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Cultural differences and McDonald's: a multi-country comparative study

Article in International Journal of Business and Globalisation · January 2022

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2022.127123

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Int. J. Business and Globalisation, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx 1

Cultural differences and McDonald’s: a multi-country

comparative study

Mahmood A. Khan
Hospitality and Tourism Management,
Virginia Tech,
Falls Church, VA 22043, USA
Email: mahmood@vt.edu

Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih*

College of Business Administration,
King Faisal University,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
and
Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management,
Helwan University, Egypt
Email: asobaih@kfu.edu.sa
*Corresponding author

Kyuho Lee
School of Business and Economics,
Sonoma State University,
Rohnert Park, CA 95409, USA
Email: Kyuho.Lee@Sonoma.edu

Inhyuck Ha
College of Business,
Western Carolina University,
Cullowhee NC, USA
Email: iha@email.wcu.edu

Abstract: The current study assesses the cultural differences in the perceptions
of McDonald’s services in four countries, US, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Egypt.
Countries were selected because there were enough variations based on the
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Using individual respondents and Hofstede’s
cultural dimensions, the study determined that there were statistically
significant differences between the countries regarding perceptions of food
quality, socialising place, and convenience. In general, the US perceived
McDonald’s more critically than other countries whereas Egypt and Vietnam
viewed it more favourably. The most apparent application is that culture needs
prime consideration before planning to enter any country for business,

Copyright © 20XX Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

2 M.A. Khan et al.

irrespective of how popular, standardised operations, and procedures are. It is

critical to determine the service perceptions of the target market particularly for
an international chain restaurant, where similarities and differences of the
various countries and cultures may have a profound impact. Other implications
for practitioners and academics are discussed.

Keywords: quick service restaurants; QSRs; cultural differences; Hofstede’s

cultural dimensions; McDonald’s; service perceptions.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Khan, M.A.,

Sobaih, A.E.E., Lee, K. and Ha, I. (xxxx) ‘Cultural differences and
McDonald’s: a multi-country comparative study’, Int. J. Business and
Globalisation, Vol. X, No. Y, pp.xxx-xxx.

Biographical notes: Mahmood A. Khan is a Professor and the Director in

Hospitality and Tourism Management at Pamplin College of Business, Virginia
Tech’s National Capital Region (Washington DC) Campus. He has served in
teaching, research and administrative positions for past 32 years, working at
major US universities. His area of specialisation is franchising and international
services management. He is the author of seven books and has received several
awards, e.g., Stevenson Fletcher Award and John Wiley & Sons Award. He has
travelled extensively to give lectures, workshops and seminars nationally and
internationally.

Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih is an Associate Professor of Management at the Faculty

of Tourism and Hotel Management, Helwan University, Egypt. He is currently
in sabbatical leave as an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at the
College of Business Administration, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor of Strategic Human Resource
Management Applied Science University, Bahrain. He has been a Visiting
Professor in Cardiff Met. University (UK) and Virginia Tech University
(USA). He has a special interest in human resources management and
organisational behaviour research, especially in relation to hospitality and
tourism context.

Kyuho Lee is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Wine Business at

Sonoma State University, California, USA. He received his PhD in Hospitality
and Tourism Management at Virginia Tech. Also, he received an AACSB
Post-Doctoral Bridge to Business Program Certificate (Marketing) at Virginia
Tech in 2009. He specialises in the study of wine brand management, wine
consumer behaviour, and international services marketing. He has published his
works in leading academic journals such as Journal of Retailing, Services
Marketing, and The Service Industries Journal.

Inhyuck ‘Steve’ Ha is a Professor of Economics at Western Carolina University

in North Carolina. His areas of interest are economics of discrimination, spatial
econometrics, community economic development and economic impact
analysis. He has extensive experience conducting statistical analysis and
understanding the complexities of real-world data. His current research projects
include studying the effects of affirmative action policy in public procurement
and contracting, and labour market discrimination. He has over 20 years of
experience in working on the issues of racial discrimination and numerous
DBE goal-setting and disparity studies.
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 3

1 Introduction

Quick service restaurants (QSRs) are now more global than ever and international fast
food eating continues to increase in popularity as today’s hectic lifestyle and the demand
for convenience products have led to an increased demand for quick service (Khan,
2015). The global development and growth of QSRs has become exemplified by the
worldwide growth of McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut and many other American restaurant
franchises. Despite the fact that franchised restaurants often expand beyond the borders
of their home country, the need for consistent products and service, because of the
expectations of the franchisor, try to ensure that the organisational offerings are the same
from place to place (Khan, 2015). McDonald’s does business in more than 100 countries
around the world and is consistently among the top ranked fast food restaurants or QSRs.
Customers’ perceptions of service quality are subjective evaluations of a service
experience, and customers’ expectations are the standards against which such service
experiences are judged (Zeithaml et al., 1993). Like other businesses, QSRs should
understand the needs and wants of their customers in order to ensure that they are
meeting or exceeding their customers’ demands and therefore increasing their
satisfaction. As a result of cultural differences, when restaurants move to foreign
locations they are forced to think globally but act locally to meet their customer needs
within different cultures (Vignali, 2001). Due to the needs of the franchise organisation
requiring consistent products and service, as well as the possible cultural differences as a
company grows beyond their home country, there is a need for research on the
perceptions of international brands and acceptance in a variety of countries. Overall, there
is a lack of research on how multi-unit chain restaurants ensure that their service and
product standards meet the expectations of the host country without compromising the
standards of the home country of the franchise (Khan, 2015).
Many studies (e.g., Goyal and Singh, 2007; Kim et al., 2010) have been done around
the topic of service perceptions in QSRs in general without concern for a variety of
locations and hence cultures, but this timely study is being done to look at the cultural
differences in perceptions of service in QSRs using McDonald’s restaurants as an
example. The primary objective of the study was to conduct a comparative assessment of
customer perceptions of McDonald’s restaurants in culturally different countries of the
world. McDonald’s restaurants were selected because of their global presence and
standardised operating procedures. The convenience sample of countries selected were
US, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Egypt. These countries were selected for the study due to
distinct differences in specific Hofstede’s cultural dimensions (Hofstede et al., 2010).
More specifically the study was set to answer the following research questions on a
comparative basis:
1 Are there any differences in factors related to customers’ service perceptions with
McDonald’s in selected culturally different countries?
2 Are there any differences in customers’ service perceptions of McDonald’s
restaurants among selected culturally different countries based on the socio-cultural
background?
4 M.A. Khan et al.

2 Review of literature

2.1 Theoretical framework: Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

Geert Hofstede first developed Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory in the early 1970’s.
Hofstede (1980) describes culture as being the collective programming, which reflects the
meaning that groups’ and societies place on different aspects of life. As this collective
programming varies in different societies, Hofstede et al. (2010) asserts that every
country has its own business and service expectations as well as their own business and
service culture.
Hofstede’s initial study (1980) developed four primary dimensions to measure
national cultures: power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and
masculinity. The power distance dimension considers the acceptance of the populace of
unequal power distribution among people in society. The individualism/collectivism
dimension considers the amount that a society organises via groups. In individualist
societies, focus is placed on personal freedoms and personal successes. The uncertainty
avoidance dimension considers tolerance for ambiguity in a society. Lastly, the
masculinity dimension considers the distribution and fluidity of gender roles. Masculine
societies are traditionally less fluid and the roles more clearly differ between males and
females.
Two other dimensions were added later by Hofstede and his co-workers (2010)
including long-term orientation and indulgence. Long-term orientation is how a culture
views its past and how it can help it adapt to the future. A low score means that a culture
looks at the future suspiciously and prefers to hold time-honoured traditions. The last
dimension is indulgence, and high indulgence scores means that the society allows
relatively free gratification of needs and drives related to having fun (The Hofstede
Centre, 2015).
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory proposes that in order to effectively cross
country lines for business (whether in management or as an organisation wanting to sell a
service/product), there needs to be an understanding and willingness to do things
differently based on these cultural dimensions (Hofstede et al., 2010). This means that
when a company operates only in the way that they do in their home country, they may
find resistance and barriers to success in other countries.

2.2 Cultural variation in QSR preferences

With the rapid growth and expansion of QSRs internationally, it is imperative to study
the influence of cultural variations on service perceptions. An analysis of studies focused
on consumer behaviour suggests that the preferred or most popular QSR varies between
countries. Ling et al. (2011) identified McDonald’s as the ‘most preferred’ restaurant in
Malaysia. McDonald’s is also the most visited QSR in India (Goyal and Singh, 2007). A
study in the US showed McDonald’s as securing the highest ratings for popularity
(Knutson, 2000). Contrasting earlier results, Kim et al. (2010) observed Wendy’s to have
the overall highest satisfaction scores in the US. Several studies observed domestic fast
food brands to be popular as well. Jollibee is the most visited restaurant in the Philippines
(Matejowsky, 2008) and Nirula’s, a local chain from India, is identified by Goyal and
Singh (2007) as the second most visited restaurant by respondents after McDonald’s.
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 5

Overall though, McDonald’s is the number one restaurant brand in the world in terms of
sales (Top Ten Largest Fast Food Chains in the World, 2017).
Developing countries have and are being targeted by QSR companies for entry and
development as a way to grow their brands. In particular, China has been targeted as its
growth rate is projected to be more than double that of the US (Alvarez, 2015). Yum!
Brands has been particularly aggressive in opening new restaurants in China. Another
examples is the Egyptian restaurant industry which is also dominated by American QSRs,
particularly by KFC and McDonald’s (Sobaih and Jones, 2015).
Some studies related to QSRs have compared the expectations and perceptions of
service in different countries. As can be expected, results suggest that these expectations
and perceptions are not constant from country to country. Lee and Ulgado’s (1997) study,
using gap theory, was conducted as a reminder to American QSRs that they need to
consider cultural differences in implementing a successful business model in international
markets. South Korea represents a market where US fast food companies are considered
successful and the market is robust. The authors concluded that American consumers
have high expectations for low food prices in evaluating QSRs. On the other hand,
Korean customers have strong expectations in the service dimensions beyond low prices
(notably, reliability and empathy). For perceptions, the Korean respondents believed that
their fast food restaurants more closely met their expectations than the Americans did.
Qin et al. (2009) conducted a broad study in China to better understand determinants
of perceived service quality for Chinese fast food consumers. The study made key
findings on perceived service quality and determined that reliability, recoverability,
tangibles and responsiveness were key factors related to perceived service quality.
Moreover, food quality, perceived value and service quality maintained a statistically
significant positive relationship with customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction also
positively influenced behavioural intention. These studies show that there are variations
that can occur in different cultures regarding perceptions of service.

Figure 1 A comparison between US, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Egypt using Hofstede’s Cultural
dimension (see online version for colours)

Source: http://geert-hofstede.com/
6 M.A. Khan et al.

In the current study, exploring the culture of the convenience sample of four countries
(US, Malaysia, Vietnam and Egypt) through the lens of the 6-D model (The Hofstede
Centre, 2015) gives a review of the various dimensions of the cultures in each of these
countries for comparison purposes. The US is ranked as having the least amount of power
distance, whereas Malaysia maintains the highest power distance, meaning that there is a
set and followed hierarchy that people do not question. The US also is one of the most
individualist cultures in the world, whereas Vietnam is the most collectivist society
among the four countries. Again, the US scored highest among the group at 62 showing
their masculine tendencies with relationship to the value of work and lacking a little
balance between work and home life, while Vietnam had the lowest rank among the four
countries with a score of 40. In addition, Vietnam has the lowest score of 30 in
uncertainty avoidance while Egypt had the highest score of 80 among the countries
studied. On the other hand, Egypt was as low at 7 in long-term orientation. With regard to
indulgence, the US scored as an indulgent society (68) followed by Malaysia (57),
whereas Egypt had a very low score of four showing a very restrained country that can
have a tendency towards cynicism and pessimism (see Figure 1).
Ray Kroc, a milk-shake mixer salesman, had the opportunity to franchise the
successful drive-in restaurant of the two brothers Richards and Maurice McDonalds who
offered quality sandwiches with cheap prices and thick milkshake, in 1937 in Pasadena,
California. The first franchised McDonalds was opened in 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois,
US (McDonald’s Corporation, 2019). To support the quality food and services, Ray Kroc
launched a training programme, called Hamburger University later, in Illinois, US
(McDonald’s Corporation, 2019). After taking the decision to expand internationally,
McDonald’s has made several successful adaption to foods overseas (Dana, 1999). The
first, and the largest, expansion of McDonald’s was in Canada 1967 (Vignali, 2001).
McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Malaysia 1982 after the government opened the
door for entrepreneurship and international business as a result of industrial revolution in
1970s (Dana, 1987). McDonald’s successfully adapted to Malaysian culture. For
example, McDonald’s introduced the McRendanag and sugar cane juice and has reached
260 branch to date (McDonal’s Malaysia, 2018). McDonald’s opened the first restaurant
in Egypt in 1994 under Egyptian franchised company ‘Manfoods’ as a part of the formal
sector of the Egyptian economy which also has informal and state controlled sectors
(Dana, 2000) and has reached to 100 across the country (McDonal’s Egypt, 2018).
McDonald’s has successfully adapted to the Egyptian culture by introducing items that
meet the needs of Egyptian customers, e.g. McFalafel. McDonalds lately opened in
Vietnam in 2014 and because the Vietnamese economy is based on small and medium
enterprises (Dana, 1994), McDonalds has successfully grown to reach 20 restaurants in
four years (McDonald’s Vietnam, 2018). Like the other countries, McDonald’s has
successfully adapted to the Vietnamese culture and launched rice dishes, which are part
of their culture (McDonald’s Vietnam, 2018).

2.3 Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and service perceptions

Limited studies have been conducted specifically to observe cultural differences in the
perceptions of QSRs although a plethora of research have been conducted to examine the
impacts of culture on service quality perceptions in other service sectors (Najib and
Sosianika, 2018; Wu et al., 2018).
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 7

Kueh and Ho Voon’s (2007) study of the relationship between individual cultural
dimensions of millennial and perceived service quality was conducted. The results
showed that power distance dimension was negatively related to all dimensions of service
quality. Moreover, increases in the collectivism dimension was negatively related to
reliability and positively related to tangibles, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The
masculinity dimension was not significantly related to any of the service quality
dimensions. The uncertainty avoidance dimension and long-term orientation both were
positively related to all dimensions of service quality. In conclusion, this study by Kueh
and Ho Voon (2007) has added to a limited body of literature focusing on service quality
expectations and cultural dimensions. The study also confirmed that further research is
needed in this area to help restaurants determine cultural implications related to
operations, service, and marketing strategies that will be helpful in determining
behavioural intentions.
While Kueh and Ho Voon (2007) focus on individual cultural dimensions, Maciel
et al. (2013) compared service quality dimensions that are perceived by young QSR
consumers in developing markets (i.e. Brazil) to young consumers in developed markets
(i.e., US). The US was selected as it is the country of origin for the QSRs that were
analysed (McDonald’s and Subway) and Brazil as a major emerging market. The two
countries also have very different scores according to Hofstede’s rankings. Although not
ranked in the same order, McDonald’s in both countries contained fun, credibility,
modernity and competence dimensions. For fun, differences in attributes between the two
countries suggest that since Brazilian are more collectivist, they perceive relational
attributes to be an element of the fun dimension not perceived by respondents from the
US Credibility is more related to reliability in the US, while it is connected to
respectability in Brazil and this is due to higher power distance levels in Brazil. For
competence, it contains elements of performance in the US and Brazil, but also contains
elements of informality, and family-friendliness in the US The authors suggest that this
difference could be due to different perspectives on the term ‘family’, which in more
collectivist societies such as Brazil, refers to an extended family. Lastly, sensitivity was
observed as a service quality factor in Brazil while attractiveness was identified as a
service quality factor in the US This can be attributed to Brazil being a more feminine
country and the US being more masculine. For Subway, both countries contained factors
of credibility, modernity, competence, and fun. Sophistication was a dimension only
observed in Brazil, while ruggedness was a factor observed in the US Sophistication was
characterised as having elements of glamour while ruggedness reflects masculine
viewpoints. The authors suggest also that presence of these different factors represents a
difference in masculinity and femininity factors between the US and Brazil.
Hasan and Rahim (2008) conducted a study to determine if there was a correlation
between online purchasing (including fast food purchasing) habits and cultural
dimensions in different cultures. However, the results showed no correlation between the
cultural dimensions and e-commerce, including commerce for food and fast food.
Several studies focus on a comparative study of service perceptions in individualist
and collectivist cultures. Kim et al. (2009) developed a study to compare the perceptions
of the service environment (servicescape) of restaurants to cultural dimensions in China
and the US. The results showed that Chinese customers were not as likely to demonstrate
a response to human crowds. Chinese respondents were more likely than American
respondents to relate crowdedness to food quality and restaurant reputation. Chinese
8 M.A. Khan et al.

respondents were less likely to relate crowdedness to food price. On the other hand,
Americans have a positive perception of the relation between crowdedness and price. In
connection to the evaluation of restaurant attributes during crowded times, Chinese
respondents associate crowdedness to higher food quality and higher restaurant reputation
whereas Americans relate crowds to price. As such, crowds act as a stronger cue to
Chinese respondents than American respondents.
While Kim et al., (2009) focused on the impact that individualism and collectivism
have on perceptions, Magnini (2010) study was designed to understand restaurant
preferences between Hofstede’s individualist/collectivist cultural dimensions. The results
showed a significant difference between the two groups as individuals from a collective
society use a more collaborative process when selecting a restaurant than do those from
an individualistic society. In addition, the results confirmed that a foreigner’s pattern of
acculturation moderates his/her collective mindset in the restaurant selection process.
Similar to Magnini (2010), Lin and Mattila (2006) focused on changes in behaviour
based on the individualist/collectivist dimensions. More specifically, their study focused
on restaurant switching behaviour. This study was prompted by the lack of research
available on the relationship between switching behaviours and cultural dimensions.
They found college-aged Taiwanese consumers’ exhibit higher switching intentions than
their US counterparts will. This is argued, in part, due to Americans being identified as
being much more independent on Hofstede’s cultural dimension spectrum.
These studies show that there is room for further exploration of the concept of
cultural dimensions and how they may be related to service perceptions in the restaurant
industry, specifically through the analysis of one of the most powerful brands in the
world, fast food giant, McDonald’s.

3 Methodology

3.1 Research instrument

The survey focuses on six main issues: customers’ overall experience, perceptions of
employees, ordering process, receiving order, food quality, and repeat visit intentions. A
survey questionnaire divided into two sections. The first section was based on enquiring
about the overall experience on their visit to any of the McDonald’s restaurant in their
country as well as the most important reason for their visit to McDonald’s. The second
part consisted of questions about their visit to the particular McDonald’s that they last
visited asking specific questions about their overall experience (ten items), staff at
McDonald’s (four items), the ordering process (three items), receiving their order (four
items). The questions were developed from previous studies (Khan, 2015; Kim et al.,
2010; Lee and Ulgado, 1997). Five point Likert type scale was used with one being least
favourable and five being most favourable. In addition, a section asked questions
regarding socio-demographic information. This instrument was pre-tested in each
country. Translation and back translations by language experts were done before use in
countries as needed.
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 9

3.2 Survey and data collection

The instrument was self-administered to customers by research team members inside and
outside McDonald’s in the four countries, Malaysia, Vietnam, Egypt and US. As stated
earlier, we selected these countries for the reason that there are marked differences based
on the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions when compared to the US (Hofstede et al., 2010).
To achieve the aim of this research, convenience sampling in these countries were done
since it provided enough variations for our study. Permission, wherever applicable was
obtained from the managers before the distribution of surveys to customers. Customers
were asked if they would like to participate in the study and their consent was approved
before their participation. Ethical considerations, e.g. hidden the information of
restaurants and participants, were fully considered during data collection, analysis and
archiving the instruments. Participation in the study was voluntary. Respondents were
assured of confidentiality and no specific identifying information was obtained from
them. Every effort was made to ensure a uniform method of collection was used in all
countries. The questionnaires were collected between July 2014 and September 2015.
In the US, the questionnaire collection took place outside two different McDonald’s
restaurants in the South-eastern US in a large metropolitan area, near the downtown area.
The data were collected in three weeks during September 2015. The researchers did data
collection during normal restaurant operating hours, and consisted of approximately two
hours of data collection per day during the various day parts in order to try to ensure the
randomness of the sample population. A total of 320 customers were approached to
complete the survey, and only 176 surveys were valid for analysis, representing a valid
response rate of 55% compared to 52.7% as suggested by Baruch and Holtom (2008).
The low response rate was due to missing answers of some questions in the forms.
In Vietnam, the survey was given to customers visiting McDonald’s restaurant in Ho
Chi Minh City for one month and half during the summer. The survey included the first
two new McDonald’s restaurants in Vietnam. 204 questionnaires were used in the survey
with a response rate of 100%. This was achieved since the author personally collected the
questionnaires when completed by the customers. This also may be the collection of
forms took a month and half.
The Egyptian surveys were conducted at McDonald’s restaurant by authors in Cairo.
The survey questionnaires were distributed and collected in person during the month of
July 2015, making the response rate a 100% with 208 surveys were completed.
In Malaysia, the questionnaires were distributed in Kaula Lumpur and like other three
countries care was taken to exclude international visitors, resulting in 213 administered
surveys in the month of September 2014, with a response rate of 100%. Time of
questionnaire collection varied from country to another country based on customer
acceptance of participation in the study. Participation was voluntary and hence this took
between three weeks and one month and half. Thus, 945 questionnaires were distributed
in all four countries. Once a review of the completion of the surveys was done, there were
801 able to be used in analysis, a response rate of 85%. This higher response rate due to
the self-administration of the questionnaire and long data collection time.
10 M.A. Khan et al.

3.3 Data analysis

Stata: Data Analysis and Statistical Software for professionals (version 15) was used for
data analysis. Related analyses also included ANOVA and Independent sample t-tests. In
order to measure the customers perceptions of five different service quality components
(i.e., overall experience, McDonald’s employees, ordering process, receiving your order,
food quality), factor analyses was also conducted. On the likelihood of consumers to
return as measured by questions on behavioural intentions, a logistic regression analysis
was performed.
To ensure the completeness and validity of the collected data, an item from the
‘Overall Experience’ scale (i.e., ‘McDonald’s have clean rest rooms’) was deleted, since
it had high percentage of missing values. Apparently, many customers do not go to
restrooms during their visit to McDonald’s, and for that reason many did not evaluate this
item. The results of these analyses are explained in the following section on data
interpretations.

4 Data interpretations

4.1 Are there any differences in factors related to customers’ service

perceptions with McDonald’s in selected countries?
Table 1 provides the description of key variables used in our study and the test results of
differences in means related to customer satisfaction. There were substantial differences
in means for many independent variables between the respondents who answered
whether they were satisfied with characteristics described in the questions or not. There
were wide differences in several key variables, such as the cleanliness of the restaurant;
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for adults; and McDonald’s offering an interesting
and entertaining experience for adults. All of the disparities in attributes are statistically
significant at 99% level. These differences would explain the gap in the likelihood of
being satisfied.
In order to identify the determining factors for the level of customer satisfaction, the
logistic regression models were used. To get a small set of variables to examine
determining variables in the regression models, factor analysis was conducted using
questions in the surveys. Using the iterated factor method, three latent factors were
identified. Table 2 shows the eigenvalues and other relevant statistics of the factor
analysis. Using the eigenvalues, which were greater than one, three latent variables were
identified.

4.2 Are there any differences in customers’ service perceptions of McDonald’s

restaurants among selected culturally different countries (US, Malaysia,
Vietnam, and Egypt) based on the socio-cultural background?
Culture reflects the collective mental programming of the human mind thereby
distinguishing one group of people from another. This programming influences patterns
of thinking which are reflected in the human behaviour within the society. Eating habits
normally are one of the indicators of differences in culture. Using McDonald’s as a
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 11

standard international QSR, we studied how customers’ perceptions differ in these

countries using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory as the basis for the study.
Table 1 Mean difference test by likelihood of being satisfied

Yes No
Diff p-value
Obs Mean Obs Mean
The value you received for the money you 477 3.91 324 3.15 0.76 0.000***
spent
The experience being easy and hassle free 477 4.05 324 3.28 0.77 0.000***
Employees making you feel like a valued 475 3.65 324 2.83 0.82 0.000***
customer
The cleanliness of the restaurant 476 3.83 321 2.90 0.93 0.000***
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for 476 3.76 323 2.85 0.91 0.000***
adults
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for 475 4.06 323 3.34 0.72 0.000***
kids
McDonald’s offering an interesting and 477 3.70 323 2.40 1.30 0.000***
entertaining experience for adults
McDonald’s offering low prices 477 3.79 323 3.40 0.39 0.000***
McDonald’s being conveniently located 477 4.07 323 3.47 0.60 0.000***
McDonald’s looks like a good place to 476 3.54 323 2.66 0.88 0.000***
work
Employees being friendly and courteous 477 3.93 324 3.03 0.90 0.000***
Employees making eye contact with you 477 3.86 324 3.21 0.65 0.000***
Employees being clean and well-groomed 476 4.02 324 3.40 0.63 0.000***
Employees speaking in a manner that was 477 4.03 324 3.27 0.76 0.000***
easy to understand
The length of time you waited to place 477 4.10 324 3.39 0.71 0.000***
your order was reasonable
The ease of placing your order 477 4.10 324 3.45 0.65 0.000***
Receiving your food promptly after 476 4.04 323 3.40 0.64 0.000***
ordering
Receiving food that looked appetising 477 3.89 323 3.10 0.79 0.000***
Receiving food that was hot 477 4.14 323 3.46 0.68 0.000***
Receiving food that was fresh 477 3.85 323 3.08 0.78 0.031***
Receiving food that tastes good 477 4.16 323 3.24 0.92 0.001***
Note: Significant at ***99% level.
12 M.A. Khan et al.

Table 2 Mean difference test by likelihood of being satisfied

Yes No
Diff. p-value
Obs Mean Obs Mean
The value you received for the money 477 3.91 324 3.15 0.76 0.000***
you spent
The experience being easy and hassle free 477 4.05 324 3.28 0.77 0.000***
Employees making you feel like a valued 475 3.65 324 2.83 0.82 0.000***
customer
The cleanliness of the restaurant 476 3.83 321 2.90 0.93 0.000***
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for 476 3.76 323 2.85 0.91 0.000***
adults
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for 475 4.06 323 3.34 0.72 0.000***
kids
McDonald’s offering an interesting & 477 3.70 323 2.40 1.30 0.000***
entertaining experience for adults
McDonald’s offering low prices 477 3.79 323 3.40 0.39 0.000***
McDonald’s being conveniently located 477 4.07 323 3.47 0.60 0.000***
McDonald’s looks like a good place to 476 3.54 323 2.66 0.88 0.000***
work
Employees being friendly and courteous 477 3.93 324 3.03 0.90 0.000***
Employees making eye contact with you 477 3.86 324 3.21 0.65 0.000***
Employees being clean and well-groomed 476 4.02 324 3.40 0.63 0.000***
Employees speaking in a manner that was 477 4.03 324 3.27 0.76 0.000***
easy to understand
The length of time you waited to place 477 4.10 324 3.39 0.71 0.000***
your order was reasonable
The ease of placing your order 477 4.10 324 3.45 0.65 0.000***
Receiving your food promptly after 476 4.04 323 3.40 0.64 0.000***
ordering
Receiving food that looked appetising 477 3.89 323 3.10 0.79 0.000***
Receiving food that was hot 477 4.14 323 3.46 0.68 0.000***
Receiving food that was fresh 477 3.85 323 3.08 0.78 0.031***
Receiving food that tastes good 477 4.16 323 3.24 0.92 0.001***
Note: Significant at ***99% level.
Our first consideration was about the times customers visited McDonald’s restaurant in
selected countries to assess any differences. The timings and/or day of the week to visit a
restaurant exhibit a major cultural variation, which is of importance to any businesses
planning to function overseas (Lee and Ulgado, 1997; Lee et al., 2008). Table 3 shows
the timings when customers visited McDonald’s restaurant in respective countries. In the
US, the visitations are almost evenly distributed throughout the day, even though there
are slightly more visitations during the lunch time between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. In
Malaysia, however, about a half (45.7%) of the customers visited the restaurant between
11:00 am and 4:00 pm and 26.4% of customers had late dinner between 7:00 pm and
11:00 pm. In Vietnam, a majority of customers (71.6%) visited the restaurant between
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 13

2:00 pm to 11:00 pm, while only 7.8% showed up during the regular lunchtime between
11:00 and 2:00pm. Interestingly, in Egypt, 73.1% of customers came to the restaurant
after 4:00 pm. These variations are early indication that there are considerable differences
in timings when customers visited the restaurants, which in turn can be related to the
cultural and climatic differences. Particularly, the higher visitations during evening hours
are indicative that most likely dinners were consumed with families and friends. For
example, in Egypt, over 50% of the visitations were made between 7:00 and 11:00 pm
whereas only 3.4% visited before 11:00 am. Cultural habits have an impact on the time of
visitations. In Egypt most of the activities are conducted during evening and late at night
after people return from their job. People are likely to sleep late and avoid eating
breakfast away from home. Consequently, breakfast seems to be the least popular meal
for Egyptians. On the other hand, Malaysians like to eat with friends and family late in
the evenings. This observation closely aligns with the collectivist tendencies according to
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. All three countries (Malaysia, Vietnam, and Egypt) are
closely ranked in individualism dimension ranging from low 20 to 26 compared to the US
with a high score of 91. In collectivist societies, there are often predetermined roles in
society and predetermined frameworks. Family, extended family, and extended
relationships are considered as paramount within collectivist culture. Thus eating
leisurely with family and friends as a ‘group’ late in the evening is indicative of this
inherent characteristic as evident in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Egypt, which is distinct from
the American consumers.
Table 3 What time of day was visit made to McDonald’s?

Time US Malaysia Vietnam Egypt Total

Before 11:00 am 15.9% 13.2% 16.2% 3.4% 12.0%
11:00 am–1:59 pm 20.5% 27.8% 7.8% 12.0% 17.0%
2:00 pm–3:59 pm 14.2% 17.9% 28.4% 11.5% 18.1%
4:00 pm–6:59 pm 14.8% 8.0% 3.5% 19.2% 16.4%
7:00 pm–11:00 pm 18.2% 26.4% 19.6% 33.7% 24.8%
After 11:00 pm 16.5% 6.6% 4.4% 20.2% 11.8%
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
Note: Number of observations = 801.
As shown in Table 4, three latent variables were inferred from observed 21 variables.
Using the oblique promax rotation method the factor loadings and uniqueness measures
of the three constructs were evaluated as shown in Table 4. Cronbach’s alpha was used to
measure the internal consistency and all variables were accepted with the alpha at least
greater than 0.65. According to the factor analysis, a large number of observed variables
were aggregated into a three-factor model to represent the underlying concept. They were
isolated to be
a food quality
b socialising place
c convenience.
14 M.A. Khan et al.

These findings are consistent with other studies that food quality, perceived value and
service quality appositively affect customer satisfaction (Qin et. al., 2009).
Table 4 Rotated factor loading and unique variances

Rotated factor loadings

Food Socialising Uniqueness
Convenience
quality place
The value you received for the money you 0.3631 0.5902
spent
The experience being easy and hassle free 0.7664 0.3826
Employees making you feel like a valued 0.7993 0.3921
customer
The cleanliness of the restaurant 0.5244 0.5686
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for 0.4409 0.6368
adults
McDonald’s being an enjoyable place for 0.7915
kids
McDonald’s offering an interesting and 0.7725 0.4335
entertaining experience for adults
McDonald’s offering low prices 0.5101 0.6622
McDonald’s being conveniently located 0.7562 0.4431
McDonald’s looks like a good place to 0.7435 0.4455
work
Employees being friendly and courteous 0.6435 0.3571
Employees making eye contact with you 0.4474 0.4522
Employees being clean and well-groomed 0.4980 0.3958
Employees speaking in a manner that was 0.4684 0.4208
easy to understand
The length of time you waited to place 0.3748 0.5632
your order was reasonable
The ease of placing your order 0.4647 0.4847
Receiving your food promptly after 0.5532 0.5954
ordering
Receiving food that looked appetising 0.6600 0.4279
Receiving food that was hot 0.7490 0.4278
Receiving food that was fresh 0.7042 0.3593
Receiving food that tastes good 0.7750 0.3572
Cronbach’s alpha 0.8777 0.8851 0.7640
Notes: Factor analysis method: Iterated principal factors. Number of observations = 784.
Rotation: oblique promax (Kaiser on).
Table 5 shows the mean scores of the three factors identified among the four countries
and the results of the ANOVA test. All three factors are significantly different among the
four countries. The respondents from Egypt and Vietnam evaluated food quality
dimension more favourably than American and Malaysian respondents. Regarding
socialising place dimension, the respondents from Egypt evaluated it most favourably
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 15

whereas American respondents evaluated it least favourably. With respect to convenience

dimension, respondents from US evaluated it most favourably while respondents from
Malaysia evaluated it least favourably. It is interesting to note that respondents from
Egypt, Malaysia, and Vietnam all evaluated convenience dimension lower than the
American respondents. The results support the wok of Magnini (2010) and Hui and
Triandis (1986) that people in a collectivistic society value a social harmony and
relationships others. Often, a person’s self-identity is established by the relationships with
others in the society (On the other hand, people in an individualist society emphasise
autonomy (Hui and Triandis, 1986). In a similar vein, consumers’ in a collectivistic
society tend to follow a collective process for the selection of a restaurant on the group’s
gatherings through collecting other members’ opinion in within the group and
consolidating each of the group member’s opinion.
Table 5 Customers’ evaluations of service components

Country N Mean Std. Err. F Stat. p-value

Food quality US 175 3.5121 0.0636
Malaysia 212 3.3178 0.0402 60.72 0.0000
Egypt 203 4.0720 0.0339
Vietnam 208 3.9195 0.0445
Overall 798 3.7091 0.0252
Socialising US 168 2.7634 0.0654
place Malaysia 212 3.0865 0.0334 171.46 0.0000
Egypt 204 3.9173 0.0331
Vietnam 208 3.8702 0.0374
Overall 791 3.4382 0.0276
Convenience US 174 4.1078 0.0570
Malaysia 213 3.5915 0.0404 20.71 0.0000
Egypt 204 3.6789 0.0364
Vietnam 208 3.7284 0.0571
Overall 799 3.7619 0.0249
Note: Multivariate ANOVA. 1 = least favourable and 5 = most favourable.
To identify the determining variables that affect customer’s overall satisfaction a logistic
regression analysis was conducted. The three latent variables identified from factor
analysis were included in the regression model as independent variables. Due to its
ordinality, a dichotomous variable was created – one being satisfied and zero being
unsatisfied – based on the responses. A binary logistic model was used to estimate the
probability of a binary response – likelihood of being satisfied – based on the predictors
mentioned earlier. That is, to estimate correlates of the likelihood of being satisfied, the
following logistic formula was used:
1
Prob( Satisfied ) 
1  e X 
 16

Table 6

Overall US Malaysia Egypt Vietnam

M.A. Khan et al.

Coeff. est. P > |z| Coeff. est. P > |z| Coeff. est. P > |z| Coeff. est. P > |z| Coeff. est. P > |z|
Constant 0.5005 0.162 0.4328 0.386 1.2053 0.004*** –1.2206 0.081* 1.8390 0.002***
Factor 1: food quality 0.5264 0.000*** 1.2277 0.002*** 0.7367 0.008*** 0.7310 0.082* 0.4674 0.245
Factor 2: socialising place 1.5081 0.000*** 0.5998 0.066* 1.2787 0.000*** 5.0224 0.000*** 0.7284 0.330
Factor 3: convenience 1.3722 0.000*** 0.6700 0.071* 1.0135 0.001*** 0.8370 0.125 2.0435 0.000***
Logistic regression of satisfaction

Female –0.1208 0.562 –0.4137 0.387 –0.1113 0.751 0.4810 0.429 –0.3898 0.392
Attending high school –0.0158 0.948 0.0422 0.961 0.5371 0.275 0.6611 0.261 –0.4013 0.355
Visited on weekdays –0.2713 0.200 –0.2597 0.554 –0.0377 0.919 –0.0954 0.875 –1.1352 0.016
Malaysia 0.9845 0.004*** - - - - - - - -
Egypt –0.0149 0.974 - - - - - - - -
Vietnam 0.3056 0.519 - - - - - - - -
Number of observations 776 162 205 203 208
Pseudo R2 0.4074 0.3708 0.2858 0.5643 0.4978
Note: Significant at *** 99% level, ** 95% level, and * 90% level.
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 17

The coefficient  represents the change in the odds ratio of being satisfied with the
experience at McDonald’s because of an increment in X, which represents the predictors.
When the coefficient is negative, the odds of being satisfied with McDonald’s is
negatively correlated with the corresponding characteristics. When a coefficient is
positive, the probability of being satisfied with McDonald’s increases with an increase in
the corresponding independent variable, on an average. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons
are commonly performed when there are three or more levels of a factor in the ANOVA
analysis. We conducted three methods – Sidak, Bonferroni, and Scheffe – which are
built-in commands in STATA. Comparisons US vs. Malaysia, US vs. Egypt, US vs.
Vietnam, Malaysia vs. Egypt, Malaysia vs. Vietnam were significant at the 0.05 level or
better for all methods while Egypt vs. Vietnam was significant at 0.1 level for both Sidak
and Bonferroni and insignificant for Scheffe.
Table 6 shows the results of the logistic regression analysis. The dependent variable is
positively correlated with all of three factors in the aggregated model including all four
countries as well as in Malaysia individually. Both factor 2 (socialising place) and
factor 3 (convenience) are more important than factor 1 (food quality) while all three
predictors are statistically significant at the 99% level. Unlike the other countries, food
quality is considered more important than other factors to the respondents from the US,
which might reflect the importance of food quality for satisfaction among respondents
from the US In Egypt, food quality and socialising place are statistically significant while
convenience is the only significant factor in Vietnam. There was no evidence showing
that the other covariates, such as gender (female), age (attending high school), and time
to visit (visited on weekdays), contribute to the probability of being satisfied with the
experience with McDonald’s.

5 Discussion and implications

The current study contributes to the understanding of culture and service perceptions by
individuals rather than based on the country level evaluations as done by most of the
studies under the lens of Hofstede’s dimensions. Focusing on individuals using an
international brand provided a different perspective that can be applied to other
international QSR chains.
The results of the study also suggest that there are three major factors associated with
consumers’ satisfaction as measured by using McDonald’s. The three major factors are
food quality, social place, and convenience. Importantly, the results of logistic regression
indicate that there are significant differences in the three factors that influence
consumers’ satisfaction at McDonald’s among the four countries. For example, food
quality dimension is the most significant factor that affects American consumers’
satisfaction at McDonald’s whereas food quality factor does not affect Vietnamese
consumers’ satisfaction. This is an interesting finding since the core product of
McDonald’s are Big Mac and French fries, which have contributed to the success of
McDonald’s brand in the US It should however be noted that McDonald’s entered
Vietnam in 2014 compared to Malaysia and Egypt where McDonald’s opened its first
store in 1982 and 1994 respectively (McDonald’s Egypt 2018; McDonald’s Malaysia
2018; McDonald’s Vietnam 2018). Thus, McDonald’s is still new to Vietnamese
consumers and food quality at McDonald’s might not be a major driver affecting
18 M.A. Khan et al.

Vietnamese consumers’ satisfaction. To Vietnamese respondents, McDonald’s is a new

Western brand, which might have motivated Vietnamese consumers to visit and
experience a new concept. In future studies it might be interesting to study if longevity
has any impact on customers’ perception on food quality.
Interestingly, McDonald’s is as a place to socialise was the most important fact that
significantly affected Malaysian and Egyptian consumers’ satisfaction. Malaysian and
Egyptian consumers value McDonald’s as a good place to meet family and friends. To
Malaysian and Egyptian consumers, visiting at a McDonald’s has a symbolic meaning
than just eating a burger. This cultural fact is notable since it confirms prediction that in
some countries visiting a US business is considered as prestigious compared to local
outlets. This justifies the ‘country-of-origin effect’ as explained by Keegan and Green
(2015) that perceptions about attitudes toward particular countries often extend to
products and brands known to those countries. The ‘country-of-origin effect’ perceptions
become part of a brand’s image and contribute to brand equity. For example, for
American consumers eating a Big Mac at a McDonald’s might be just meal consumption
whereas for the consumers in Malaysia and Egypt it may provide social and emotional
benefits. Thus, Malaysian and Egyptian consumers like to linger around at a McDonald’s
and spend their time to meet friends. Creating a good environment, interior design,
comfortable chairs, and lighting in Malaysian and Egyptian market might be helpful for
McDonald’s to drive customers’ traffic.
According to Hofstede cultural framework (1980), both Malaysia and Egypt are in
high collectivistic society. Prior research suggests that people in high collectivistic
society tend to go to US fast-food restaurants with their friends and family members
(Lee et al., 2008) rather than going alone. Thus, service quality related to socialising
place such as interior design, comfortable chairs and surroundings might be crucial to
increase satisfaction among Malaysian and Egyptian consumers. Surprisingly, socialising
place is not a factor affecting Vietnamese consumers’ satisfaction at McDonald’s even
though Vietnam is in high collectivist society. As we explained earlier, McDonald’s is
still a new Western fast-food brand. The concept of McDonald’s brand is not yet
established in Vietnam compared to Malaysia and Egypt. This might have also affected
the satisfaction scores of the Vietnamese consumers.
The results of the study illuminate that convenience is a factor that affects the
satisfaction of the Malaysian and Vietnamese consumers more significantly compared to
the American consumers. On the other hand, convenience is not a factor affecting
Egyptian consumers’ satisfaction significantly. Convenience factor includes variables
such as convenient location, waiting time and hassle free experience. Prior research
indicates that Asian consumers’ service expectations in fast-service and hassle free
experience are higher than that of Western consumers (Lee et. al., 2013). This may be
due to the busy lifestyle in many Asian countries. In addition, service providers in Asian
countries have been able to provide more front-line staffs thereby providing better
service, which could affect service expectations related to convenience factor (Lee et. al.,
2013). One of the probable reasons that Egyptian consumers may consider McDonald’s
as a social gathering place than as a fast-food restaurant offering a quick and convenient
service, is due to their cultural instincts. According to Hofstede’s cultural dimension,
Egypt scores low in the indulgence dimension, indicating restraint in life and emotions.
This low indulgence might have resulted in the low value provided on convenience
dimension. The restraints may have subdued the importance of quick and pushing
services. On the other hand, we expected, convenience is a factor that affect American
 Cultural differences and McDonald’s 19

consumers’ satisfaction at a McDonald’s which is consistent with prior studies (Knutson,

2000; Khan, 2015). Convenience has always been a primary strategy of McDonald’s;
right from the time, they opened their first store.
In Eastern countries visiting McDonald’s is a social event geared for enjoyment with
family and friends. On the other hand, in Western countries it is considered as a fast
eating event. This is where the individual and collectivist cultures differ in their visit to
restaurants as well as the perception of services. Since services often require interaction
between consumers and the service provider, cultural factors have a greater impact on
services than on tangible goods (Mattila, 1999). The current study’s findings provide
opportunities for fast food managers and owners to try to target marketing to the
population and demographic based on the country. It is important to note the various
cultural differences as they can help to ensure customer participation as well as their
satisfaction with the service experience. Our findings also confirm the conclusion drawn
by Keegan and Green (2015) worldwide, consumers associate global brands with three
characteristics: quality signal; global consumer culture positioning, and social
responsibility. Consumers use these characteristics as a guide when making purchase
decisions.
In conclusion, as a response to our propositions we found that there are differences in
customers’ perceptions of services provided by McDonald’s restaurants based on culture.
There are also differences in customer’s satisfaction outcome from the services provided
by McDonald’s restaurants based on the cultural and environmental conditions prevalent
in the country. Finally, there are differences in utilisation of services provided by
McDonald’s restaurants at home and abroad.

6 Practical implications

Obviously, the most apparent application is that culture needs prime consideration before
planning to enter any country for business, irrespective of how popular, standardised
operations, and procedures are. Consumers have specific reasons for visiting restaurants
based on their perceptions and socio-cultural outlook. Glocalisation, based on culture,
perceptions, and preferences becomes important when selected menu offerings. For
example, breakfast may not be an important meal in countries such as Egypt. Our
conclusions agree with Lee and Ulgado’s (1997) study, which was conducted as a
reminder to American QSRs that they need to consider cultural differences in
implementing a successful business model in international markets. In addition, based on
the ‘country-of-origin’ phenomenon, consumers have different perception of brands. As a
result, reasons for visiting a restaurant varies in countries based on customers’ cultural
outlook, for example, in Egypt and Vietnam, McDonalds is considered as a nice place for
socialisation. In short perceptions of quality, socialisation, and convenience varies based
on the country and its culture. Business should consider cultural aspects and customers’
perception in providing meals, ambience, and factors related to convenience.
20 M.A. Khan et al.

7 Limitations and further research

This study was limited in scope since it focused on four countries. Other countries should
be included in further studies to strengthen the findings related to consumer perceptions
and cultural outlook. Further research is needed to help restaurants determine cultural
implications related to operations, service, and marketing strategies that will be helpful in
determining behavioural intentions.

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