Ch. 6 - Consumer Decision Making

 

It is very important to understand consumers needs and wants and acknowledge how the individuals make purchase decisions. Consumer behavior plays such a large role in the success of Mc Donald's around the world. Mc Donald's is the leading worldwide burger retailer and food service retailer. The company states that they have sold over 100 billion hamburgers and continuing to sell "more than 75 hamburgers per second, of every minute, of every hour, of every day of every year.

 

How can they be so universalized? Why do people choose to spend their money and time at Mc Donald's? What do they buy? When do they buy? How do they buy? In this post, I want to thoroughly explore the consumers decision making process regarding Mc Donald's.
1. Need recognition
Brand recognition is almost the highest achievement in marketing. Mc Donald's remind the customers through mass media advertisements including television, radio, and newspaper ads, the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the Olympic Games.

 

2. Information search
Mc Donald's is one of the first restaurant companies in the world to bring the calories data to their customers. Recently, McDonald’s has been launching a new global packaging design which incorporates QR codes to give consumers nutritional information about their food. Consumers can conveniently scan the QR codes through Smartphone to receive the nutritional facts anytime anywhere they want.
 
 
3. Evaluation of alternatives and purchase
McDonald's the most competitive strategy is that the buyer has a number of McDonalds in the area he/she could probably go to. Also, systematized food preparation methods ensuring standardized quality to satisfy those recurring customers. At last but not least, the reasonable price with perceived value plays significant role in customers decision making to finish purchasing.

4. Post purchase behavior
Mc Donald's customer satisfaction ranking is shocking. According to survey done by American Consumer Satisfaction Index, Mc Donald's earned the worst ranking since 2010. It is obvious to find that not all Mc Donald's consumers are "Lovin' it". But the company is still top-ranking franchise serving 68 million people daily.

Personally, I think, the company is dominant within its industry for a long time. As we know, burgers and hot dogs are "Cultural" menus for American, especially for Generation Y who grown up with eating Mc Donald's. Also, the company offers the most competitive price to the market. Since the value is a bigger lever than the quality, consumer satisfaction doesn't necessarily have to matter quite as much.
 

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