Success of McDonald's in Asian Countries
"(Unlike Americans,) easterners were not looking for a restaurant meal they could eat in eleven minutes, the average time an American spends eating at McDonald’s, nor were they looking for an ordinary hamburger that tastes the same in Hong Kong and Beijing." ("http://bucknellorgtheory09.wordpress.com")
McDonald's in Japan
"Consumer taste was not the only challenge McDonald’s had to deal with in Japan. Commensality, eating together at one table, is central to the Japanese. One of the most important roles of food is bringing people together and creating a sense of community. Rice, which is delivered to the table in a common container and served to everyone at the table, is the essence of a food that bonds families and creates social relationships. McDonald’s hamburgers, conversely, are meant to be eaten individually and cannot be shared. Not only does the food in McDonald’s restaurants fail to encompass the characteristic of commensality, but the physical arrangement of the restaurants in Japan further de-emphasize this feature. As McDonald’s expanded in Japan, restaurants gradually included tables in the layout. Usually on the first floor of restaurants there is a small space for ordering food and seating areas are on the second and third floors. Still, restaurants have more counters with stools facing walls than they do tables with chairs."
("http://bucknellorgtheory09.wordpress.com")
("http://bucknellorgtheory09.wordpress.com")
"They have not conceded to the traditional tastes of American hamburgers, but instead prefer rice burgers, a slice of meat between bun-shaped rice patties. Though it has become progressively more acceptable by the Japanese to eat at McDonald’s, it has not become a place where lunches or dinner by the masses is consumed. Den Fujita concedes: 'McDonald’s has gained ample recognition among Japanese consumers. However, our image is that of a light-meal restaurant for young people. We are not regarded as a place for adults to have dinner.' (Ohnuki-Tierney, 2007:164)" ("http://bucknellorgtheory09.wordpress.com")
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