Mcdonald\'s Interviews and Impressions My

McDonald's

Interviews and Impressions

My visits to McDonald's to interview seniors proved surprisingly fruitless. Perhaps the demographics of the area are simply not conducive to seniors, but there were few to be found. On two of my four visits, there were no seniors in the restaurant, even though there were a few dozen customers on all four occasions. The seniors I encountered were younger, one a gentleman dining alone and another a couple. I was able to ask some questions about their experiences. Having seen no seniors on my first visit, I changed my questions a little bit, beginning by trying to find out why so few seniors ate at McDonald's. The first thing that came up was that their friends did not eat at McDonald's. Health concerns were also cited, alongside the reputation that McDonald's has of serving unhealthy food. This leads to a hypothesis that the food mix is not right for seniors. The seniors I was able to interview were in their early 60s, as opposed to older. From that, I realized that the first generation to grow up with McDonalds was the baby boomers, and they were only now entering their early sixties. That is another reason why maybe few seniors were at my McDonald's -- burger chains are not part of the culture of people who are much older than sixty. With the baby boomers entering their senior years, however, that is about to change. The article by Elliott (2009) highlights the growing importance of courting the senior's market.

SWOT

The information I was able to gather revealed the following. In terms of strengths, the low price of McDonalds was something that appealed to seniors. Convenience is important as well -- a McDonald's in an area with a large population of seniors was likely to have more. So demographics is probably a factor. Most attributes of McDonald's, however, would be construed as negative. Obviously, one cannot interview people who are not dining at McDonalds, but I made notes about what I saw. The menu does not appear to be particularly senior friendly. The couple noted that McDonalds was a treat to them, but normally they try to eat healthier. Seniors today are quite conscious of their health and take care with their lifestyle choices. Even when McDonalds puts healthier items on their menu, the restaurant retains its "junk food" reputation. "I don't come here for salad," one lady said, "they aren't really good at making salads."

Another disadvantage that I noted was that the restaurant's accessibility was relatively poor. There was a power door for wheelchairs, and the entire restaurant was at ground level, but the tables and chairs within the restaurant were fixed in position, so not very good for people with mobility issues. The front door was relatively tight, so hard to open without pushing the wheelchair button for someone with strength issues. In addition, the restaurant itself was cluttered. There was not much room in between the tables and chairs for walking. It was pretty crowded each time, and that created significant audio and visual noise, which could be annoying to some. So for seniors, there are a number of potential physical challenges that could turn them away from my local McDonald's.

As noted above, however, the senior's market is a great one to target. The baby boom generation is huge, and is just getting into their senior years. This generation will be strong for another twenty years as its members get older, so attracting them now is important for a company like McDonald's, in order to maintain its status as a place they will go. Naturally, many seniors become locked into their habits, so if McDonald's can establish itself as part of their lives now, that bodes well for the future. In addition, this is a generation that grew up with McDonalds, the first such generation, and as a result its seniors are more likely to patronize McDonalds than seniors of a previous generation. Thus, the baby boom and the seniors market represents an exceptional opportunity for McDonalds to enhance revenues from a demographic that up until now has not been enthusiastic about what McDonald's has had to offer.

There are threats, of course. The first is the company's health reputation, which opens up the door to competition. There are hundreds of quick service restaurant concepts, and some cater better to health-conscious consumers than McDonald's does. These restaurants in particular are a threat to McDonalds -- a chain like Subway has a menu better suited for older customers. There are other threats as well, such as eroding sources of wealth. As people retire, their budgets become more fixed. If they rely on pensions from their employers, many of those shifting from traditional defined-benefit plans to defined-contribution plans. Thus, more seniors are going to rely on the stock market or bond markets for their wealth. This threatens their financial security, and therefore their ability to buy McDonalds. Fortunately, the baby boomer generation picked a good time to be born, and many have wealth locked up in their homes, or accumulated from long careers in world where one could move straight from undergrad into a management job, with no student loans. This generation is fairly well off, relative to just about any other. However, those that rely on government for pensions are at risk because of the budget situation. Social security is one of the biggest entitlement programs. While seniors form a large voting block and government is unlikely to make major cuts to social security while the baby boomers remain a strong voting block, this depends on how desperate the budget situation becomes.

Marketing Mix

In order to attract more senior customers, it is recommended that McDonald's implement the following marketing plan. There are two key product elements. The first is the menu, which should be updated to include more foods that appeal to seniors. Heavy, greasy meals lose their appeal, and are considered unhealthy, but with some senior-specific menus, McDonalds can increase its appeal. In addition, special senior's pricing much like what McDonalds already does with children could draw in more customers with fixed incomes. Lastly, the service element is critical. McDonald's does make an effort to train its staff about customer service, but high turnover and the grueling nature of the job sometimes makes for service deficiencies. It is recommended that McDonalds eliminate these, because older seniors in particular value the human attachment that comes with social interaction, even at a fast food restaurant. Good customer service and personal attention are just so much more important to seniors than to younger customers. McDonald's can even hire some seniors to work day shifts, in order to create a more senior-friendly service environment.

Price. As noted, special pricing for seniors is a good way to attract them. Set prices for meals will help seniors who are on fixed incomes to budget McDonald's as a treat, and will send a message to seniors that their business is welcome at McDonald's. Ideas like a coffee club or loyalty program could bring in seniors during slower periods like the middle of the afternoon, and create loyal customers.