Describes ways in which McDonaldization is evident in several familiar settings
Because the practices invented and perfected by McDonald’s are gradually adopted by many businesses, McDonaldization is evident in many aspects of commercial life today. Virtually any shop uses standardized pricing policies, designs, and even preferred phrases used by employees. For instance, when being approached by a consultant after entering the shop, the customer will likely hear a slightly modified version of “What can I help you with?” What’s more, most of the clients who are familiar with the tendency likely have preferred templates to answer such questions. Simply put, both the employee and the customer perform a well-established routine. Another notable aspect of McDonaldization is the increasing accessibility of tasks performed by the workers as well as customers. The tasks reassigned from the former to the latter, such as filling up a car with gas, not only become more often but tend to signal the instructions to the intended audience more apparently. Any given infrastructure becomes more equipped with visual aids to ensure that the customers understand what is expected of them.
In what ways does a McDonaldization setting control no just workers but customers as well?
In the McDonaldized setting, the customers are controlled by routinized predictable actions. For instance, after hearing the same greeting in a fast food restaurant several times, they will likely expect to hear it again and assign some meaning to this consistency. Alternatively, after noticing that food has the same characteristics in all McDonald’s restaurants, the customer will probably expect the same outcome from other fast-food brands. Such a setting can be beneficial for the company in two ways. First, it makes the audience more predictable. “Teaching” its customers to expect certain outcomes and conduct market research on the topic produces essentially the same result: the company knows how to cater its products and services to the tastes of the intended audience. At the same time, the former is already an inherent part of the company’s operations while the latter requires additional resources. Second, such an approach gives the company additional leverage in meeting customer’s expectations. Obtaining data on customer expectations usually results in specific changes while changing their behaviors allows to adjust them to the existing level of quality. Simply put, it is more cost-effective to persuade the customers that the fries fit perfectly for their needs than to change the production cycle.
Why does McDonaldization seem to appeal to many people?
There are two aspects of McDonaldization that are responsible for its dramatic popularity. First, strictly from an economic perspective, it is a tremendously successful model. It is effective, flexible, adaptable, and universal enough to be applied in almost any aspect of commerce. Second, from a broader social perspective, it offers unparalleled transparency and accessibility. To seek the simplest solution is a common human trait, and the predictability of McDonaldized life offers impressive simplicity. While explicit routinization is often criticized as being socially detrimental and borderline offensive, there is little doubt that it finds appreciation within the majority of the population, especially given its recognition by the public. That is not to say that it does not have its drawbacks. Admittedly, an image of a society permeated by McDonald’s culture has a disquieting and almost dystopian flavor. It certainly restricts variety, limits decision-making, and promotes mediocrity over individuality, which is unacceptable by modern standards. Nevertheless, its advantages should also be recognized. Aside from distributing the burden of routine tasks mentioned in the article, it eliminates needless complexity by pointing to the aspects of life which can be simplified. In other words, it points to the areas where an intellectual approach is unnecessary and allows to substitute precious human resources with automatized actions.