Marketing Research on McDonalds: Consumer Behavior and Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of McDonalds' marketing research, focusing on consumer behavior and the impact of health consciousness on their target audience. The study explores the company's historical success, its current challenges in a market shifting towards healthier food choices, and the need for innovation to retain and attract customers. The report examines the segmentation of McDonalds' target market, including geographic, demographic, behavioral, and psychographic factors, and identifies the key stakeholders. It highlights the importance of adapting marketing strategies to address changing consumer preferences and proposes recommendations for introducing healthier food options to align with current trends. The research methodology includes both primary and secondary data collection methods, such as surveys and interviews, to gain a deeper understanding of consumer attitudes and behaviors. The expected outcomes of the research include insights into consumer behavior changes, analysis of the target audience, and strategies for attracting consumers while considering health consciousness. Ultimately, the report aims to provide McDonalds with actionable recommendations to maintain its market position and ensure its long-term sustainability.

Running head: MARKETING RESEARCH ON MCDONALDS
MARKETING RESEARCH ON MCDONALDS
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Executive Summary:
The paper highlights the consumer behaviour of the fast food company McDonalds all around
the world through focusing on the target audience that this company aims for. It is revealed that
due to a rise in the health awareness in the mind of the people through various medium
especially the social media, they are shifting away from consuming fast foods and looking for a
healthy alternative that is served quick as well as is healthy. McDonalds can introduce such
range of healthy products to regain their target audience and the expected outcomes will be
beneficial for the sustainability of the organization.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction:................................................................................................................................3
1.1. Introduction:.........................................................................................................................3
1.2. Background of the Study:.....................................................................................................3
1.3. Problem Statement:...............................................................................................................3
1.4. Research Aims and Objectives:............................................................................................3
1.5. Research Questions:..............................................................................................................4
2. Literature Review:.......................................................................................................................4
2.1. Target Audience:..................................................................................................................4
2.2. Population/Clients:...............................................................................................................5
2.3. Stakeholders:.........................................................................................................................7
3. Research Methodology:...............................................................................................................8
3.1. Data Collection Method:.......................................................................................................8
3.2. Data Analysis Method:.........................................................................................................8
3.3. Sample Size:.........................................................................................................................8
3.4. Ethical Issues:.......................................................................................................................9
3.5. Research Limitations:...........................................................................................................9
4. Expected Outcomes:....................................................................................................................9
5. References:................................................................................................................................11

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1. Introduction:
1.1. Introduction:
McDonalds is a fast food company that was founded in the year 1940 in America and
gained such popularity with the passage of time that it expanded its business all across the world
(Funk, Alexandris and McDonald 2016). Each day around 68 million of customers are served
across 120 countries in McDonalds; their fast foods are very popular among the youth and the
children; however, with the growing consciousness about health in the minds of the people, the
company is facing losses.
1.2. Background of the Study:
The behaviour of the Consumer is of extreme importance in the marketing industry as the
buying decision is made by consumers on a daily basis (De Mooij 2019). McDonalds have
always analysed and understood all the aspects of the behaviour of consumer and made their
business successful at a global platform (Sylvetsky et al. 2013). However, the recent days are
showing extreme consciousness among the teens and the people about their health and thus they
are refusing to consume fast foods to avoid obesity.
1.3. Problem Statement:
The consumer behaviour has undergone several changes and McDonalds has to innovate
in accordance to these changes; however, McDonalds is a fast food company and the recent
aversion towards fast foods in the people is making it difficult for McDonalds to compete in the
market.
1.4. Research Aims and Objectives:
 To identify the reason behind the change in the consumer behaviour of McDonalds.

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 To analyse the Target Audience of McDonalds in order have a better understanding of the
consumer behaviour in the current scenario.
 To figure out a method of attracting the target audience keeping in mind with the current
scenario of health consciousness.
1.5. Research Questions:
 Why is there a change in the consumer behaviour of McDonalds?
 Should McDonalds shift their Target Audience?
 Will the innovation of the existing food items or introducing new fast food items change
the condition of McDonalds?
 How can McDonalds regain their consumers in the present scenario of health awareness?
2. Literature Review:
2.1. Target Audience:
It is important for every successful brand like that of McDonalds that they have proper
strategy to target the right segment of consumers at the right moment. This fast food franchise
has been in the market for several decades and thus it knows mighty tactics to appeal to their
target consumers (Seiler 2013). The commercial of McDonalds say a lot about the segment of
consumer they aim to target; most of the commercial of McDonalds has shown the great love
that a parent has for their children by giving them treat in McDonalds. Hence, in this scenario the
target market is the parents of the little children. There were some commercials where it was
shown that a loving couple is getting reunited in McDonalds over a pack of their burgers; thus,
by doing so they included young couples in their target market. The drive-through option that
McDonalds has is helpful for busy people who do not like to waste a single amount of their time

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and hence when McDonalds promoted this strategy, they successfully included the busy, mature
people in their target list too.
One of the most integral element of marketing strategy is the segmentation, positioning
and targeting; there are four types of market segmentation which are known as the Geographic
segmentation, the demographic segmentation, the behavioural segmentation and finally the
psychographic segmentation. Each segmentation is based on a criterion that McDonalds target in
order to increase their sales (Inoue, Funk and McDonald 2017). However, in the recent times the
consumer behaviour is changing at a rapid pace; the most common view regarding the context is
that it has a direct influence on the overall performance of an organization (Al-Nakeeb et al.
2015). Another view suggests that better understanding of consumer behaviour will help the
organizations to compete in the fierce competition presiding in the retail industry (Osman, Johns
and Lugosi 2014). Although the market of fast food all around the world is of huge value, yet
there is an ever-increasing awareness in health among the consumers nowadays; they are shifting
to healthy meals over the fast foods which have maintained their reputation of being unhealthy
from the time of yore. This awareness is spreading due to the fact that numerous journalists,
health campaigners, scholars and also the celebrity chefs are accusing the fast food organizations
for their contribution in spreading obesity around the world. Obesity has become a serious issue
and the youths especially are getting more conscious about it due to the influence of social media
in their lives. This is the reason they are drifting away from the option of fast foods.
2.2. Population/Clients:
The population or the clients of McDonalds is divided into four segments as discussed
above. The category of population in geographic segmentation are targeted in accordance to the
region and the density; for instance, the target market of McDonalds varies if the region is

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domestic or international region (Yan 2013). It also varies in the urban and rural areas; the
demand for fast foods is high in the urban areas as compared to that of the rural areas which is
why McDonalds targets the international region with high density of population to have more
revenues through targeting the people residing in the area. The demographic segmentation is
based on the criterion of age, gender, income, occupation and life- cycle stage of the population.
McDonalds is seen to target people from 8years of age to people who are 45 years old; both
males and females are targeted by McDonalds however, the bachelor stage people who are
young and single but do not live at home are the part of population that they target (Osman et al.
2014). They also target newly married couples or young couples as mentioned before and the
group of population which is most targeted are the children who are of age six and above.
There is the segmentation of population on the basis of behavioural attributes and this
segment is judged on the criteria of the degree of consumer’s loyalty, their benefits of thought,
their personality and also their user status (Rai 2013). McDonalds targets the population of
consumers who are loyal and switch easily; they target the people who think about time
efficiency and cost benefits; they target the group of population who have the personality of
easy-going and are careless so that they can be attracted easily; finally the group of population
who are regular consumers of fast foods are targeted by this company for their own benefit.
Finally, the segment of psychographic group of population is targeted based on the
criteria of the population’s lifestyle and their social class (Xu 2014). McDonalds tend to target
the lower- class people, the middle and the working- class population; these three classes form
most of the population in the world, hence targeting them is a beneficial act (Goh, Heng and Lin
2013). Also, McDonalds is known to target population who have the lifestyle of a resigned,
struggler and also individuals who are mainstreamers as per the Cross- Cultural Consumer

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Characterization. In spite of having such a well framed strategy to target their audience and make
their menus appealing, McDonalds is lacking in terms of providing healthy food.
2.3. Stakeholders:
The customers, suppliers and the employees of the McDonalds are what it considers to be
their primary stakeholders. These stakeholders have a huge impact this company’s operation. In
order to run the operation of McDonalds, the suppliers are significant stakeholders since they
procure both items of food or non- food (Jeon et al. 2016). The workers of this company are also
vital stakeholders that has helped this company to run successfully all these years. Customers are
regarded as the external stakeholder and McDonalds is dependent on their customers not only for
their operation but also for their income since they have the buying decision.
The recent days and study show that this buying decision of the stakeholder is changing
and so the operation of the company is turning low. The possible reason is the arising awareness
of health amongst the people (McClure et al. 2013). This is why McDonalds need to impose new
strategies to keep themselves appealing to their stakeholders, since loss of any one stakeholder
might lead to loss of many others. Improving the menu list is something that might not work
since the reputation of fast food is still the same and it is the prime reason for which the
stakeholders are moving away. McDonalds can in fact introduce a new line of food items to
these stakeholders that would a range of healthy foods for this segment of target market who are
health conscious (Cantallops and Salvi 2014). Not only the youth and health conscious
stakeholders and population would be attracted, parents would also feel comfortable to provide
their children with a healthy treat. A healthy range of new food items would attract other several
stakeholders like suppliers or shareholders to invest in this new and innovative idea and provide
people something that is delicious as the fast foods but healthy and quick (He et al. 2014). This

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strategy has the potentiality to attract back all the consumers that this company lost over the span
of time due to the increasing awareness of their health; moreover, when the consumers will know
the company’s contribution in decreasing obesity and other health issues, it will help the
organization to gain more popularity among the people and hence more profits.
3. Research Methodology:
3.1. Data Collection Method:
This research study will be based on collection of primary as well as secondary sources
of data. The collection of primary data will be done through various sources like interview and
survey; the secondary sources will be based on all kinds of data that are available in online
sources or are in printed form. Both quantitative and qualitative approach of research will be
taken into account.
3.2. Data Analysis Method:
The quantitative data will be collected from the surveys will be transformed into an array
of percentages and numeric so that a comprehensive and comparison can be made of the data that
is collected. All these collected data can be converted into graphs or charts so that a pictorial
representation can be provided. For the evaluation of qualitative data, the approach will be
thematic and the information from interviews will be in relevance with the research topic.
3.3. Sample Size:
Both kinds of probability and non-probability sampling technique will be included in the
research. In addition to this, simple sampling will be utilised to attain a better understanding of

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the topic. The survey is expected to have at least 50 participants from the organization and as
much consumers as possible for understanding consumer behaviour.
3.4. Ethical Issues:
There are some ethical guidelines that will be abided by during the research; for instance
no participants of the primary research will be compelled to participate in the survey. Consent
will be taken from the participants to ensure that they participated willingly. No logo will be
shown on the survey paper to show that the survey is for academic purposes.
3.5. Research Limitations:
There are certain limitations to the study; for instance, the availability of the resources
might be questionable. Some of the resources might remain inaccessible and there is also a
possibility that the responses from the participants might not be enough for attaining the required
outcome.
4. Expected Outcomes:
The research proposal intends to have an outcome that will help McDonalds in getting
back their customers that they are losing due to the health awareness amongst the youth. It is also
expected that this project will help the organization to find a new method of being in the market
competing against the other fast food companies like Burger King and more but with healthier
foods. These range of healthy food items would bring more consumers, potentially from other
fast food companies too, since they might also be looking for a healthier alternative. This
increase in the number of consumers would potentially lead to an increase in their sales; with
more consumers around the globe, more revenues is expected to be earned by this organization.
Since McDonalds target lower, middle and working- class society too, it will help the company

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to have more popularity for bringing a healthy alternative for this segment of target audience too
and this deed in turn will help the company to have a better brand image even among the
scholars and other health enthusiasts who blamed fast food industry for spreading obesity.
Lastly, it is expected that all the above outcomes will help the company to be sustainable for a
long period of time.

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5. References:
Al-Nakeeb, Y., Lyons, M., Dodd, L.J. and Al-Nuaim, A., 2015. An investigation into the
lifestyle, health habits and risk factors of young adults. International journal of environmental
research and public health, 12(4), pp.4380-4394.
Cantallops, A.S. and Salvi, F., 2014. New consumer behavior: A review of research on eWOM
and hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 36, pp.41-51.
De Mooij, M., 2019. Consumer behavior and culture: Consequences for global marketing and
advertising. SAGE Publications Limited.
Funk, D.C., Alexandris, K. and McDonald, H., 2016. Sport consumer behaviour: Marketing
strategies. Routledge.
Goh, K.Y., Heng, C.S. and Lin, Z., 2013. Social media brand community and consumer
behavior: Quantifying the relative impact of user-and marketer-generated content. Information
Systems Research, 24(1), pp.88-107.
He, L., Zhai, Y., Engelgau, M., Li, W., Qian, H., Si, X., Gao, X., Sereny, M., Liang, J., Zhu, X.
and Shi, X., 2014. Association of children’s eating behaviors with parental education, and
teachers’ health awareness, attitudes and behaviors: a national school-based survey in China. The
European Journal of Public Health, 24(6), pp.880-887.
Inoue, Y., Funk, D.C. and McDonald, H., 2017. Predicting behavioral loyalty through corporate
social responsibility: The mediating role of involvement and commitment. Journal of Business
Research, 75, pp.46-56.