McDonald's and Malaysian - An Unauthorized Action Research

[this entry is a simplified version of what my team and I have been researching and writing. all information exclusively belongs to these curious and hardworking people. you may share, however - just quote this site as a token of appreciation. we thank you first.]

abstract

McDonald's is a brand of fast food franchise that has been rooting deep in Malaysian's stomachs. It set foot on this very land in 1982 as its first restaurant was opened in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. To date, there are hundreds of McDonald's restaurants all over the country.

Most of us know how tasty McDonald's meals can be. And that's why we can see an increasing number of Malaysian who prefer to have fast-cooked burgers and deep-fried fries with carbonated drinks for lunch and dinner - rather than home-made dishes. This popular trend leads us to conduct a mini research about Malaysian eating habit and preferences - at McDonald's.


objective(s)

Since we have grown accustomed to this fast food franchise, we want to know what kind of meals that Malaysians like to enjoy, and what sort of activities people love to do while being at the restaurant.


methodology

- We bombard various McDonald's restaurants regardless the location and distance. Be it in shopping malls or stand-alone, we visit them at random.

- We normally storm in during peak hour - lunch and dinner. Due to the offers made by the company, we would purchase some for us as well, while keeping our eyes and ears open for one to two hours per session. We go for breakfast too, but the houses are on average clear.

- There are several research methods used in this find-out. We use sets of questionnaires, interview and a-face-in-the-crowd technique (observation) to collect data.

-- For writing feedback, we do ask permission from the manager of the chosen restaurant(s) first before distributing them to their customers. Questionnaires would only be launched if permission is granted.

- The samples for this research are the customers of the lucky restaurants themselves. We don't really pick targets - yet sometimes we can't help it but to discriminate. ~


findings/data

1. Restaurants are packed with people during lunch hour (12.00 pm to 2.30 pm) and dinner (7.00 pm to 9.00 pm) .
* This is probably due to the price cut made by McDonald's on its meals (McValue Lunch/Dinner).

2. Generally, the customers are of various age groups - children, teenagers, adults. Children are normally accompanied by their parents, while teenagers come in herd numbers.. as in a group of three or so/more.

3. The top 5 meals (as in set) are;

i. Double Cheeseburger
ii. Big Mac
iii. Spicy Chicken McDeluxe
iv. Happy Meal (with chicken burger)
v. Fillet-O-Fish

4. Malay customers usually have beef-based burgers. Chinese customers seemed prefer the Fillet-O-Fish, while Indian customers tend to go for non-beef burger patties.
* We couldn't really determine the exact ethnicity (other than the three major races) of the customers in Sabah and Sarawak. 

5. Female customers prefer to have desserts alongside the meals. McFlurry (of different variety) tops the survey, followed by sundaes and milkshakes.

6. Only 2 out of 13 customers (based on a few hundred samples.. so far) prefer tomato ketchup than chilli sauce. Such result comes from young customers (children) and women - mostly.

7. Female customers tend to order Coke Light for refreshment - rather than the original Coca Cola. Male customers, however, do not insist to change anything for the meals. They love to have it as it's advertised. Parents on the other hand would order cold Milo for their children.

8. As for couple(s), the male usually the one who'd queue up to place order, while the female finds a place to sit.

9. Malaysians tend NOT to sit - or share seats - with strangers.

10. 93% of samples admit that they will refill their drinks at least once.

11. Over 60% of samples prefer to go to McDonald's with friends - rather than family members.

12. Among those who have social media account (Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc), 86.4% of them prefer to check-in or tell their friends that they are at which McDonald's, what they are doing and with whom they are with.

13. Frequency of going to McDonald's ;

i. 18% - weekly
ii. 36% - monthly
iii. 28% - when they have special occasions/events (birthday celebration, etc)
iv. 13% - when they feel like going
v. 5% - only when McDonald's have special promotions

14. Most male customers prefer to spend more time on eating, while female customers tend to consume more time on chatting. Parents with children spend more time at the restaurant than any other groups of customers.

15. Less than 30% of samples asked - realized that the prices of the meals have been increased (slightly or clearly).

16. Over 80% of samples tell us that they prefer to dine in rather than take away. The top 3 reasons;

i. free flow of sauce (dipper)
ii. free refill of refreshments
iii. the surrounding and environment of the restaurants

17. 4 out of 10 samples admit that they would go for 'large' set of meals if asked upon placing their order.

18. Over 70% of samples would take the pictures of the food of special promotions - e.g. Prosperity Burger, GCB, Samurai Burger, Flavour of the month sundae/McFlurry, Mega Mac etc.

19. Most samples whom are students, prefer to study - be in a group or alone - at McDonald's restaurant. And they admit that studying in group(s) at McDonald's leads to more chatting and gossiping and refilling their cups of coke - rather than studying the notes for real.

20. 96% of samples think that it's okay to just buy a cup of soft drink at the restaurant just to earn a place to sit, and wait for their partner/friends to come. Not to mention to enjoy the shades and air-condition.

21. Only 2 out of 10 samples clean up their mess and clear the table on their own.

22. ... .. .

- These are just a few data of findings that we got from our research so far. We hope to finish this research very soon, within the timeline and able to publish this - somehow, somewhen, somewhere.

****

Note-

* This mini research has been carried out for over a year (we started it in June 2011) and expected to complete within 18 months. 

** This research is NOT funded by anybody, organization, corporation and/or the like. No, we don't do this for fame nor fortune. ALL expenses are of our own cash.  

*** This action research is carried out just for fun - for the sake of knowing. We take no benefits in any forms from this finding. 

**** I can't reveal the exact numbers of participants, samples, and other confidential details here - not until the research is complete. 

***** All data mentioned in this simplified report is true to date. Further/end results might vary.