Introduction
Branding products is an essential part of fast food industry player success; it requires a healthy foods as well as a good corporate social responsibility. Currently not much has been done on this topic and hence it becomes of critical necessity in the present trends of corporate social responsibility and demand of healthy foods. It is imperative to develop sound and strategic brand and maintaining those factors that affect brand of a product to have an effective selling. The product needs to be marketed with forceful plan of action.
MacDonald has used the strategy of acquiring powerful brands as a tool that has kept them market leaders. By having control over the power brands they have managed to expanded internationally. A good brand image should be consistency, of good quality, be sustainable and Innovative. In other words it should be easier to set the product at functional level and be able to maintain it, to be able to co-exist; being able to produce combination in the market that speaks high volumes. It should be able to sold in difficult situation when there is an economy slump where people can’t afford to buy luxury items for example making a loss in the first quarter and coming back strongly in the second quarter by making profit and paying dividends to the shareholders, would boost the confidence and trust of the shareholder in the Company’s brand.
According to Thomson and Rampton (2006) the brand image should be able to provide customers with a degree of excellence and comfort, making them outshine from the rest of the group that is they provide a unique material, there should be diversification in the Products of the brand, so that it is not just dependent on just one particular item. The company should adapt creativity that is diversification in/of the product would be needed to give verity to the customer; an option that would give them a chance to look for something better than the rest of the market could not achieve it’s par excellence or excels to take advantage to that items.
For MacDonald to be able have such a good brand image should consider to critical issues; corporate social responsibility and healthy food. According to Price (2007) corporate social responsibilities includes, the ethical practices that the firm must follow, how environmentally conscious is the firm and over and above how they are responding to the stake holders of the firm. Change in views now demands a firm to be looked upon as a corporate citizen rather than just a business unit. So like a citizen the firm is now equally responsible for the welfare of the society as well as the organization itself. This means when the firm starts operating from the first day onwards they are making a contract with the society to follow the above mention obligations. The degree or extent to which a firm will indulge it to these activities depends upon various aspects like, how critical or important is the role of the stakeholders, what is their financial strength, how had been their past economic performances and also most importantly what is the true intent of the firm towards the social issues. In brief the practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs are viewed as a marketing strategy by the companies as the main focus of the business remains the same that is to retain and increase their current level of consumers. So CSR as a tool in the hands of the firms are serving the dual functions like fulfilling their social responsibilities as well as generating indirect or direct awareness to the consumers.
Methodology
The research with relevance to the above stated aspects was conducted by reviewing secondary data which is readily available. The various sources of secondary data that have been reviewed as part of this research are – a large number of international journals, books and obviously the World Wide Web. Research is the process of finding a solution to a problem or a question through the use of scientific tools and techniques.In a nutshell, research is a methodical and purposeful study conducted to obtain solutions for specific problems. Research is a process of collection of data in an organized manner with subsequent recording and analyzing of such data that will help in an effective decision making process argues Kumar, Aaker and Day (2002).
According to Proctor (2003) there are basically two types of research methods that are prevalent. They are primary research which can further be classified into qualitative research and quantitative research and secondary or desk research. If a qualitative research method is adopted, it is possible to explore various attitudes and perceptions. This method also helps in understanding how such attitudes and perceptions were formed.
According Kumar, Aaker and Day(2002) quantitative research, on the other hand, is descriptive in nature and helps in obtaining hard data by way of surveying a set of sample population to find out the kind of behaviors, attitudes etc, that are exhibited by the selected sample. Secondary research can be defined as the combination and analysis of readily available secondary data. Secondary data is the data which already exists and can be published information.
According Kumar, Aaker and Day (2002) this research is based on the data provided and categorized into two groups with the corporate social responsibility and healthy foods. The survey instrument is the data provided which is analyzed to give meaningful detections about food and eating habits. The use of a questionnaire and optional questions will also be enhanced and the participants will be picked randomly as they shop in this spots, for their foods of choice. The context and eating preferences displayed created the measure in which the information collected could be related to the date in hand to the actual market place. The consumers perception on food and eat, including feelings and behavior when deciding what to food to eat was determined by the age group class and the time factor. Also the study established the cost factor as a determinant on the consumers’ preference of food which prompts them to opt for particular products and not the other ads Kumar, Aaker and Day (2002).
It is important to use the brand image to lead to increased exposure as well as to attract more people to specific brand, which will increase the number of business for the company and enhance the branding of the company and its products argues Ries and Jack (2000).The methodology applied is critical survey and analysis of extensive literature review on the topic of brand image and corporate social responsibility, and Healthy food with the objective to provide comprehensive review of literature and analysis of data collected.
In this report I depended on secondary sources of data and market research, the primary survey was conducted in MacDonald. The first objective of the study was to find out the influences of corporate social responsibility and healthy food on brand image. For this the first important step was to find out the list of customers patronizing MacDonald to interview them. When the list is obtained, weight is observed and his opinion is sort the issue of CSR and healthy food. With those figures a Histogram and regression graph can be plotted. This Histogram and regression graph will give visual implications of which factor is influencing with great dominance. These data will distinctively show the percentage of influence of each factor on brand image. With the findings the company can match their product range and can identify whether their brand is competitive in the market because of CSR, healthy foods or both.
Discussion
The participants were asked why they bought food based on the health factor. There is consumption of foods that contains high-calories like for example fast foods and the increase in the portion sizes also add to the gaining of weight. There is density in the calories to those foods that are considered to be high-fat. The loading up on soft drinks, including candies and desserts may promote the so-called gain weight. The foods as well as beverages of high sugar and at the same time eating away from home may definitely increase the intake of calorie.
Overweight are labels for weight ranges that are greater than what are generally considered healthy for a given person’s height showed. Similarly, these terms are related to weight ranges that have been shown to increase the chances of acquiring certain diseases and other health problems. By taking a person’s weight and height to calculate a number called the “body mass index” (BMI), overweight ranges for adults can be determined. On the eating preference the consumers preferred foods that were eaten by all and which was easily available. It all bulled to the personal desire for a particular product.
CSR
It describes the process and outcome to enact CSR. (Kerr, and Johnston, 2008, p. 2) It is the degree by which the firm makes use of its socially responsible processes. It is the measure of the firm’s actions policies in the social ground. This can be measured in the way of the Principles of social responsibilities that was with the firm, the Process of social responsiveness, that is the action which the firm have taken to adapt the policy and finally the Outcome that is response or the social impact of the policies that resulted from the Process.
according to Price (2007) though there would be change and difference in outlook and constant modification of idea and theories, but no one can ignore the fact that CSR as a practice is gaining its importance. A company’s role is becoming more important and prominent in the society. One may say a company is using its CSR practices as an effective direct marketing tool or to create brand awareness, but the fact is there is an effort on the part of these firms to indulge itself in social and philanthropic activities. The companies have realized that their performance cannot be judged by a single yardstick. Corporate performance, especially for the global companies are measured in different dimensions. Their contribution to the society, the environmental issues and their participation in the global development and welfare are also strictly scrutinized now. As we have observed from the various theories that in the short run though consumers and investors look at the economic performance of a company but in the long run, the other performance comes into picture. So with the increase in competition and expectation from a company, it’s about time they should start acting. It is not necessary that the companies have to invest a huge amount in these activities or do something which does not match their present business scenario, but what is expected is very simple. They should be environmentally and socially responsible in whatever way its suits their business.
Results
Both quantitative and qualitative data were used to establish the relationship between corporate social responsibility, healthy food and brand image because the ticked answers could not solely be used. The qualitative information about the influences of CSR and the reasons behind the choices of MacDonald taken provided an extra check for reliability. In the factor of social concerns, the participants did agree on some of the items like saying that CSR contributed to their patronizing MacDonald. These results however, indicated that most people prefer those eating places that are had healthy foods because health concerns and it means that there is a vanity to eat as well as fresh foods at all times.
Health concerns are popular when one wants to eat not unless he or she is unwell on under a strict diet. Creativity in foods was a preference to, 70% of the participants agreed to being consumers of these foods while 40% said that they only buy these foods for their young ones. Time limitation showed that 80% of the affected consumers want to the fast foods whole 20% want to fast foods because they like the food adds Elfhag and Rssner(2008).
Analysis I
Corporate Social responsibility was found to be a great influencing factor that influenced patronizing of Macdonald as is related to the global influence because most people like feeling that they are eating what others can easily identify with while creativity in food is mainly used to boost the appetite and tempt one to buy. Most food companies know this and thus advantage of this factor to get people to consume their products by creating togetherness that paints picture of a people who are sharing that eating values and preferences. The reason as why most people count on this season is that the foods are easily available, affordable and popular. Also one can count on the nutrition value of the food influence one to buy particular food stuff. It can be noted that CSR and healthy foods factors influenced brand image the same way. However CSR played a major role as shown in the charts below.
This research shows showed the corporate reputation to depend on the social responsibility more than the type of food. Ignorance of social responsibilities was also found to be harmful for the company as evident from the punishment by the consumers. Consumers have been found to be expecting more socially responsible acts from the companies and pressurizing them in this regard. As a result the general global trend for the companies is to take more socially responsible actions to please the consumers as well as the investors.
CSR and Healthy food are intended to produce increased consumption at MacDonald through this brand image is created. For these reasons, at times, implant their convincing message with truthful information through.
To counter this fast foods are taking idea of making their precuts better- there is the organic food with the some companies going organic and getting down on plans to turn lunch spots which mainly fast food joints into places where office workers can have a meat loaf sandwich made with organic beef. The health concepts of whole meals are enhancing the health concern element into the people food preferences without necessary changing the design of the food.
The health factor when eating takes a back seat as long as one is not unwell with most people opting to have their preferred foods. Big companies take a big scoop of the consumers who want to recognize with their success with a larger population preferring to buy their products adds Elfhag and Rssner(2008).
Analyze II
The factors that determine the foods consumed are steady because of it being counteracted on the basis of being affected by the price, time, proximity, marking stature and the health of an individual.
According to this research weight is influenced by Healthy food. In order to avoid such worst health issues, the physical practitioners recommend that obese adults should adopt habits of well-balanced dieting along with regular exercise for the physical maintenance. It is recommended by the experts that the obese individuals should try to adopt moderate ways of dieting for the reduction of obesity-related health problems.
- Price:-The people who are influenced by the social element that comes with eating a certain food find themselves in the dilemma of having to choose the social class in which they can afford to buy food.Fast foods are affordable and even without the time limitation some consumers just buy it because of the financial limitations.
- Time:- This is an element that affect food consumption even though someone may have a preference for the healthy food, he or she may not be able to go for it due to lack of time and thus just rush to a fast food against his or her personal preference.
- Proximity:- When one is hungry most people tend to buy what is within their reach, the creative foods are usually available thus proximity affects what one eats. When one is unwell he or she is inclined to go for the health conscious products even though sometimes this fact takes a back seat for some lessons.
Implication
Food and eating preferences are personal exceptions which can be influenced by modes of adverts and the mindset created by the marketing lines. Social indirections can be as a result of peer pressure as well as the global influence. This so because eating habits and food preferences are subject to change with time due to the external factors that influence us.
A fast food consumer can change his or her preference and start going for the health conscious meals due to changes in his or her health. Creativity in food mainly attracted the young one and this can change when one outgrows it. Time also determines what we eat- on day when one is haste he or she can go into a fast food whole on less busy day there is enough time to go to the social places.
List of References
Elfhag, K., and S. Rssner..(2008) “Who succeeds in maintaining weight loss? A conceptual review of factors associated with weight loss maintenance and weight regain.” Obesity Reviews 6.1 (2005): 67-85. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.
Keller, K. L 2002, Strategic Brand Management: 2nd Edition- Prentice Hall Kumar, V., Aaker, D.A. and Day, GS 2002, Essentials of Marketing Research. New York. Wiley & Sons Price, T 2007, Corporate Social Responsibility: Is good citizenship good for the bottom line? CQ Research, 17 (28).
Proctor, T 2003, Essentials of Marketing Research, London: Pitman Heinneman Ries, A. & Jack, T 2000, Positioning- The Battle for Your Mind- 20th Anniversary Edition: McGraw-Hill Thomson, C. & Rampton, L 2006. Putting Your Customers First, Market Research. Melbourne press, New York.