McDonald’s in Beijing: The localization of Americana

Yunxiang Yan

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In Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia

Edited by James L. Watson

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Classroom guiding questions:

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1. What are the main points analyzed in Golden East Arch that reflect differences between McDonald’s practices in China vs. US?
2. Who would you say is the typical target consumer in the US? How about in China according to your partners?
3. Do you see McDonald's as symbol of modernity, freshness, nutritional value? Do your partners?
4. Do you consume it as a snack or meal? How about your partners?
5. Is fast food expensive for your partners? In the US?
6. Are predictable expenses a factor in your’ choice of fast food? How about your partners?
7. Would you do you have a party at McDonalds? A date? Why why not? How about your partners?

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This article: a case study

It is an ethnographic survey of consumer behavior in Beijing (1994)

Researcher found:

• Stories among Chinese people about cube-shape potatoes
• New foreign terms used by employees and customers: Weisi (waste), jishi (cheese), delaisu (drive-through)

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Participants of the study

• McDonald’s management and staff
• Beijing customers

Analysis of the data

1. Image of McDonald’s in the mind of ordinary Chinese people
2. McDonald’s efforts to fit into the Chinese market
3. Ways in which Beijing Consumers have appropriated McDonalds for their own use.

“On april 23, 1992, the largest McDonald’s restaurant in the world opened in Beijing. With 700 seats and 29 cash registers, the Beijing McDonald’s served 40,000 customers on its first day of business.” (p.1)

Context

McDonald’s expansion in Beijing occurred in a context of recent changes in the Chinese society.

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“There is a tendency to absorb foreign cultural influences and transform them into local institutions, a trend that the Chinese political system resisted during the Maoist Era (1949-78)”

The concepts Tu and Yang are used in the everyday discourse of Chinese political culture since the 19th century.

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Tu = rustic, uncouth and backward.

Yang = anything foreign (particularly Western), fashionable, and quite often, progressive.

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McDonald’s as a symbol of Americana

In that context of multiple changes, McDonald’s represents the promise of modernization. The corporation success in Beijing have to do with:

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• Having a highly efficient service and management
• Offering a spotless dining environment
• Using fresh ingredients
• Employing highly standardized procedure of food production and scientific recipes
• Applying a strict quality control

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AND especially the fact that it,

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• Offers an atmosphere of equality and democracy

(very different from the Chinese culinary culture. Highly competitive)

McDonald’s public image

At that time, McDonald’s marketing strategy was to put:

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• No advertisements on TV but in newspapers and popular magazines and a Short booklet about the history of the business (quality, service, cleanliness and values)

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• Efforts to promote the image as an exemplar of modernity

(5 minutes tour of the kitchen for anyone who requires it). Message: “McDonald’s foods are cooked in accordance with strict scientific methods and are guaranteed fresh and pure” (p.4)

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• Emphasis on the freshness and purity of the food. Also on its nutritional value “scientifically designed” food that means it includes main nutritional elements a human being needs daily

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“The idea that McDonald’s provides healthy food based on nutritional ingredients and scientific cooking methods has been widely accepted by both the Chinese media and the general public” (p.4)

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• ALSO, McDonald’s had benefited greatly from the cultural symbolism it carries. Restaurant kept the same menu as in America. The growing popularity of the Big Mac was an indicator that Beijing customers have no problem accepting American style cuisine.

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Representations of McDonald’s for Beijing people

The results of the study showed that children are great fans of the food BUT not adults

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• They are more attracted to the American “style”, the experience, more than the food.
• “Many people commented to me that the food was not really delicious and that the flavor of cheese was too strange to taste good.”

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• The most common complaint was that food at McDonald’s is like “chi bu bao”: the hamburgers and fries did not make one feel full. They are more like snacks than meals

• In the Chinese food system, “To prepare a balanced meal, it must have an appropriate amount of both fan and ts’ai (cai), and the ingredients are readied along both track” (p.5)

The hamburger is then considered as a foreign (yang) sort of xianbing. A small eat.

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Fan= grains and other starches, Cai= vegetables and/or meat dishes, Xianbing= small eats or snack

Why do they go to McDonald’s?

• Atmosphere of the restaurant
• Style of eating
• Experience of being there (culinary and cultural)

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“Some local observers have argued that the appeal of Chinese cuisine is the taste of the food itself, and that, by contrast, Western food relies on its presentation. The popularity of imported fast food is thus taken as a demonstration that consumers are interested in the spectacle, the show, that this new form of eating permits.” (p.6)

“Despite differences in social background, all except for the children mentioned McDonald’s eating environment and good service as the primary reason they came, and most, if not all, of my informants emphasized that eating at McDonald’s was a significant culinary and cultural experience” (p.6)

“ In other words, the attraction of McDonald’s is that it offers, no filling food, but a fulfilling experience” (p.5)

Who goes to McDonalds?

“Many people, especially those constrained by their moderate income, visited McDonald’s restaurants only once or twice, primarily to satisfy their curiosity about American food and culinary culture” (p.6)

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McDonald’s is a fashionable and popular restaurant.

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The customers are :

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• tourists (going mainly for curiosity, new experience)
• “Tasting American food has recently become an important aspect of Chinese tourism in Beijing, and those who achieve this goal boast about it to their relatives and friends back home” (p.6)

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• local consumers (3 different groups:Yuppies, young couples, children)

Growing frequentation of McDonald’s by local consumers (10.2% go more than 4 times a month)

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Beijing McDonald’s frequent customers:

Yuppies

• Young residents who have higher incomes and wish to be “connected” closely to the outside world
• They go for saving time, but stay around an hour (generally)
• Eating at McDonald’s has become an important way to define themselves as middle-class professionals

Young couples

• Romantic and comfortable environment
• “One of the best place in Beijing for courtship”
• Exotica of hamburgers, milk shakes, apple pie, ice cream
• No competition of conspicuous consumption
• Special space “lovers’ corner”

Children (accompanied by their parents)

• Loyal fans
• Playing area
• Parents take their children to McDonald’s to make them happy, even if they don’t like hamburgers
• Can be difficult for families with limited economic resources

Cost of eating at McDonald’s

• In 1994, a dinner for a family of three = ⅙ of a worker’s monthly salary
• “It’s rather expensive to eat here at McDonald’s. I have to work for two days in order to have a Big Mac set meal. But for a high-fashion restaurant the price is okay” (young woman worker, p.8)
• Many people arrive by taxi, to make the trip more memorable and luxurious

Changes in Beijing Consumers behaviors

Integration and appropriation of the new culture

As examples:

• Leaving the rubbish on the table
• In 1992, people left their rubbish on the tables
• In 1994, ⅕ carried their trays to the waste bins (they felt more “civilized”)

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• Speaking in lower tone
• Customer behavior, more self-restrained and polite toward one another

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“One possible explanation for this difference is that the symbolic meanings of new food, along with customers’ willingness to accept the exotic culture associated with fastfood, had affected people’s table manners in particular and social behavior in general.” (p.8)

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Further questions

• Which of the main points analyzed in Golden East Arch were you mostly surprised to learn? Why?
• What information did you know already if any? How did you learn about it?
• Do you think it has changed since 1992? How?

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