Introduction
McDonald’s is a large hamburger fast food restaurant chain that operates in more than 120 countries (Fast Food Menu Prices, McDonald’s par.1). It offers various types of food such as hamburgers, chicken, cheeseburgers, soft drinks, and salads among others. Subway is a healthy fast food restaurant chain that operates on a national level. It sells sandwiches and salads to health-conscious consumers at affordable prices (Fast Food Menu Prices McDonald’s par.1). The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the two franchises in terms of their prices, service quality, and healthiness of food items.
McDonald’s
Prices
The following is a shortlist of some of the most popular meals at McDonald’s and their corresponding prices in California: Big Mac – $5.11, Quarter Pounder with Cheese – $3.69$, Filet-O-Fish – $4.85, McChicken – $1.65, and 20 Pc. Chicken Nuggets – $6.40 (Fast Food Menu Prices, McDonald’s par.1).
Service
According to a recent study that evaluated the comparative performance of the most popular fast-food restaurants in the United States, McDonald’s scored the highest on the overall service scale (Min and Min 286). The results of the study revealed that customers perceived McDonald’s as a leader in the following categories: location, amenity, operating hours, and service response time (Min and Min 286).
The healthiness of Food Items
A study of the purchasing behavior of adolescents 12 to 21 years of age showed that the sandwich purchased at McDonald’s contained 572 calories on average (Lesser et al. 443). Soft drinks in McDonald’s averaged 151 calories (Lesser et al. 443). The participants obtained 36 grams of sugar on average from the total meal in McDonald’s (Lesser et al. 443).
Subway
Prices
The following is a list of popular Subway menu items in California and their corresponding prices: Subway Club – $9.92, Tuna Sub – $8.64, Black Forest Ham – $7.04, Veggie Delite Sub – $7.04, and Pizza Sub with Cheese – $7.68 (Fast Food Menu Prices Subway par. 1). It is clear that McDonald’s offers lower prices than Subway for comparable food items.
Service
Even though the study conducted by Min and Min revealed that McDonald’s ranked highest on the overall service scale, Subway was the leader in the following categories: cleanliness, employee courtesy, healthy food, a variety of food, safety, and reputation (286). However, the findings of the research showed that Subway fell behind McDonald’s and was ranked third best fast food restaurant chain with respect to overall quality of its services (Min and Min 286).
Healthiness of Food Items
The results of the study conducted by Lesser et al. revealed that the sandwich at Subway contained 784 calories on average while a similar menu item at McDonald’s had only 572 calories (Lesser et al. 443). It means that the sandwich in Subway contributed more calories thereby making it less healthy. However, soft drinks in Subway averaged only 61 calories while McDonald’s offered drinks containing 151 calories on average (Lesser et al. 443). Moreover, the adolescents participating in the study obtained 36 grams of sugar from the total meal at Subway and almost 55 grams of sugar at McDonald’s (Lesser et al. 443). Therefore, it is safe to conclude that McDonald’s offers slightly less healthy food in terms of sugar and calories than Subway.
Conclusion
The comparative analysis of the two fast food restaurant chains showed that both of them have similar food items in terms of their healthiness. However, McDonald’s is the price and service leader.
Works Cited
Fast Food Menu Prices. McDonald’s Prices. 2016.
— (n.d.). Subway Prices. 2016.
Lesser, Leonard, Karen Kayekjian, Paz Velasquez, Chi-Hong Tseng and Deborah Cohen. “Adolescent Purchasing Behavior at McDonald’s and Subway.” Journal of Adolescent Health 53.4 (2013): 441-445. Print.
Min, Hokey and Hyesung Min. “Benchmarking the Service Quality of Fast‐Food Restaurant Franchises in the USA.” Benchmarking: An International Journal, 18.2 (2011): 282-300. Print.