1. European Business School London
BABM DISSERTATION
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
What factors are currently influencing the consumer decision-
making process in the fast food restaurant industry in the UK, and
how is McDonalds responding to changing environment and
consumer behaviour?
Rok Zerjal
Tutor: Richard Mannix
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2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing and putting together this dissertation has been both exiting and challenging. Indeed, I
have been able to work on really interesting topic- consumer behaviour.
In twelve weeks time that we have been given to write this dissertation have been very
intensive, to some extend exhaustive as well, and have taught me how to deal with a great
amount of information and work within limited period of time.
I have now completed my dissertation of Business and Management degree program at the
European Business School London, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank a few
persons in for their direct or indirect contribution to my work.
Firstly, I would like to thank my tutor Mr. Richard Mannix, Subject Leader Marketing EBSL,
who has been indeed extremely supportive and understanding whilst I was progressing
through my work. Without him I believe that I would not be able to write my dissertation in
the way it has been written.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, my dad who has provided me with some ideas, and
my mom, who has contributed with her thoughts while deciding upon my dissertation topic,
as well as I am thankful for her support and patience during the past weeks.
Rok Zerjal
London 4th of December 2006
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3. TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Consumer behaviour 1
1.2. Fast food VS Junk Food 1
1.3 Obesity in the UK 2
1.4 Fast food industry in the UK 2
1.5 McDonald's Corporation background 3
1.6 Research question 4
1.7. Plan of the dissertation 5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6
2.1 Consumer decision-making process 6
2.2 Consumer attitude formation and change 8
2.3 The marketing mix 9
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 12
3.1 Research philosophy 12
3.2 Research approach 12
3.3 The purpose of the research 12
3.4 The research strategy 13
3.5 Data collection techniques and analysis procedures 13
3.6 Sample selection 14
3.7 Data collection 15
3.7.1 Group interviews- focus groups 15
3.7.2 Questionnaire 16
3.8 Models employed in dissertation 17
3.8.1 Consumer decision-making process 17
3.8.2 Tri-component Attitude Model 18
3.8.3 Hierarchy of Effects Concept 19
3.8.4 PEST Framework 20
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4. 3.8.5 Ansoff’s product/market matrix 21
CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS
5.1 External analysis 22
5.1.1 Fast food industry in the UK- overview 22
5.1.2 PEST Framework 24
5.1.2.1 Political / Legal conditions 24
5.1.2.2 Socio-cultural conditions 26
5.1.2.3 Key drivers of change: 27
5.2 Key factors influencing the consumer 29
decision-making process
5.2.1 Focus group (analysis of key points) 29
5.2.2 Questionnaire (analysis of findings) 29
CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS 44
5.1 Option description and evaluation 45
5.1.1 Option 1: Increase awareness of the 45
quality of McDonalds’ products
5.1.2 Option 2: Introduction of new healthier 47
menus along with refurbishment of restaurants
5.2 Implementation plan 48
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION 50
BIBLIOGRAPHY 52
APPENDIX A 56
APPENDIX B 57
APPENDIX C 62
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5. LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Market share in UK (2004) 3
Figure 3.1: Consumer-decision making process 17
Figure 3.2: Tricomponent Attitude model 18
Figure 3.3: The low-involvement hierarchy 19
Figure 3.4: PEST Framework 21
Figure 3.5: Ansoff’s product/market matrix 21
Figure 5.1: United Kingdom Fast Food Market Value 22
Figure 5.2: United Kingdom Fast Food Market Value 23
Figure 5.3: Expenditure on eating out by sector 23
Figure 5.4: Market share in UK (2004) 24
Figure 5.5: question 3 36
Figure 5.6: question 7 37
Figure 5.7: question 8 37
Figure 5.8 question 11 38
Figure 5.9: question 12 39
Figure 5.10 question 14 40
Figure 5.11 question 18 41
Figure 5.12 question 20 42
Figure 5.13: question 22 43
Figure 5.1 Options for McDonalds illustrated 44
in Ansoff’s matrix
Table 5.2: Gantt chart for 2007 49
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6. FORWARD
Having studied in United States (San Francisco) gave me the opportunity to experience the
eating habits of the “fast food nation” and the passion of the fast food myself. In those four
months of studying in San Francisco, I have gained 7 kilograms. At that point I began
questioning my self the importance of healthy diet and how nutritious in fact fast food is?
In the UK today, there is virtually no week that passes by without hearing any news regarding
obesity, health concerns and dietary issues, be it in newspapers or on TV news. That was my
primary motivation, along with studying in the US, that pushed me towards understanding the
process which impacts on us consumers, whether we will go and eat burgers or not.
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7. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The aim of this dissertation is to investigate the factors that are influencing consumer
decision-making process in relation to fast food restaurant industry in the UK. It further aims
to examine how is McDonalds responding to changing environment and consumer behaviour.
This is important and at the same time interesting to observe such topic, because of the high-
profile political and public debate on obesity and other health issues that is UK currently
facing.
A better understanding of the background and problems related to the fast food issue and
context of decision-making process is first obtained via literature review, where various
academic journals were examined. Afterwards the qualitative focus group was conducted with
an aim to explore and gauge consumer attitudes towards fast food and McDonalds. Key
themes from focus group formed questions for the questionnaire. This quantitative survey was
then used to gauge whether the views of the respondents from focus group were
representative of a larger group.
In order to examine the context in which McDonalds is evolving, with addition to identify the
key drivers of change that might influence fast food industry in the future, PEST framework
was applied. Changing consumer lifestyle and Government interference were highlighted as
two potential drivers of change.
Key themes from focus group were quality of fast food, ethical aspects (animal welfare), trust
towards McDonalds and impact of media and Government on consumer behaviour. These
themes were then tested to a larger group using questionnaires. Respondents associated
McDonalds and its products with adjectives such as unhealthy, cheap, tasty and fatty. They
‘ranked’ their food (with exception of salads and fruit) as of the worst quality. 25% of
respondents claimed that ethical issue regarding chicken bothers them and that is the reason
they don’t eat chicken in McDonalds. Moreover 28% of those who were familiar with current
high public obesity debates in the UK issue it affected them in such way that they now eat less
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8. fast food as they used to. 35% of respondents claimed that ever since they saw the
documentary “Super Size Me” they don’t eat in McDonalds anymore.
Most purchases of fast food occurred as a result of impulse decision-making.
Since consumer’s knowledge/information acquired regarding fast food are mostly negative, as
a result their attitudes are also negative. There are also external influences that have negative
impact on consumer decision-making process i.e. current high public obesity debates in the
UK. McDonalds is responding on changes in environment and consumer behaviour by
introducing healthier menus. Consumers do not trust McDonalds, which also negatively
impact on their decision-making process. All factors above contribute towards risk perception
that consumers have with McDonalds food. Marketers at McDonalds try to reduce perceived
risk by providing consumers with information regarding their food. That is also author’s
proposed recommendation- to increase awareness of the quality of McDonalds’ products and
hence reduce consumers perceived risk and increase their trust with McDonalds brand.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
8

9. This chapter will give the reader a clear statement of the research question and the problem
statement that will be addressed in this research. Moreover, the background information on
definitions of key terms and the chosen organisation will be presented. Finally, the ‘route
map’ will be illustrated in order to guide the reader to the rest of the report.
1.1 Consumer behaviour
Referring to Solomon (2006, p.27) consumer behaviour is the study of the processes involved
when individuals or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services, idea or
experiences. Consumer behaviour focuses on how individuals make decisions to spend their
available resources on consumption related items. 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, p.8)
1.1.2 Consumer attitudes
According to Ajzen (1998) the attitudes are the first determinant of behaviour intention. In
consumer behaviour context attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently
favourable or unfavourable way with respect of a given object. There is a general agreement
that attitudes are learned. This means that attitudes relevant to purchase behaviour are formed
as a result of direct experience with the product, word-of-mouth information acquired from
others, or exposure to mass media advertising. Internet etc. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004,
p.253) As learned predispositions, attitudes may propel consumer towards particular
behaviour or repel the consumer away from particular behaviour. . (Schiffman and Kanuk,
2004, p.253)
1.2. Fast food VS Junk Food
Fast food is regarded as “food, as hamburgers, pizza, or fried chicken, that is prepared in
quantity by a standardized method and can be dispensed quickly at inexpensive restaurants for
eating there or elsewhere”. (dictionary.com, 2006)
Junk food is regarded as “food such as potato chips, sweets and doughnuts, which is mass-
produced and is of low nutritional value”. (dictionary.com, 2006)
Often the term junk food is used to describe fast food. Just recently, the debate has been going
on whether the term junk food (to describe fast food) is in fact justified. Author of article
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10. argues that the "junk food" tag seem to be applied selectively, and often to food outlets in
urban and suburban areas but not to those in leafier parts. Hence, he points out that the term
"junk" has become a way of disapproving of certain foods. (O’Neill, 2006)
1.3 Obesity in the UK
The most recent research has shown that being overweight or obese is now the norm in the
UK, with figures released by the government showing that two- thirds of men and almost 60%
of women are unhealthily heavy. (Boseley, 2006) Furthermore UK has the highest level of
obesity in Europe. (Datamonitor, 2006) According to a report issued by the Department of
Health, the findings for ‘Forecasting obesity in 2010’ were grotesque. Within four years, it
predicts, a third of all adults in UK (13 million people) will be obese. So will 1million
children. (Marrin, 2006)
1.4 Fast food industry in the UK
Definition of the fast food industry:
The fast food industry is defined as the sale of food and drinks for immediate consumption
either on the premises or in designated eating areas shared with other foodservice operators,
or for consumption elsewhere.
Fast food outlets are specialised in burgers, bakery products, chicken, ice cream, fish and
pizza. (Datamonitor, 2006)
In spite of consumer concerns of fast food being linked with problems such as obesity,
diabetes, heart conditions, food poisoning and scares and unethical advertising, the UK fast
food industry has enjoyed remarkable growth in recent years.
In terms of per capita expenditure, between 2000 and 2005, the fast food outlets have been
growing at the fastest pace within the consumer food service sector. (Euromonitor, 2006b)
1.5 McDonald's Corporation background
McDonald's Corporation was the leading fast food outlet in the UK in 2004, with an 18.3%
value share and a clear lead over its nearest rivals KFC (owned by Yum Brands) and Burger
King. (Euromonitor, 2006b)
Figure 1.1: Market share in UK (2004)
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11. Name of the company Market share (%)
McDonald's Corp 18.3
Yum! Brands Inc 8.4
Burger King Corp 8.3
Pret a Manger Europe Ltd 1.4
Compass Group Plc 1.2
Nando's Group Holdings Ltd 0.8
Source: Euromonitor, 2006b
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. (MarketLine, 2006)
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. (Datamonitor, 2006)
McDonalds currently operates in more than 1,316 restaurants throughout the UK. Its profits
grew by 55% in 2004. (Euromonitor , 2006b)
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 loosing 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 (October 13th 2006) it 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, 2006)
1.6 Research question
What factors are currently influencing the consumer decision-making process in the fast
food restaurant industry in the UK, and how is McDonalds responding to changing
environment and consumer behaviour?
11

12. The research question can be further divided into three sub sections in order to clarify the
objectives of the research.
A. In order to present the context in which McDonalds is evolving
o The PEST Framework will be applied to identify the key drivers of change that
may have an impact on the industry in the future.
B. With the aim of identifying the factors that are influencing consumer purchasing
decisions in relation to fast food products:
o The Consumer Decision-Making Process will be examined, in particular the
psychological field- focusing specifically on consumers’ attitudes towards fast
food and McDonalds. In addition the socio-cultural environment, as external
factors that have impact on consumers’ decisions will be investigated.
C. Corporate responses on above changes:
o How is McDonalds responding on the changes with respect to its marketing
mix and communication strategy? The dissertation also seeks to propose a set
of recommendations for future actions by the company.
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13. 1.7. Plan of the dissertation
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will give the reader a clear statement of the research question and the problem statement that will be addressed
in this research. Moreover, the background information on definitions of key terms and the chosen organisation will be
presented. Finally, the ‘route map’ will be illustrated in order to guide the reader to the rest of the report.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter sets the study within its wider context and show the reader how this study supplements the work that has
already been done on chosen topic. Therefore it identifies, analyses, compares and contrasts views and theories of other
writers in relation to the research topic. It also provides the stepping-stone towards the methodology chapter of the
dissertation.
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter the research design and the research methodology employed to answer the research question will be
explained and justified. In addition, it provides the reader with a clear description of models and concept used for the
analysis.
FINDINGS
This chapter will provide a reader with detailed presentation of facts and data obtained using tools described in research
methodology, leaving out discussion for the final chapter. In order to communicate findings clearly, author decided to brake
down this chapter into to parts. Firstly, the external analysis will be applied, in order to provide a reader with the context in
which McDonalds is evolving. And secondly, the key factors influencing the consumer decision-making process will be
analysed/explored.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In this chapter a set of proposed recommendations as well as supporting analysis of the options for McDonalds will be
depicted. In addition the implementation plan to support the key recommendation, including description of resources
required will be illustrated.
CONCLUSION
In this chapter author will conclude his research with how the research question has been solved. In addition a brief re-cap
of the whole dissertation will be provided.
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14. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter sets the study within its wider context and show the reader how this study
supplements the work that has already been done on chosen topic. Therefore it identifies,
analyses, compares and contrasts views and theories of other writers in relation to the
research topic. It also provides the stepping-stone towards the methodology chapter of the
dissertation.
The following literature review will critically analyse the theories associated with the research
topic. Firstly, it looks at the issues of consumer behaviour; hence it highlights the factors,
which influence the consumer decision-making process, predominantly the consumer
attitudes. The author has found a variety of academic articles, some of which focus on food
industry and public trust in food safety. Other articles examine more generally models of
consumer attitude formation, which might be useful applied to the research question in this
dissertation.
While the first section focuses on the aspects of consumer behaviour, the second part of the
review, as already outlined in the introduction section of dissertation, observes the marketing
issues, particularly the marketing communication strategy within the marketing mix.
Furthermore this review will contribute towards creation of possible marketing strategies as
well as recommendations that McDonalds might pursue in order to respond on changing
environment and consumer behaviour.
Therefore the following theories from consumer behaviour and marketing have been outlined:
 Consumer decision-making process
 Consumer attitude formation and change
 The marketing mix
2.1 Consumer decision-making process
The consumer decision to purchase or not to purchase the product is crucial for marketers. It
can signify whether the marketing strategy has been wise, insightful, and effective, or whether
was poorly planned and missed the mark. Hence marketers are particularly interested in such
process. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004, p.581)
Verbeke (2005) recognizes that at any point in time throughout the decision-making process,
judgements and choices are affected by a variety of stimuli from environment as well as by
internal process and characteristics form the consumers themselves. Based on earliest
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15. presented models of consumer behaviour towards food (Pilgrim, 1957, cited by Verbeke,
2005) and on a review of factors affecting food acceptance and behaviour (Shepherd, 1990,
Steenkamp, 1997, cited by Verbeke, 2005) proposed a classification with three types of
influencing factors: environmental factors, person-related factors and properties of the food.
Jobbers (1995) identifies the concept of influences on consumer purchasing behaviour among
which he points out the level of purchase involvement as one of the factors that influences the
consumer decision-making process. Referring to Kim (2005) who was investigating how
product involvement and values interact with consumers, more current research examines
consumer involvement under working assumptions that different types of product
involvement trigger different behaviour. In the research conducted by Schroeder and
McEachern (2005), who were analysing the impact of McDonald’s and KFC’s corporate
social responsibility (CSR) on consumers purchasing behaviour, authors propose that
purchases of fast food are mostly impulsive, hence suggesting relatively low-involvement in
each case.
Brown, McIlveen and Struggnel (2000) examined the nutritional awareness and food
preferences among young consumers. They suggest that young consumer decisions regarding
food preferences are influenced by nutritional awareness knowledge. This knowledge is
acquired within the home, school and social environments. They also put forward that
education plays important role regarding healthy eating.
Lye et al. (2005), in their study of consumer decision models, advocate that the complexity of
consumer decisions is increasing. “We have limited understanding of the decision process and
the models are inadequate at predicting decision outcomes”. Hence the current models, they
argue, are out of date and insufficient in providing the desired outcome.
Nevertheless, the decision-making process model will provide the author and the reader with
general overview and understanding of factors influencing on consumers purchasing
behaviour.
Author will attempt to identify and focus, along with the attitudes, on the socio-cultural part
of the consumer decision-making process, i.e. impact of communication and information from
mass media (bad publicity of fast food), as it appears that this is the most recent issue due to
health concerns in the UK.
2.2 Consumer attitude formation and change
15

16. For Nielsen, Jongen and Meulenberg (1998, cited by Verbeke 2005) understanding of the
factors that determine consumer perception/attitudes of a product’s value or cost is of crucial
importance to an industry’s product innovation, choice of marketing and communication
strategy and maintenance of competitive advantage.
According to Ajzen (1998) the attitudes are the first determinant of behaviour intention. In
consumer behaviour context attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently
favourable or unfavourable way with respect of a given object. Most researchers agree that
attitudes consist of three components: Affect (consumers’ emotions and feelings about the
attitude object), Behaviour (intention to do something with regard to an attitude object) and
Cognition (believes a consumer has with an attitude object). (Solomon et al., 2006, p.140)
For Verbeke (2005), who examined the influences on consumer decision-making process
towards fresh meat, the hierarchy of effects indicates the different mental stages that
consumer must go through when making buying decision and responding to marketing or
non-commercial messages. In our instance, where the attitude object is fast food, plus taking
into account that fast food is considered to be low involvement product, the low involvement
hierarchy of effects would occur. This will be explained in more details in the next chapter-
methodology.
As mentioned on previous page, knowledge and perceptions (cognitive component) of an
attitude that consumer has with an attitude object plays important/initial role by the attitude
itself. Baltas (2001, cited by Schroeder and McEachern 2005) acknowledge that the nature of
fast food production and processing is becoming more important to consumer. Furthermore
Harper and Makatouni (2002, cited by Schroeder and McEachern 2005) note that ethical
production in terms of animal and human welfare and environmental protection are of greatest
importance. Similarly Mohr et al. (2001, cited by cited by Schroeder and McEachern 2005)
recognize that information regarding firm’s ethical behaviour is thought to influence product
sales and consumers’ overall image of a company. Additionally Verbeke (2005) recognizes
that along with increasing importance of quality, organoleptic and sensory properties of the
food, issues relating to food safety and human health have gained considerable attention and
importance. All above links well to attitudes that consumers will have with fast food products
and companies.
Attitude can form in several different ways, depending on particular hierarchy of effects in
operation. (Solomon et al., 2006 p.145) Referring to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004 p.256), the
formation of consumer attitudes is strongly influenced by personal experience, the influence
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17. of family and friends, direct marketing and mass media. Yet again author will attempt to link
the current health concerns/obesity issues to above factors that have direct impact on attitudes
formation. Goldsmith, Freiden and Henderson (1997) who investigated the impact of social
values on food related attitudes, recognize that marketers, consumer psychologists and public
policy makers have an interest in the personal and social values of consumers as these deeply
held feelings of what is important in life influence both consumer attitudes and behaviour.
Reflecting desired end states or ways of living, values might in part represent some of the
fundamental motives that drive and direct the consumer behaviour. Furthermore Homer and
Kahle 1988, cited by Goldsmith, Freiden and Henderson (1997) suggest that the influence of
values may not be limited just to high- involvement areas, but may also be relevant to less
involving product fields such as food.
Besides the values, which influence both consumer attitudes and behaviour, Schiffman and
Kanuk (2004 p.256) acknowledge that formation of consumer attitudes is strongly influenced
by personal experience, the influence of family and friends, direct marketing and mass media.
Author will try to connect the current health concerns/obesity issues to above factors that have
direct impact on attitudes formation.
Finally, the importance of risk perception needs to be explained. Verdume and Viaene (2003)
investigated consumers’ beliefs, attitudes and purchase intentions with regards to genetically
modified food. Attitudes towards GM food are determined by perception of risk and benefits.
(Grunet, 2001, cited by Verdume and Viaene, 2003). When perceived risk is high, that
influence negatively on consumer’s purchase intention. That might be linked to fast food as
well, as eating fatty food may be risky of suffering obese related diseases.
2.3 The marketing mix
The concept of the marketing mix as the combination of the major tools of marketing was first
developed by Borden in the 1950s. The idea of 4Ps (Product, Place, Price and Promotion) was
later formulated by McCarthy in 1975. The marketing mix creates an offering for the
customer. Marketers need to ensure that the marketing mix meets their customers’ needs and
wants in addition to that all of its components need to be consistent with each other. If not
costumers will turn away to its competitors. (Brassington, 2006 p.30)
Vignali (2001) acknowledges that for many years 4Ps have been used as the principal
foundation on which a marketing plan is based. However, with particular attention being paid
to services marketing in recent years, theorists have identified additional variables, which
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18. could be added to the 4Ps. Fifield and Gilligan (1996, cited by Vignali 2001) recognized the
following variables as an integral part of the marketing mix- process, physical and people.
Vignali (2001) applied 7Ps analysing the marketing mix of McDonald’s in the following way:
1. Product – features, quality, quantity.
2. Place – location, number of outlets.
3. Price – strategy, determinants, levels.
4. Promotion – advertising, sales promotion, public relations.
5. People – quantity, quality, training, promotion.
6. Process – blueprinting, automation, control procedures.
7. Physical – cleanliness, decor, ambience of the service.
In this dissertation, however, the author will not focus on all 7Ps; the emphasis will be on
product, promotion and physical as this links logically with the research question/objectives.
If we look further into the promotion part of the marketing mix, the promotional mix is a
direct way in which an organization attempts to communicate with various target audiences. It
consists of five main elements:
 Advertising
 Public relations
 Sales promotion
 Direct marketing
 Personal selling
(Brassington, 2006 p.630)
As mentioned earlier fast food products are purchased mainly impulsively, hence they are
considered to be low involvement products. Laurent and Kapferer (1985 cited by Kim 2005)
recognize that the degree of consumer involvement in a product category has become a major
factor relevant to advertising and promoting strategies. Solomon et al. (2006) suggests that
this might be involvement paradox; the less important is the product to consumers, the more
important are many of the marketing stimuli (e.g. packages, jingles) that must be devised to
sell it.
Taking above statements into account, McDonald’s might want to employ advertising and
sales promotions, in order to attempt to change consumer attitudes. Having said that author
will focus therefore primarily on advertising and promotion of the promotional mix.
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19. CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this chapter the research design and the research methodology employed to answer the
research question will be explained and justified. In addition, it provides the reader with a
clear description of models and concept used for the analysis.
3.1 Research philosophy
Referring to Saunders et al., (2007, p.106) in order to underpin the research strategy and the
methods as part of that chosen strategy, it is important to understand the research philosophy
one adopts. Within research philosophy author chose interpretivism, as it advocates that is
necessary for the researcher to understand the differences between humans in our roles as
social actors. This emphasizes the difference between conducting the research among people
rather than objects. The role ‘social actors’ plays significant role here. Saunders et al., (2007,
p.106) Author believes that interpretivism is more appropriate that positivism philosophy as
consumer behaviour differs form country to country. Furthermore it interpretivism seeks to
explain why human beings react and behave in the way they do.
3.2 Research approach
In this dissertation author will start with collecting the data first and then the theory will be
developed, based on results of the data analysis. Moreover the research will be particularly
concerned with the context in which such events were taking place. Author is predominantly
interesting in understanding why something is happening, rather than being able to explain
what is happening. (Saunders et al., 2007, p.118) These are the reasons why this research will
be undertaken inductively and not deductively. Deductive approach is used for scientific
researches and it involves the development of a theory that is subject to a rigorous test.
(Saunders et al., 2007, p.118)
3.3 The purpose of the research
According to Saunders et al., (2007, p.133) exploratory study is a valuable means of finding
out what is happening, to seek new insights, to ask questions and to assess phenomena in new
light.
The emphasis by explanatory study is on studying a situation or a problem in order to explain
the relationships between variables.
19

20. In the first part of this dissertation, the research purpose will be exploratory and explanatory
because the aim of the research is to explore consumer attitudes and factors that influence the
consumer decision-making process in the fast food industry. The purpose of the second part
of dissertation, however, is to elucidate McDonalds potential responses on changing
environment and consumer behaviour. From the analysis of the market and consumer
behaviour author will seek to apply established business models such as marketing mix in
order to generate a set of practical recommendations for McDonalds business.
3.4 The research strategy
Strategy used in this dissertation involves the empirical investigation of a particular
contemporary phenomenon within its real life context using multiple sources of evidence.
Moreover it is of author interest to gain a rich understanding of the context of the research and
the process being enacted. On account of these factors the chosen strategy will be the case
study. The case study has also considerable ability to generate answer to question “why”,
which appears to be appropriate for the research question (Saunders et al., 2007, p.139)
3.5 Data collection techniques and analysis procedures
To achieve the research aims, a mixed-methods data collection technique was adopted where
both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques and analysis procedures are used.
(Saunders 2007, p.147)
Saunders (2007 p.147) justifies the adoption of a mixed-method to achieve an in-depth insight
in consumer behaviour. Another advantage of using such approach is that it enables
triangulation to take place. For instance focus groups may be a valuable way of triangulating
data collected by other means such as questioners. Baker and Goodyear (1998, cited by
Verdurme and Viaene 2003) recognise that interactive qualitative approach enables us to
explore and to see particular issues (in our instance fast food) through consumers’ eyes and to
understand the basis for their attitudes and behaviour. Qualitative results are sometimes
speculative and usually not generalisable to the larger population. Nancarrow et al., 2000,
cited by Verdurme and Viaene 2003) Author therefore intends to conduct a qualitative survey
to attempt to gauge whether the views of the respondents in the focus group were
representative of a larger population.
Taking above facts into consideration author decided, firstly, to carry out the qualitative focus
group, and secondly use its outcome to formulate questions for the questionnaire.
20

21. 3.6 Sample selection
In this research the probability of each case being selected form the population is not known
and it is impossible to answer research question or to address objectives require author to
make statistical inferences about the characteristics of population. For that reason, Saunders
(2007 p.207) suggests applying non-probability or judgemental sampling technique.
Nevertheless, author will still be able to generalize from such technique, though, not on
statistical grounds. For this reason non-probability sampling technique is more frequently
used when adopting the case study strategy. Moreover such technique provide author with
opportunity to select sample purposively. (Saunders, 2007 p.235)
The chosen sample for the focus group were undergraduate students form European Business
School London in the UK. Three out of seven participants were British citizens, remaining
four were international students, however, they have been living in the UK for 3-4 years.
Kraus (1995, cited by Schroeder and McEachern, 2005) support the use of students since they
are more homogeneous as a group than non-students, thus resulting in less “extraneous
variation”. As a key target market of the UK fast food sector is between 17-25 years, a
convenience sample of students is justified for this exploratory study. Author realizes that
socio-economic status of some EBS students for the focus group might not be the same as one
of typical fast food consumer. However, participants eat in such restaurants and are therefore
appropriate for this study.
Since there is nearly impossible to distribute over 100 questionnaires physically in such a
short time, author decided to distribute questionnaires to students via email. Author acquired
approximately 140 British email addresses that he got from a person who lives in London.
The questionnaires were sent then to people around the UK.
3.7 Data collection
In this study, both primary and secondary data sources were used. Firstly, for a better
understanding of the background and problems related to the context of the consumer
decision-making, the literature review was written based on secondary data collection. Then
21

22. the primary data was gathered using qualitative focus group, which were then quantitatively
validated through questionnaires.
Secondary data sources used in this dissertation include books, library databases, periodicals,
McDonalds web site and other Internet sources. For collecting primary data sources, author
used firstly focus group and secondly questionnaire.
3.7.1 Group interviews- focus groups
This qualitative data collection technique was employed in order to get better understanding
in consumer behaviour. Participants in the focus group tend to express views that might not
express in other settings, or if interviewed as individuals. (gwbweb.wustl.edu, 2006,
unattributed) With focus group individual group members’ interactions and responses are
both encouraged and more closely controlled to maintain the focus. (Saunders, 2007, p.339)
As explained earlier by the sample selection, participants (students) are selected because they
have certain characteristics in common that relate to the topic being discussed and they are
encouraged to discuss and share their points of view without any pressure to reach a
consensus. (Kruger and Casey, 2000, cited by Saunders, 2007, p.340) Furthermore the aim is
to crate conditions that promote both comfort and independence of thought, in order to
maximize discussion and self-disclosure. (gwbweb.wustl.edu, 2006, unattributed)
For questions discussed during focus group and other detailed information, please refer to
Appendix A.
When designing questions for focus group author focused primarily on two things; firstly on
exploring consumers’ attitudes towards fast food, and secondly identifying impacts from
external environment which might influence the consumer decision-making process regarding
fast food. Having said that knowledge and perception about fast food will be examined, and
what kind of experience and beliefs participants have with such restaurants and products.
Then their emotions and feelings towards fast food will be explored. Additionally the possible
impact of current anti-obesity campaigns and regulations on participant’s decision-making
process will be examined.
3.7.2 Questionnaire
22

23. Since the participants in focus group were not randomly selected from the population, the
author cannot freely generalize from the results. Hence qualitative data obtained by focus
group will inform the content of the questionnaire and will be tested to a larger group.
According to Saunders (2007, p.356) a questionnaire to discover consumers’ attitudes can be
complemented by focus groups to explore and understand these attitudes. Author decided to
use questionnaires that are completed by respondents, i.e. self-administrative questionnaires
(internet-mediated questionnaires). More specifically author selected special on-line surveys
(www.freeonlinesurveys.com) due to time restrictions and convenience reasons. In order to
ensure the high response rate, Saunders (2007 p.390) suggests use of covering email, which
explains the purpose of the study. The aim of my study was explained in the introduction part
of questionnaire, attached to actual questions.
The key issues/themes identified from focus group were used as a basis to construct closed-
end questions or forced-choice questions. These provide a number of alternative answers from
which respondent is instructed to choose. More specifically author used mainly category,
ranking and list type of closed questions. (Saunders, 2007 p.368) Moreover by designing
questions, for instance question number 4, the tricomponent attitude model was incorporated,
to gauge consumers’ attitudes toward fast food products. (Shiffman and Kanuk, 2004, p.258)
Answering categories given in the questionnaires were also based on the preliminary
qualitative research- focus group. Key themes from focus group (quality of fast food, ethical
aspects, trust towards McDonalds, impact of media and government on consumer behaviour),
formed questions for questionnaire and were further examined and tested to larger group.
Saunders (2007, p.386) encourages pilot test prior using the questionnaire to collect data.
Author sent questionnaire to few individuals before sending it to larger population, in order to
ensure that all questions are clear. For more information regarding actual questionnaire that
was sent to participant, please refer to appendix B.
23

24. 3.8 Models employed in dissertation
3.8.1 Consumer decision-making process
Many consumer theories regarding the consumer behaviour were based on economic theory
on the notion that individuals at rationally to maximize their benefits/satisfaction in the
purchase of goods and services. Later research discovered that consumers are just as likely to
purchase impulsively and to be influenced not only by family, friends, and advertisers but also
by mood, situation and emotion. All of these factors combine to form a comprehensive model
of consumer behaviour that reflects both the cognitive and emotional aspects of consumer
decision-making. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004, p.19)
In this simplified model (Figure 3.1) of consumer decision-making process Schiffman and
Kanuk (2004) identified three distinct but linked stages from which the process of consumer
decision-making can be viewed. It ties together the psychological, social and cultural concept
into easily understood framework.
Figure 3.1: Consumer-decision making process
Source: Schiffman and Kanuk (2004)
24

25. This model will provide author and reader with a starting point and general picture of what
kind of factors have impact on consumer decision-making process.
Despite some critiques, which imply that these models are out of date and inadequate at
predicting decision outcomes, author decided to use it merely to clarify and illustrate rather
complex process of the decision-making.
3.8.2 Tri-component Attitude Model
According to tri-component attitude model, attitudes consist of three major components:
 Cognitive component- knowledge, perceptions and beliefs that are acquired by a
combination of direct experience with an attitude object and related information from
various sources.
 Affective component- emotions and feelings that consumer have towards an attitude
object
 Conative component- is concerned with the likehood or tendency that consumer will
undertake a specific action or behave in a specific way with regard to the attitude
object
Schiffman and Kanuk (2004 p.256)
Figure 3.2: Tricomponent Attitude model
Source: Schiffman and Kanuk (2004)
25

26. This model emphasizes the interrelationships between knowing, feeling and doing.
The tri-component attitude model will assist author to structure questions for focus group and
questionnaire, as it helps to explore and gauge consumers’ attitudes towards attitude object-
fast food. When such model applied to the questions, the outcome might give author greater
insight regarding knowledge and perceptions (about the fast food), emotions or feelings
(toward the fast food) and finally likelihood or tendency (of certain behaviour).
3.8.3 Hierarchy of Effects Concept
While all three components of an attitude are important, their relative importance will vary
depending upon a consumer’s level of motivation with regard to the attitude object. Thus the
concept of hierarchy of effects was developed in order to explain the relative impact of the
three components. Attitude researchers traditionally assumed that attitudes were
predetermined sequence, consisting first of the formation of beliefs (cognitions) regarding an
attitude object, followed by an evaluation of that object (affect) and then some action
(behaviour). However, depending in the consumer’s level of involvement and the
circumstances, attitudes can result from other hierarchies of effects. (Solomon et al., 2006,
p.159)
Hence in our instance, where the attitude object is fast food, plus taking into account that fast
food is considered to be low involvement product, the low involvement hierarchy of effects
can be illustrated. (Figure 3.3)
Figure 3.3: The low-involvement hierarchy
Source: Solomon et al. (2006)
26

27. In this sequence, the consumer does not initially have a strong preference for one brand over
another, but instead acts on a basis of limited knowledge and then forms an evaluation only
after the product has been purchased or used. Under these conditions consumers are
influenced by principles of behavioural learning. (Solomon et al., 2006 p.142) Referring to
that, author assumes that consumers of fast food products will form attitudes via the concept
of low involvement hierarchy of effects. In turn, this concept will be taken into consideration
later in the dissertation by the final recommendations, when suggesting McDonald’s
communication strategy.
3.8.4 PEST Framework
The external environment will be analysed with the PEST framework, which categorized
environmental influences into four main types: political/legal, economic, socio-cultural and
technological (Johnson et al, 2005, p.65). This framework will help to analyse the macro
environmental influences that might affect the organization. In addition it will provide an
overview of the environment in which McDonalds is evolving.
The use of this framework is useful only when you apply the potential impact of factors, now
and in future affecting the industry, rather than just a long list of influences itself. Having said
that, we mean factors that have potential impact on customers and stakeholders. It is of vital
importance that one identifies the key drivers of change, as they will provide a better
understanding of the main issues that are currently facing the industry and how these might
affect the future of the business within the particular industry. Nevertheless, not all factors
will have the potential impact, thus combined effect of some of the factors is likely to be the
most important. (Johnson et al, 2005, p.65).
Economic and technological factors appear not to have any significant impact on the fast food
industry, and are hence irrelevant for such research. For that reason author decided to exclude
them from the PEST Framework. It is important, however, to identify the political and socio-
cultural factors, as they appear to be of crucial importance by influencing the fast food
industry in the future.
Figure 3.4: PEST Framework
27

28. 3.8.5 Ansoff’s product/market matrix
In order to generate options for McDonalds, the author will use the Ansoff’s product/market
matrix, which is used for identifying directions for strategic development. (Ten Have et al., p.
9)
Figure 3.5: Ansoff’s product/market matrix
Source: Johnson et al, 2005, p.341
28

29. Once the options will have been generated the author will be able to evaluate them and choose
the one that could be the most beneficial.
29

30. CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS
This chapter will provide a reader with detailed presentation of facts and data obtained using
tools described in research methodology, leaving out discussion for the final chapter. In
order to communicate findings clearly, author decided to brake down this chapter into to
parts. Firstly, the external analysis will be applied, in order to provide a reader with the
context in which McDonalds is evolving. And secondly, the key factors influencing the
consumer decision-making process will be analysed/explored.
5.1 External analysis
In this section no other tools than PEST Framework will be applied, since the outcome of
PEST analysis will provide author with sufficient information for further research.
5.1.1 Fast food industry in the UK- overview
The UK fast food market generated total revenues of £2.8 billion in 2005. Comparing to 2004
revenues has increased by 4%. Furthermore sales of fast food to quick service restaurants
represented the markets most profitable segment, generating total revenues of £1.6 billion in
2005, equivalent to 59.7% of the market’s overall value.
(Datamonitor, 2006)
Figure 5.1: United Kingdom Fast Food Market Value: £ and $ billion, 2001-2005
Year £ Billion $ Billion % Growth
2001 2.4 4.4
2002 2.5 4.5 3.1
2003 2.6 4.6 3.4
2004 2.7 4.8 4.1
2005 2.8 5.0 4.0
Source: Datamonitor, 2006
30

31. Figure 5.2: United Kingdom Fast Food Market Value: $ billion, 2001-2005
Source: Datamonitor, 2006
In spite of consumer concerns of fast food being linked with problems such as obesity,
diabetes, heart conditions, food poisoning and scares and unethical advertising, the UK fast
food industry has enjoyed remarkable growth in recent years.
In terms of per capita expenditure, between 2000 and 2005, the fast food outlets have been
growing at the fastest pace within the consumer food service sector. (Euromonitor, 2006b)
Figure 5.3: Expenditure on eating out by sector (growth): 2000- 2005
2000-2005 Nominal 2000-2005 Real
Cafés/bars 5.07 -3.14
Full-service restaurants 3.65 -4.56
Fast food 40.53 32.33
100% home delivery/take-away 10.76 2.55
Self-service cafeterias 20.84 12.63
Street stalls/kiosks 14.47 6.26
TOTAL 19.32 11.11
Source: Euromonitor, 2006b
McDonald's Corporation was the leading fast food outlet in the UK in 2004, with an 18.3%
value share and a clear lead over its nearest rivals KFC (owned by Yum Brands) and Burger
King. (Euromonitor, 2006b)
Figure 5.4: Market share in UK (2004)
31

32. Name of the company Market share (%)
McDonald's Corp 18.3
Yum! Brands Inc 8.4
Burger King Corp 8.3
Pret a Manger Europe Ltd 1.4
Compass Group Plc 1.2
Nando's Group Holdings Ltd 0.8
Source: Euromonitor, 2006b
McDonald's operates fast food restaurants all over the world. The company has over 31,000
fast food restaurants in over 120 countries. (MarketLine, 2006)
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. (Datamonitor, 2006)
McDonalds currently operates in more than 1,316 restaurants throughout the UK. Its profits
grew by 55% in 2004. (Euromonitor , 2006b)
5.1.2 PEST Framework
5.1.2.1 Political / Legal conditions
The most recent research has shown that being overweight or obese is now the norm in the
UK, with figures released by the government showing that two- thirds of men and almost 60%
of women are unhealthily heavy. (Boseley, 2006) Furthermore UK has the highest level of
obesity in Europe. (Datamonitor, 2006) According to a report issued by the Department of
Health, the findings for ‘Forecasting obesity in 2010’ were grotesque. Within four years, it
predicts, a third of all adults in UK (13 million people) will be obese. So will 1million
children. (Marrin, 2006)
• Rising costs for NHS due to obesity
Currently 10% of National Health Association resources are spent on diabetes, and this could
easily be doubled within next four years to 20%. (Marrin, 2006)
More and more doctors’ surgeries require their patient to have an annual health check up.
Those who are overweight are set a program of physical activities and dietary advice.
National health service introduces top-up charges for those who are considered to be
clinically obese. (Blackman, 2005)
Obesity is a major risk factor linked to heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. It reduces
life expectancy by an average of nine years, and by more in smokers. Apart from the human
32

33. cost to the individual, there is a direct cost of obesity to the nation. The Government has
calculated that the overall cost of obesity to the National Health Service is around £1 billion
(2006), with a further £2.3 billion to £2.6 billion for the economy as a whole. It warns that if
obesity continues to increase, the cost to the economy alone could rise to £3.6 billion by 2010,
plus at least £1 billion on the NHS bill. (Euromonitor, 2006a)
Referring to the Department of Health, growing obese crisis is expected to cause thousands
more people to suffer obesity related diseases. (Oliver, 2006)
• The White Paper
In 2004 the UK Department of Health released an extensive White Paper on “Choosing
health: Making healthy choices easier” that makes several recommendations for UK policy
on diet and health. (Blackman, 2005)
o Processed foods will be clearly labelled to indicate fat, sugar and salt content,
using a ‘traffic light’ system (e.g. red light for foods high in sugar, fat or salt).
o An independent task force will be set up to look at the best ways to prevent and
treat obesity.
o Emphasis will be placed on the role of schools, which will be tasked with
providing healthier meals, free fruit and sport both within and outside of school
hours.
o The way in which foods are advertised to children will be investigated, with a
view to voluntary restrictions, or possibly legislation, on “junk food” adverts.
(Blackman, 2005)
Regarding the last recommendation (advertising ban on junk food), several health charities
and campaigners put constant pressure on government concerning that issue. "We are
demanding the government place restrictions on advertising junk food to children before the
9pm watershed- a policy that can only have a positive impact on young people's attitudes to
foods high in fat, sugar and salt”, said Maura Gillespie, head of policy and public affairs at the
British Heart Foundation. (Oliver, 2006)
• Fat tax
Another policy to tackle the rising incidence of heart disease and prevent obesity is to place so
called fat tax on junk food. The Prime Minister's Strategy Unit raised the prospect of extra
duty or VAT being imposed on some fatty foods after heart disease overtook cancer as
33

34. Britain's biggest killer, and more young people started developing diabetes. This would be a
warning sign to producers as well as consumers and serve more broadly as a signal to society
that nutritional content in food is important. (Telegraph, unattributed, 2006)
The British Medical Journal recently claimed a “fat tax” could help prevent 1,000 premature
deaths from heart disease every year in the UK. (News.bbc, unattributed, 2006a)
5.1.2.2 Socio-cultural conditions
According to the most recent Consumer Lifestyles in the UK research, the three main eating
occasions (breakfast, lunch and dinner) have become less structured / planned in recent years.
Instead, fast food and snacking have become everyday routine. (Euromonitor, 2006a)
Factors contributing to these changes in consumer eating habits are:
• Increasing number of workingwomen
• Longer working hours and shorter lunch breaks
Which have all resulted in a general speeding up of lifestyles and switching to fast food.
(Euromonitor, 2006a)
Moreover;
• Average household size has declined
• Number of single- person households is increasing
As a result, fewer family meals are taken, hence each family member take care of their own
meal. (Euromonitor, 2006a)
Above factors have led to a demand for food that is ready to eat, and which does not require
cooking or preparation at home. This includes fast food, snack food, confectionery and
biscuits, take-away food and home meal replacement products. (Euromonitor, 2006a)
• Popularity of fast food
Referring to Wall Street Journal survey, 84% of people who are eating out spend £21 or less
on each meal- that is well bellow the level in Italy, Belgium and Netherlands. This low level
of expenditure correlates to the prevalence of fast food, which is cheaper than the traditional
restaurant meals. (Euromonitor, 2006a)
• Attitudes towards healthy eating
Despite the increasing tendency of consuming junk food and rising obesity level, the health
concern of UK consumers, according to the survey undertaken in 2004, are very much high.
(Euromonitor, 2006a)
34

35. • Influence of TV chefs
Another factor that has influenced the UK consumers is chef Jamie Oliver. His television
shows, books and recent TV series designed to improve the quality of school food and
highlight the danger of junk food in the UK have significantly increased consumer as well as
government awareness and interest in healthy eating. (Euromonitor, 2006a)
According to a survey, Jamie Oliver is named the biggest single force behind an improvement
in school dinners. The celebrity chef is perceived as having a bigger impact than the
government, local education authorities and the schools themselves. (Guardian, unattributed,
2006a)
• Negative publicity of fast food
Despite the increasing popularity of fast food restaurants in the UK, they have been hit by
negative publicity in recent years. The reason behind that is their association with unhealthy
food and their perceived contribution to childhood obesity. Thus the growth in traditional fast
food sub sector (burgers, chip, kebab etc.) has been offset by continuous product innovation
in the bakery- sandwich sub sector (Pret-a-Manger, Subway, etc.) (Euromonitor, 2006a)
5.1.2.3 Key drivers of change:
Now that environmental factors have been identified, what is the future impact of these
factors? The key drivers of change, arising from external environment, that could have an
impact on fast food industry in the future, are manly:
 Consumer demand (changing consumer lifestyle)
British lifestyle is becoming increasingly busy; decreasing free time and increasing disposable
income resulted in more consumers deciding on paying on food service rather than preparing
meals themselves. Plus changes in lifestyle have led to reduction in the number of structured
meals, as people choose more convenient options- fast food. (Euromonitor , 2006a)
While above changes in consumer lifestyle speak in favour of fast food industry, on the other
hand, the UK consumer is becoming more and more health conscious and is aware of the fast
food poor nutritious.
The next key driver of change that could affect the industry in the future is:
 The Government interference
The high- profile political and public debate on obesity and other health issues will most
probably continue and this is likely to negatively affect burger, chicken and pizza fast food
sales. (Euromonitor, 2006b)
35

36. To make the above statement even more plausible, the government has failed to stop the rise
of obesity during its nine years in power. (Oliver, 2006)
Perhaps the seriousness of the situation has finally brought the government to take more
interventionist approach and ignore the accusations of running the “nanny state”. (Marrin,
2006) Probably is just the matter of time when it will start to employ the issues form the
White paper in addition to other proposals in order to tackle obesity.
These drivers will affect the fast food industry, however, it is hard to predict what impact will
predominate- the strong consumer demand and changes in lifestyles, which appears to be in
favour of fast food industry, or escalating trend of healthy living underpinned by possible new
government legislations, which negatively impact the industry.
In order to determine how McDonalds might effectively cope with the changes in
environment, it is crucial to examine the attitudes that consumers have toward fast food. Data
of this kind may give McDonalds greater insight into customer needs and wants.
Understanding this may then enable McDonalds to develop more effective marketing and
communications strategy.
5.2 Key factors influencing the consumer decision-making process
5.2.1 Focus group (analysis of key points)
As explained previously in methodology chapter focus group can be divided into two parts.
First three questions are designed in such way that they focus on exploring consumers’
attitudes towards fast food (and McDonlads). Whereas the last three questions are seeking any
impacts coming from external environment that might have an impact on consumer decision
making process in relation to fast food products. For focus group questions and other detailed
information please refer to appendix A.
36

37. Part one: Exploring consumers’ attitudes towards fast food
A lengthy debate took place regarding the quality of fast food. Respondents classified them
as extremely poor nutritious food. As one participant said: “There isn’t any fast food
restaurant that offers quality food.” The debate continued about what sort of things beef
burgers consist of. They all agreed that the quality of meet (beef) is very bad as they heard
they put all sort of parts of animals in there. “Vegetables they put in burgers are horrendous,
you open a burger and you see yellow lettuce, if not brown. How hard is it to keep vegetables
fresh”? Another issue regarding ingredients was noted when one participant said that: “I
heard that Apple pies in McDonalds aren’t really made of pure apples, but some cheap
artificial stuff. Then they would put apple flavour and cinnamon to make it taste like apple”.
This triggered a short discussion of how huge the chemical flavouring business is, followed
by ones statement: “I absolutely love the taste of the fast food, but I will never eat it because I
know what is in there.” Another participant said: “I’ve never seen nutritional facts in
McDonalds, and to be honest I wouldn’t trust it if I saw it.” The debate carried on discussing
the ethical issues regarding fast food restaurants. “What really bothers me about fast food is
the ethical aspect attached with food quality. Massive manufacturing of chicken- from
hatchling to full size takes three months; naturally it should take approximately 16 months.
They are fed with steroids.” Participants noted that companies are not fully respecting the
moral issues regarding the animal welfare. “We will never know how animas were raised,
under what conditions, and we will never know what’s in there (in burgers).” Another
participant said: “I never eat chicken in fast food restaurants on the principle of my
knowledge of what they do to chicken.”
Since some answers given by participants were considered to be bias, author verified the
content of McDonalds fast food products on their official website. Referring to McDonalds,
they are developing and maintaining the high standard of food quality, safety and traceability.
Raw ingredients have to meet strict specification and every detail of production, transport,
delivery and preparation is extensively monitored. They argue that they use 100% beef in
their burgers, bought from farms accredited by nationally recognized farm assurance schemes.
They only use cuts of forequarter and flank (parts of a cow), with nothing added. All beef
they use is audited by the European Food Safety Inspection Service. Chicken they use is in
their sandwiches comes form approved suppliers that have a fully integrated supply chain to
ensure full control over all aspects of chicken farming, including feed and animal welfare.
(mcdonalds.co.uk, 2006)
37

38. Despite what McDonalds claims they use in their products, participants clearly are either not
aware of or they don’t (want) to believe it. The truth is that their overall knowledge,
perception and beliefs regarding food quality and animal welfare are negative. However,
while nutritious value of fast food and ethical issue is important to them, it would not
determine them from going to eat in such restaurants.
During the debate author noticed several times that fast food has been referred as ‘junk food’-
i.e. food that is considered to be fatty and unhealthy. Referring to one article, the Food
Standards Agency ‘junk food’ is any food high in fat, salt or sugar. (O’Neill, 2006) O’Niell
argues, why are some fatty foods defined as ‘junk’, but others are not? Government ministers
and celebrity chefs discouraging people eating French fries (which in McDonald's contain
about 5g of fat), and at the same time say nothing of eating a dish like duck a l'orange (which
can contain 15 to 20g of fat in a single serving). Why does the ‘junk food’ tag seem to be
applied selectively? According to Peter Marsh of the Social Issues Research Centre in Oxford,
cited by O’Niell (2006), which studies food and obesity issues, the term ‘junk’ has become
“simply a matter of aesthetics”, a way of disapproving of certain foods. Koeslag, a professor
of medical physiology in South Africa, argues that French fries are seen as ‘junk food’, but
roast potatoes are not. Bread is a basic foodstuff, but biscuits are ‘junk’. The sugar in cake is
detrimental to health, but the sugar in honey and grapes is not. The adjective 'junk' is
unfortunate, if not outright misleading. (O’Neill, 2006) Above arguments indicates that
McDonalds food is not as fat and caloric comparing to other food (in some instances even less
caloric and fatty). However, participants still associated fast food with ‘junk food’ and
therefore simultaneously related it to fat, greasy and unhealthy food, which then have
negative impact on the perception of such food.
Group expressed mix feelings and emotions towards fast food (McDonalds). While some
participants absolutely loved it, others totally hated it. One participant put this reason for
going to McDonalds: “I’m dying of hunger and nothing else is available.”
Other participant said: “It comes once in a while, you know as it’s like something driving me
there, it’s when you have a crave, then I go and eat in McDonalds”.
This statement may suggest that eating such food comes as an eager desire. According to
Dictionary.com “to crave” means to want greatly, desire eagerly. This could imply that eating
fast food for some people is similar to eat sweets (as stated at Dictionary.com, to crave
38

39. sweets). Having said that author refers to some instances of females (or men) “addiction” to
chocolate. This perhaps could be linked to the infamous documentary about McDonalds and
fast food ‘Super size me’ which showed its maker Morgan Spurlock's gain 11 kilos, an
increase of 13% of his body mass and cholesterol levels soaring, as he ate only McDonald's
for a month. (Revill, 2004) In the documentary Morgan also suggests that such food is
addictive. To underpin that, according to research hamburgers and fries could be as addictive
as heroin, scientists have claimed. Researchers in the United States have found evidence to
suggest people can become overly dependent on the sugar and fat in fast food.
(news.bbc.co.uk, unattributed , 2003)
The majority of participants described eating in such restaurants as convenient: “It’s
convenient and cheap, you can go in McDonalds and eat for three pounds three burgers,
where else can you do that”? Despite the fact that group described fast food as unhealthy,
they still go and eat there, although not very often. Perhaps the frequency of eating in such
restaurants is also associated with risk perception. Participants are aware of poor nutritious of
fast food and links with obesity related diseases. Maybe they link such products with risk.
According to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004, p.198) the degree of risk that consumers perceive
and their own tolerance for risk taking are factors that influence their purchasing strategies.
Types of risks that might be perceived in case of eating in fast food restaurants are physical
and psychological risk. Physical risk could be associated with the risk of eating fatty food and
thus hazard of suffering obese related diseases (high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.).
Psychological risk could be linked to consumer’s ego, i.e. eating too often in McDonalds
could result in laugher of my colleagues, since they might perceive it as something cheap,
unhealthy and low-class. Referring to Schiffman and Kanuk (2004, p.198) more information
the customer has about the product and the product category, the more predictable the
probable consequences and, thus the lower the perceived risk. McDonalds tries to reduce
consumers’ perceived risk by providing information about their products. On their website
everyone can have a look what ingredients each product consists of. They strive to show
customers that their burgers are not as bad as majority might think. They also argue that
McDonald’s “highly quality food is made out of best raw ingredients”. (McDonalds.co.uk,
2006a) One can, for instance, calculate daily calories intakes and compare them to
McDonald's choices, using special tables. Basically their website is designed in such way to
inform consumers about the food and services they offer, providing information regarding
39

40. animal and environmental welfare. All that with attempt to reduce consumer perceived risk.
Moreover they have been promoting active lifestyle and importance of energy balance for
over a decade, via sponsoring various sport events- the most recent one, which are yet to
come- the Olympic Games!
One participant described his eating in fast food restaurants as: “You are tired, it’s late, you
are walking home and then you see McDonalds- at that point I decide to go and eat there…
sometimes I smell McDonalds”. Similarly one added: ”I often go there when I’m driving and
I see the golden arch…” These two statements (plus referring to other researchers, i.e.
Schroeder and McEachern) implicates that purchasing fast food is mostly impulsive- people in
general, when they decide to go in such restaurants, they do not plan that in advance,
suggesting that fast food is low involvement product. Under these conditions consumers are
influenced by principles of behavioural learning. (Solomon et al., 2006 p.142) Therefore
marketers at McDonalds pay more attention to the amount of information in their restaurants,
as well as to the way it is presented. Various points of purchase stimuli plays important role
when the consumer involvement is low and the purchase is impulsive. For instance,
McDonalds restaurants are currently advertising various attractive Sony prizes that can be
won. Also when one passes by the McDonalds restaurant the typical smell that is coming out
of the restaurant works as stimuli for going into the restaurant for a meal. Author assumes that
this could be done intentionally as one of the tactics McDonalds use to encourage more
customers to eat in their restaurants.
The Elaboration Likehood Model (ELM) suggests that a person’s level of involvement during
message processing is a critical factor in determining which route to persuasion is likely to be
effective. When involvement is low, consumers follow the peripheral route and rely more
heavily on other message elements (e.g. background music) to form attitudes or make product
choices. (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004, p.238) That is one of the reasons why is McDonalds
using the famous jingle “I’m Lovin’ it” backed up by famous artist Justin Timberlake, as they
try to increase consumer involvement with the use of celebrity endorsement.
Part two: influences from external environment impacting (current obesity issues in the
UK, impact of media, etc.) on consumer decision making process with respect to fast
food
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41. While all participants were familiar with the current obesity issue in UK, they claimed that
such issue is not affecting them in any way. “It is really the matter of ignorance, people don’t
really know how to eat. Its general change in lifestyle…people don’t exercise, they are lazy”.
Another one said: “Super size me movie make me not want to go to McDonalds ever
again…” It was interesting, however, to investigate the companies’ responses on that
infamous documentary. McDonalds surprisingly stated on their website that on the whole they
agree with the Super size me’s message- that is important to have a balanced diet and take
exercise. They argue that actor ate a one-dimensional diet with more than 5000 calories a day,
that’s twice the recommended intake for and adult male, while he goes from highly active
individual to purposely stopping all physical activities. That is not the reality, besides what
the actor ate in 30 days, an average British McDonalds customer eats in 6 years. It is hardly
surprising then that this had impact on his body. McDonalds also supports their customers by
providing them relevant nutritional facts so they can make informed decisions.
(McDonalds.co.uk, 2006b) In response to the documentary McDonalds launched a website
www.supersizeme-thedebate.co.uk which provides customers with information on a balanced
diet and their opinions on documentary. One can even take a test in order to separate the facts
form the fiction and at the same time learn the truth behind statements.
Debate carried on as one participant said: ”Its about changing lifestyles- couch potato
lifestyles and stuffing food in their mouth that taste good and they have no knowledge about
how this food does harm to them. Honestly I believe that is a question of education…people
aren’t aware of the consequences”. Referring to Alock (1995), cited by Brown, McIlveen and
Strugnell (2000), the power of education can be immensely helpful in the pursuit of better
understanding by consumers regarding healthy eating and may occur within home, school and
social environments. This implies that education might play crucial role by deciding what
people eat. Perhaps that is the reason why in general all participants, who are educated final
year university students, do not eat in McDonalds that often. Or perhaps this is the matter of
their social status/class. Furthermore one participant stated: ”If parents don’t encourage kids
to do something (sport) and if they don’t teach them how to eat properly, then they will end
up not doing so later in their life”. According to Warwick et al. 1997, cited by Brown,
McIlveen and Strugnell (2000), evidence has suggested that young consumers appear to be
creatures of habit, fuelled from birth by the guidance of parents, peers and from other societal
factors and once formed, such habits are difficult to change. This might indicate that the way
children were brought up; it is likely to affect its food behaviour. However, later research
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42. suggested that the food preference habits of young consumers could change, depending upon
the environment within which they are present (home, school, social). (Brown, McIlveen and
Strugnell, 2000).
A lengthy debate took place whether should the government bring in laws to stop
companies promoting and producing unhealthy food or let the industry self-regulate and allow
customers make their own choices. Group supported the fact that the government intends to
interfere/has interfered by imposing regulation regarding advertising junk food to children.
However, they were sceptical by other regulations. Group advocated “personal liberty”- “I
believe strongly in the personal liberty and making your own choice. If you walked in the fast
food restaurant, you have made that decision…but then again we have came back to the
question of education- if that is really what you want to do (eat) as you have healthier
alternative option right next door. Everybody is given a choice to choose healthier alternative
over the fast food”.
Followed by another participant: “I agree- it’s a matter of education. If people know they
have alternatives, from that point on it’s their own choice. What the government should be
doing is promoting other lifestyles, and not stop companies from what they are doing”.
On the last question should fast food companies be held responsible for rising obesity levels
in the UK everyone said no, except one student who argue that: “They (fast food companies)
are aware of what they are serving, they know what kind of impacts such food has on people,
but they are in the business of making money. But somewhere you have to draw a line of
what’s right and what’s wrong…maybe that’s an ethical issue, I don’t know. So in a sense yes
they should be held responsible”.
There could be a possibility that fast food chains will be fought in a similar way tobacco
companies were fought. There were some cases in which individuals blamed McDonalds for
causing obesity, however, the lawsuits were dismissed. (Wazir, 2003)
To conclude, while ethical issue and nutritional value of fast food is important to them it will
not determine them from going to eat in such restaurants. The desire for fast food comes
impulsively. The convenience-healthfulness dichotomy, describing fast food as convenient
but unhealthy was underlined. High public anti-obesity debates in the UK appear to have no
significant negative impact on consumer attitudes towards fast food. Fast food companies are
not to be blamed for rising obesity levels in the UK, though people themselves.
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43. 5.2.2 Questionnaire (analysis of findings)
In order to present it in a coherent way, author decided to structure following analysis on five
parts. As mentioned in methodology chapter, following key themes from focus group (quality
of fast food, ethical aspects, trust towards McDonalds, impact of media and Government on
consumer behaviour) will be tested to larger group of people in the UK.
Author has found following results:
In total 71 participants responded on the survey. The gender split was 49% men and 51%
women. According to Schroeder and McEachern (2005), the global target market for fast food
companies is between 17-25 years. The respondent profile to the questionnaire, matched this
target market with 88% aged between 17-25 years.
30 out of 71 respondents (42.3%) eat fast food once every month. (Figure 5.5)
Figure 5.5: How often do you eat fast food (i.e. McDonalds)?
 QUALITY OF FAST FOOD & CONSUMER’S TRUST IN MCDONALDS
Author used ‘selected evaluative scale’ to gauge respondents’ attitudes towards quality of fast
food. The majority of respondents classified all types of food with exception of salads and
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44. fruit, as the worst quality. For detailed information regarding that question please refer to
Appendix C. Answers given by that question justified a lengthy debate from focus group, that
nutritional value of such food is indeed regarded as extremely poor.
34% of respondents have seen a list of nutrition facts in McDonalds restaurants. Nevertheless,
those who had seen it they do not trust what is written on it. (Appendix C)
83% of respondents believe that McDonalds use chemicals in their products. (Figure 5.6)
When respondents were given the 5 point Likert-scale, 31 out of 71 (44%) considered what
McDonalds claims on their website, “…committed to providing high quality food, using the
best raw ingredients” as untrue. (Figure 5.7)
Figure 5.6: Do you believe McDonalds put chemicals in their food? (To improve the
taste and/or improve the texture of vegetables)
Figure 5.7: McDonalds claims on their website that they use “the best raw ingredients in
their highly quality food”! Do you believe that? Please mark on a scale from 1 to 5 (1 as
least believable)!
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45. When respondents were given the fact that if McDonalds would have used 100% beef along
with fresh vegetables, apples in their apples pies, etc., 34% said they would go eat there more
often.
30% of respondents have visited www.mcdonalds.co.uk and 50% of those who have visited
claimed that they haven’t found it really appealing or useful. (Figure 5.8) Furthermore, 61%
of those who haven’t visit the website they don’t intend to visit it in the future.
Figure 5.8: If yes, do you find it appealing and/or useful?
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46. Reason for going to McDonalds as “dying of hunger and nothing else is available” was firstly
picked up during the focus group discussion. It was, however, claimed by larger population as
the strongest reason why eating there as well, where 27 out of 71 participants (38%) selected
that option over the convenient one (28%). (Figure 5.9)
Figure 5.9: What makes you go to McDonalds?
When participants were asked to write three adjectives they would link to McDonalds
products; unhealthy, cheap, tasty and fatty were the ones that were noted most frequently. For
adjectives given by all 71 participants please refer to Appendix C.
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47.  ETHICAL ISSUES
Merely 31% of respondents did not have any knowledge what ethical issue (animal welfare
concerning chicken) in relation to McDonalds is. While great majority of respondents were
familiar with the ethical aspects, 25% of those claimed that this is the reason they don’t eat
chicken in McDonalds. (Figure 5.10)
Figure 5.10: When you eat chicken sandwich at McDonalds, does the ethical issue
regarding chicken bothers you?
When respondents were given the fact that if McDonalds would have used 100% naturally
raised chicken meet, 39% said they would go eat there more often.
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48. IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA
The great majority (76%) claimed that were familiar with the current obesity issues (the
government anti-obesity policies, Jamie Oliver campaigns, etc.) in the UK. 15% of those who
were familiar with that issue claimed they have now different perception of fast food and
hence they don’t eat it any more. Moreover 28% of those who were familiar with that issue it
affected them in such way that they now eat less fast food as they used to. (Figure 5.2.2g)
Figure 5.11: Do these high public obesity debates from the government and media have
any impact on you (in terms of what makes you change your attitudes towards fast food
products)?
The infamous documentary ‘Super size me’, which 84% of all participants claimed they were
familiar with, had a strong negative influence (on those who had seen the movie). 35%
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49. claimed that ever since they saw the documentary, they don’t eat in McDonalds anymore.
(Figure 5.12)
Figure 5.12: Did Super size me documentary made you go less in McDonalds?
On the last question participants blamed ‘junk food’ as the strongest reason for UK being
selected as the fattest country in Europe. (Figure 5.13)
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50. Figure 5.13: UK has been recently chosen as the fattest country in Europe. What do you
think is the reason for that? Please apply everything that you consider as a reason!
In conclusion, author found out that the key issues/themes from the focus group discussion
appeared to be of greatest importance with the larger group of UK’s fast food target market.
However, one topic from focus group did not match with answers given in questionnaires.
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51. While participants in the focus group claim that current public anti-obesity debates in the UK
have no significant negative impact on their attitudes towards fast food, respondents by
questionnaires claimed opposite. Respondents associated McDonalds and its products with
adjectives such as unhealthy, cheap, tasty and fatty. They ‘ranked’ their food (with exception
of salads and fruit) as of the worst quality. Ethical issue concerning McDonalds, current high
public obesity debates in the UK along with the documentary Super Size Me, appears to
contribute towards negative attitudes that consumers have with McDonalds.
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52. CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS
In this chapter a set of proposed recommendations as well as supporting analysis of the
options for McDonalds will be depicted. In addition the implementation plan to support the
key recommendation, including description of resources required will be illustrated.
Now that factors that influence the consumer decision-making process regarding fast food
have been identified and analysed, the following recommendations that McDonalds might
pursue is proposed. From the introduction chapter it can be seen that the company is, despite
its traditionally unhealthy image, performing in fact really good.
There still are, however, few areas that McDonalds might improve in, to boost current rising
sales and secure escalating share prices. Options like Increase awareness of the quality of
McDonalds’ products, promotion of active lifestyle through celebrity football player, new
healthy menus along with redecorating its restaurants, and hiring celebrity chef to promote
McDonalds brand might help McDonalds improve its business of operation.
Due to word limit restrictions for this dissertation, author decided to further describe and
evaluate two options that could be beneficial for McDonalds. The proposed two options are
illustrated in Ansoff’s Matrix.
Figure 5.1 Options for McDonalds illustrated in Ansoff’s matrix
5.1 Option description and evaluation
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53. It is important that options are presented with a concept of success criteria, by which these
strategic options can be judged. According to Johnson (2005, p.357), there are three main
success criteria:
 Suitability- is concerned with whether a strategy addresses the circumstances in
which firm is operating.
 Acceptability- is concerned with whether expected performance outcomes (such as
the return on risk) of a strategy and the extent to which these would be in line
with the expectations of stakeholders.
 Feasibility- is concerned with whether the strategy could be made to work in
practise. It requires an emphasis on more detailed practicalities of strategic
capability.
5.1.1 Option 1: Increase awareness of the quality of McDonalds’ products
From the analysis of focus group and questionnaires it is clear that people simply do not trust
McDonalds. The fact of the matter is that their perception, their attitudes towards McDonalds
food are negative. On top of that the high public obesity debates, documentaries and various
books stressing extremely negative facts and consequences of fast food, have impact on
consumer’s risk perception towards fast food. Hence, it is important that McDonalds attempts
to reduce that perceived risk with providing consumers with information about nutritional
content of their food. This can be done through various ways.
One of them is to persuade people to visit www.mcdonalds.co.uk. From the questionnaire
analysis 61% of participants who have not visited their website, do not plan to do so. It is
important therefore to persuade this large percentage of consumers to go on their website.
This could be done using promotional material such as special coupons at the restaurants,
which would be collected after the purchase with a receipt. On that coupon there would be a
number which must be entered on their website in order to win (if to be selected) attractive
prices. (E.g. iPods, Sony cameras) That would make people go on their website more often.
The content of website would have to be attractive that they would read everything regarding
nutritional content of the food, animal welfare, super size me documentary, etc. From the
analysis 34% (for beef burgers) and 39% (for chicken sandwiches) of respondents claimed
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54. that if they had been given a fact that McDonalds uses 100% beef and chicken, they would eat
there more often. (Appendix C, questions 9 and 15) If McDonalds manages to inform these
people about the leanness of its meat and the truth behind its apple pies and chicken
McNuggets- that might reduce consumers risk perception, since they would feel more
confident of what they are eating, and where did that meat come from.
Besides that they could attract more people to visit their website and spend more time there by
introducing various games and healthy quizzes that could be launched form their website.
They could increase consumer’s knowledge regarding its product by giving away (after the
purchase with a receipt) each customer a special voucher booklet, in which the information of
the ingredients they use how they treat the animals and what parts of animals goes into their
burgers would be described. In addition, this booklet would contain the story of the
McDonalds brand in a ‘warm and engaging way’ and therefore try to create and increase the
consumers’ emotions with McDonalds brand. Such booklets/fliers would also be distributed
in front of each McDonalds restaurants. They would also put their nutritional facts list on
every back of the tray paper, give the chance to their customers to see how much fat, sugar,
proteins, calories etc. their meal consists of. That would be a good start of building trust with
their customers.
This option is suitable since it fits perfectly in the environment. People are concerned with
what goes into their bodies. Referring to findings, people would go more often to McDonalds
if they would be guarantied that what they are eating is 100% good quality food. People want
to know what they are eating. By providing all these information regarding nutrition quality,
McDonalds would increase sales as well as increase and improve their brand value.
What are the risks and returns? That is the question of acceptability. This option is
considered as not particularly risky. In case of failure, this would not be disastrous for
McDonalds (apart from for money invested in that promotional campaign). Regarding
possible returns associated with that option are incomparable with the risk of that option. In
addition, there is no critical issue attached to that option that would not be accepted or
approved by McDonalds stakeholders.
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55. Is it feasible, will it work in practise? This option should work in practise, since author
presume that McDonalds is capable of such marketing investment. Improving their website,
purchasing of prizes, providing voucher booklets and other point of purchase promotional-
informational material to increase their awareness is relatively inexpensive for a giant like
McDonalds. Moreover author believes that McDonalds possesses all resources and
competences in order to make this option work in practise.
5.1.2 Option 2: Introduction of new healthier menus along with refurbishment of
restaurants
Nowadays customers demand quality and healthy food. Thus, McDonalds should consider
introducing new range of healthier sandwiches, salads, fruit salads and other more nutritious
food. For French fries, apple pies and other fried food, they could, for instance, instead of
frying it, prepare it in oven, which would be a lot healthier and it would eliminate the trans fat
it uses in cooking fried food. Instead of white bread they could use wholemeal bread. They
would start position themselves as healthier food chain. The interior design of their typical
restaurant would change from combination of red-yellow colour, to softer browns-
emphasizing the nature. Moreover they could start introducing computers equipped with
Internet in some of their restaurants as well as newspapers. This could attract new customers
going to their restaurants- they could broaden its customer base. They would be promoting
healthy living by new advertising campaigns in which advertising message would be designed
in such way to show explicitly how more nutritious and healthier their food is.
From suitability perspective, it fits completely with trends in domestic environment and
current health concerns. That option might result in changing peoples’ perception they
presently possesses with McDonalds brand, which is anything else than healthy.
Is it acceptable? From stakeholder’s prospective it is likely to be acceptable, since it is in line
with current healthy trend. However, there is a risk that this option would not work because
people simply would not go there to eat “healthy”, as it was always known as the ‘lower
quality fast food chain’. Furthermore not all McDonalds shareholders might agree with that
option, since it would require significant investments, which would most probably mean no
dividends for them in the short-medium term. Furthermore there could be a risk of
55