Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategies of McDonald's

This report analyzes the marketing plan, strategies, and marketing communication mix of McDonald's and examines the alignment with consumer behavioural factors. Recommendations are provided for product augmentation, integrated promotional mix, and personnel differentiation.

MBA404 Consumer
Behaviour &
Marketing
Psychology

Table Of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................3
Introduction....................................................................................................................4
Company Profile Of McDonald’s..................................................................................4
Critical Analysis.............................................................................................................5
Strategic Recommendation.............................................................................................7
Reference List.................................................................................................................9

Executive Summary
The present report will analyse the marketing plan, strategies, and the marketing
communication mix that has been adopted and implemented by McDonald’s and will
analyse the extent to which the consumer behavioural factors are aligned to the
present marketing focus of the organization. Added to that the recommendations has
been made for the regarding their further product augmentation, implementation of an
integrated promotional mix, and bring about personnel differentiation within their
organization for sustaining competitive advantage within the market and ensuring
long term growth for the business over the global platform.
The report will consider for the present marketing strategies adopted by McDonald’s,
the promotional activities that are being performed and the selection of products to be
offered by the organization for the provision of enhanced satisfaction and utility to the
consumer consumer base.

Introduction
Consumer behaviour refers to the selection of the goods and services, their acquisition
and consumption by the consumers for the fulfilment of the requirements. Initially,
the consumers find out the products and services that will be required and preferred
by them for consumption. Following that they will select only those products and
services that will provide them greater utility as compared to that of the others. Upon
the completion of the product selection, the customers will make an estimate
regarding the attainable funds that they can supply to the market for meeting their
desires and requirements. Lastly, the consumers will check the current prices of the
commodities and services preferred by them and will make decisions regarding
consumption of products that are most feasible. However, within this entire process
there are several factors that may influence the purchasing decision of the consumers.
The present task will analyse if the marketing strategies and marketing
communication mix that has been presently adopted by McDonald’s are in alignment
with the consumer behavioural factors.
Company Profile Of McDonald’s
McDonald’s serves as an American fast food and limited service restaurant that
operates in over 100 nations across the globe. The organization was in San
Bernardino, California, United States during the year 1940 and was initially operated
as a restaurant Richard James and Maurice James McDonald (Chawla, 2015). Finally,
the organization got incorporated during December 21, 1964, and since then operates
and franchises their business as McDonald’s restaurants. In terms of revenue
generated, McDonald’s is the largest restaurant chain that operates across the entire
globe and has almost 37860 outlets across the entire globe as estimated during the
year 2018 (Badal, 2017).
Hamburgers and cheeseburgers are the most popular products that are offered by the
organization. Other than that there are also a wide range of products and services
including the desert, wraps, salads, chicken nuggets, sandwiches, etc. that are offered
to the customers. However, while the organization operates at the global platform,
then along with its traditional and classical menus it also offers for the locally relevant
food to attract the customers towards their businesses (Germar, 2018). In this move,
McDonald’s offers black and white burger to the customers in its outlets based in

China, McArabia in Saudi Arabia’s outlets, Veg Pizza McPuff and McAloo Tikki
Burger while operating in India, and so on. This has enabled the organization to
receive an overwhelming response from the local consumers of distinct nations of
their operations. The organization makes the enhanced use of their trademark
“quality, service, cleanliness, and values” so as to offer enhanced consumer
experiences.
Critical Analysis
McDonald’s offers for a wide range of menu for its customers. This diversification of
product ranges and menu customization has enabled the organization to attain
competitive advantage while operating within the global market. McDonald’s have
effectively used low pricing strategy for the enhancement of their business operations.
This has enabled a huge range of customers to get access to the high quality food at
the feasible price range (Grant, 2016).
The in-restaurant feedback system that has been adopted by McDonald’s has provided
for the store visitors to share their experience and thereby provides a scope to the
organization to get more acquainted regarding the preference of the consumers and
serve in an adequate manner that will draw the customers towards the business of
McDonald’s.
The organization has also developed and adopted for a Plan to Win strategy regarding
their business operation and uses 5P’s for focusing on their consumer experiences.
The five P’s adopted by this organization are Product, People, Place, Promotion, and
Pricing and are supported by the three-legged stool approach comprising of the
owners (operators), employees, and the suppliers for the organization (Kane, 2016).
The high growth markets of McDonald’s are much focused towards the creation of
excitement amongst the consumers by their promotion, menu, and value, and
presently the implementation of the digital strategy that presently incorporates
solutions and actions based on mobile. Their services include both delivery and drive-
thru and thereby the operating restaurants for the organization have enhanced the
convenience of the customers by means of their services.
The emphasis on the implementation of digital promotional strategies apart from the
traditional strategies has also been very much helpful for the business as well as the
organization. In the present days the people belonging to all the age group have access

to the internet platform (Harrington, et al., 2017). In such a situation while
McDonald’s makes use of the online platform to make the consumers aware of their
services and product ranges then they can surely target a wide range of consumer
segments from the distinct corners of the globe and further enhance the organizational
performance. Also the use of their customized menu and the advertisements regarding
the availability of the customized food products at the distinct locations have been
much beneficial for the consumers. This can also enable the organization to charge the
competitive prices of the customized menus and attract the attention of the consumer
base.
The diversification of the product ranges being offered to the customers has been a
vital cause behind enabling McDonald’s to attain the competitive edge while
operating on the global platform. Apart from customizing the menu they have also
included geographic pricing to charge for the various local menus that they are
offering in their outlets within the distinct nations.
The promotional strategy that has been used by the organization has not only
remained confined to the advertising their products but they have very effectively
made use of the online platform to reach their consumers and develop for more
innovative ranges of products that can grab the attention of the customers.
The affordable burgers offered at McDonald’s can be availed by the customers
belonging to any income group and thus the consumer base of the organization gets
enhanced attracting the greater count of customers from the global platform.
However, while the competition over the global platform is very much high, then the
other competitor organizations of McDonald’s like Burger King,Subway, etc are also
adopting for the enhanced methods for promoting their products in an effective
manner. So the effort from the end of McDonald’s needs to be very much optimized
and effective for the attainment of the enhanced market share.
While taking the market communication mix into consideration, McDonald’s is such a
brand that has offerings for all the population groups, be it a kid, an office goer, or an
aged person they will find their requisite menu in McDonald’s at an affordable price
range. This shows that the business of this organization is feasible to be delivered to
the customers belonging to all the age groups (Hanson, et al., 2016). The platform of
social media has been very much effective for the business regarding development of
enhanced communication with the market of its operation. The platforms like Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook, etc. Have enabled the organization to visualize the standard,

quality, and variety of their offering to the entire globe. This has enhanced the brand
image for the organization and is still providing scopes to the organizatio n to
penetrate into the new markets within the globe and make the customers aware
regarding their offerings and attracting them towards the business.
The word of mouth of the existing consumers also has been a very beneficial mode of
promotion for McDonald’s (Dess, et al., 2019). The consumer upon experiencing and
tasting the high standard food materials (sometimes customized according to their
tastes) at competitive and feasible prices makes them to share their experience and
gather new customers for the enhancement of the business of McDonald’s.
Strategic Recommendation
Despite of the fact that McDonald’s is a very strong and powerful brand name that has
been operating across the entire globe. But, presently there are also numerous
alternative restaurants operating at the distinct corners of the globe and providing for
massive competition to the McDonald’s. Some major alternatives of McDonald’s that
are successfully operating on the present global platform includes Subway, KFC,
Burger King, etc. These competitors and rival business organization while operating
on the global scale can turn out to be a major threat for the business efficiency and
performance of McDonald’s. So it is essential for the organization to enhance product
augmentation and offer for not only additional products but also additional services
for providing the convenience to the customers in the global market (Dugmore and
Wang, 2018). Also the organization must always keep a check on the usage of fresh
raw materials for bringing about enhancement in their product quality and making
their offering even more preferable for the customers. Although McDonald’s is
presently focusing on menu customization at distinct nations to grab the attraction of
the local consumers of the various nations. But it will be beneficial for McDonald’s if
they invest more in menu customization in the distinct geographical markets and use
that as a strategy to connect to and attract the interest of the target consumer segment.
Although McDonald’s have integrated their promotional mix by incorporation of the
digital strategies along with their traditional strategies. But the investment and R&D
in recognizing and implementing the effectiveness of digital media within the
promotional mix needs to be much more enhanced. The digital marketing strategies of
McDonald’s needs to be designed in a manner that they effectively connect to engage
the online consumer base who forms the major part of the present markets consumers.

For that, McDonald’s may offer promotional coupons,give additional discounts on
online purchases, etc.
Finally as the organization is now operating on a huge scale that is in more than 100
nations across the entire globe so it is very essential for the organization to bring well-
trained talents as staff of their organization for delivering the adequate quality
services to the consumers in accordance with the norms and cultural belief followed
by the customers (Duggal and Alexander, 2018). This will make the customers feel
valued while seeking products and services from the various outlets of McDonald’s
and thereby lead towards the organizational development. Well structured training
programmes organized and scheduled from the end of the organization will ensure
enhanced long term growth for McDonald’s. This will also provide interest and
incentives to the employees to remain retained to their present organization and
thereby enhance the performance of the organization by the effective utilization of
their skills.
Low pricing has always been a strategy that has been adopted by McDonald’s. But
with the advent of its alternatives within the global market, McDonald’s needs to
revise their pricing strategies in a manner that they can enhance their market share
despite of the presence of other competitors within the market (Schmid and Gombert,
2018). It can be much beneficial for the organization if it takes adequate steps
regarding maintaining corporate social responsibility towards the society where they
operate. The present day consumers are not only bothered about themselves but have
also started planning regarding the facilities and convenience that can benefit the
future generations. Thus to operate successfully in the present business world it will
just not be sufficient for McDonald’s to maintain the quality but they will have to take
the responsibility to use the resources in a manner that can be beneficial for the
coming generations. This will enhance the brand loyalty of the customers.

Reference List
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and Expansion. Scholedge International Journal of Management &
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Duggal, R. and Alexander, P., 2018. Staff management training in McDonalds.
Dugmore, P. and Wang, Y., 2018, September. Product Design in Food Industry-A
McDonald’s Case. In International Workshop of Advanced Manufacturing and
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Dess, G.G., McNamara, G., Eisner, A.B. and Lee, S.H., 2019. Strategic Management:
Creating Competitive Advantages. McGraw-Hill Education.
Grant, R.M., 2016. Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John
Wiley & Sons.
Germar, D., 2018. Critical Analysis of McDonald’s Internationalisation Process.
Competitors, Challenges, International Markets. GRIN Verlag.
Hanson, D., Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E., 2016. Strategic
management: Competitiveness and globalisation. Cengage AU.
Harrington, R.J., Ottenbacher, M.C. and Fauser, S., 2017. QSR brand value:
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Kane, G.C., 2016. How McDonalds cooked up more transparency. MIT Sloan
management review, 57(2).
Schmid, S. and Gombert, A., 2018. McDonald’s: Is the Fast Food Icon Reaching the
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