 2

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Select gender

Male/Female

2. Select age:

Under 15/16-25/26-35/36-45/Over 46

3. Frequency of visiting McDonald’s?

Every day/3 times a week/Once a week/3 times a month/Once every month/I don’t eat

fast food

4. Using a scale of 1 to 7 (1 being worst quality and 7 as best quality) value nutrition of

McDonalds’ products?

Beef Burgers/Vegetable burgers/ Salads/Fruit/Pies/Chicken Sandwiches/McDonald’s

MacNugget’s/ Fries.

5. Did you ever see a list of nutrition facts in a McDonald’s restaurant?

Yes/No

6. If yes, than do you trust it?

Yes/No

7. Do you agree to the fact that McDonald’s put chemicals in their food? (for improving

the taste and/or texture)

Yes/No

8. Do you agree to the claim of McDonald’s about using fresh ingredients, Please mark

on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 is as least agreeable).

9. If McDonald’s uses 100% lean beef or chicken in its burgers, fresh vegetables and

apples etc. would that motivate you to visit its restaurants more often?

Yes/No

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10. Have you ever visited official McDonald’s Website?

Yes/No

11. If yes, was it appealing and/or useful?

Yes/No

12. If you haven’t, do you intend in the future?

Yes/No

13. What make you eat at McDonald’s?

Nothing else but dying of hunger/Simply a convenient option/It offers great value for

money and health/Because I love its burgers taste/I have never been to McDonald’s

14. Are you aware of the ethical issues (animal welfare etc) in McDonald’s ingredients?

Very familiar/Quite familiar/Don’t know what that is

15. Does the ethical issue bothers you while eating chicken sandwich at McDonald’s?

Yes it does/Yes it does, but I eat my chicken/It doesn’t bother me/I don’t eat chicken

16. If you were told that McDonald’s uses 100% naturally raised chicken meat than would it motivate you to eat chicken more often?Yes/No

18. Have you heard of the obesity campaigns in UK?Yes/No

19. Does these debates have any effect on your perception about fast food industry?Yes, now I think differently about fast food and don’t eat anymore/Yes, but I still got to eat but not as often as before/No, it didn’t affect me in any way/I never use to eat in such restaurants

20. Have you seen the documentary about McDonalds “Super Size Me”?Yes/No 21. After watching it does it stop you from going to McDonald’s?Yes indeed/Yes, for while, but now I go as often as before/Not at all

22. What do you think is the reason for UK being chosen as the fattest country in Europe. Busier lifestyle/Sedentary lifestyle/Lack of education/Eating too much “junk food”

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APPENDIX 3Using a scale of 1 to 7 (1 being worst quality and 7 as best quality) value nutrition of

McDonald’s products?

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