I made this research to highlight how the market research can help organizations decide whether or not to start business in new countries.

1. Prepared by :
• Michel George Accad
Date : 3rd October 2021
Market Research Case Study in Internationalization
AASTMT
Heliopolis branch

2. 1. Company Profile
2. Going International
3. Cultural & Societal factors in the Market Research
4. Products’ Specs in the Market Research
5. Market Research Methodology
6. Market Research Methodology
7. Market Research affecting Company Strategy
8. References
Contents

3. • The history of the McDonald’s Corporation dates back to 1955 when Ray Kroc, a
multimixer salesman, franchised a hamburger restaurant from the McDonald
brothers, named it McDonald’s, and offered simple foods such as the famous 15 cent
hamburger.
• Ten years later, 700 McDonald’s restaurants existed around the country, and the
brand was on its way to becoming a household name.
Company Profile

4. • In 1967 a franchise opened in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, McDonald’s first location
outside the US. By the early 21st century, there were some 34,000 outlets operating in more
than 115 countries and territories.
• Growth was so swift in the 1990s that it was said a new McDonald’s opened somewhere in
the world every five hours.
• One of the reasons of McDonald’s success globally is their well-defined market research
along with creating innovative ways of merging with the local image and delivering what the
brand promises their consumers.
• Such researches helped McDonalds to learn the customs and beliefs of the target customer
before entering such markets. This ensures that the company offers products required by the
consumers in that market.
• Researches were designed to search for the most evidenced factors such as the cultural,
political, societal, and trade restrictions. Culture entails national ideas, values, and tangible
items like food. However, societal forces involve the traditions, beliefs, and education.
Going International

5. • In China, where the company carried out a five-year research before opening the first
outlet, an unfavorable political climate has been identified. Accordingly, they reduced
the number of outlets while retaining units in stable regions due to.
• In some cases, the company completely ignores such markets such as Somalia in
Africa after researching the political situation.
• Legal factors included in the researches helped McDonald’s to overcome trade
limitations. The company only invests in countries where the terms of trade favor
them or negotiate with the authorities to be offered better terms for investment.
• In Australia, television commercials successfully gave McDonalds an Australian make-
over. Social factors of the researches made McDonald’s choosing Australian
nicknames & slogans for their products: “Macca’s”, “100% Aussie burger”, “Brekkie
Wraps” & “Macca’s Steak” to reflect a local Aussie image.
Cultural & Societal factors in the Market Research

6. • After getting info through research about the cultural and social limitations in Rome,
the company exchanged the exhaust systems of the outlet as the citizens expressed
that they don’t like the smoke smell from the restaurants’ chimneys.
• In England, the layout of the webpage has a British theme.
• Although McDonald’s has adopted localization strategy for several aspects of the
business, the brand name and packaging is consistent in different markets. The
physical features of products offered in different markets are the same.
Cultural & Societal factors in the Market Research

7. • Researches also encouraged the management to focus on slowly changing the taste of
the Asian consumers towards fast food which is an unusual aspect of the Chinese
culture. They did it by employing local employees.
• In India the multicultural country, researches helped McDonalds to understand the
big challenge of cultural restrictions:
o Cow is considered sacred, and pork is not consumed by Muslims and in addition
to the fact that majority of Indians were vegetarians.
• Local demographics, income level and customer preferences were key reason for
succeeding.
• McDonald’s replaced their top selling product (Cheeseburgers, Beef) with “McAloo
tikki”(deep fried spicy potato patty), the veg pops an alternative for chicken nuggets
& BigMac was replaced by “Chicken Maharaja Burger” along with an increase in their
chicken and fish options.
Products’ Specs in the Market Research

8. • In the South African market, McDonald’s had to offer additional products as
the Double Hamburger which contained an extra layer of beef to cater to the
needs of customers in the South African market that they knew about due to
their researches.
• The burgers offered by McDonald’s also differ in Japan where customers can
order a Koroke Burger. This burger consists of mashed potato, katsu sauce,
and cabbage.
• Similarly, in Malaysia, the brand offers a Double Beef Prosperity Burger.
• In Italy, the burgers are offered with a ciabatta roll.
Products’ Specs in the Market Research

9. • McDonald’s is one of the biggest fast-food chains in the world. To succeed outside the
US, McDonald’s frequently uses market research to make its customers happy.
• McDonald’s uses four key questions in its market research approach:
o Which products can perform well?
o What prices are most affordable for the consumers?
o To effectively advertise, what are consumers reading and watching?
o Which restaurants are most attended, and why?
By answering these questions, McDonald’s can gauge whether or not its customer
base is existing and can be expanding.
• This has been done through the usual Research Approaches:
o Observation
o Focus Groups
o Surveys
o Behavioral Data
Market Research Methodology

10. • There are several elements of the internationalization
strategy of McDonald’s that have resulted from the market
researches conducted:
• Differentiating the brand from the products. Ex: Planned
to open vegetarian restaurants in India because of the
preference of Indian customers for vegetable burgers.
• Identifying products that have international appeal: fries
and shakes which have international appeal. They are
included in McDonald’s menu of every country
• Focusing on both large and emerging markets.
McDonald’s has addressed to the needs of the local
population in big as well as emerging markets.
Market Research affecting
Company Strategy

11. • Many would associate the use of big data with huge technology corporations such as
Google or Microsoft. However, even global food service retailers like McDonalds use
their customer’s data to create meaningful insights and leverage themselves against
their rising competition.
• Many elements helped McDonald’s to improve efficiency:
o Times of day customers are more likely to go through a drive-thru
o In store traffic
o Customer interactions
o Flow throughs in the drive-thru’s
o Ordering patterns
o Point-of-sales data
o Video data
o Sensor data
• These factors impact every part of the McDonalds empire from refining their menu
design to optimizing their training programs.
Research Development

12. • IVY Panda Free Essays - https://ivypanda.com/essays/international-business-mcdonalds/
• UK Essays - https://www.ukessays.com/assignments/international-management-of-mcdonalds.php
• Orcan Intelligence - https://medium.com/@Orcanintell/how-does-mcdonalds-use-big-data-439403bc3fee
• Marketing Management (14th edition) – Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller - Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data
• Public community blog for students of the unit MPK732 Marketing Management in the Deakin Business
School at Deakin University, South Australia -
https://mpk732t12016clusterb.wordpress.com/2016/04/18/mcdonalds-marketing-research-done-right/