Wai Yin Kwan ANS 378, Fall 1999
Most discussions about the presence of American fast food in Asia either center around the view of the business community that Asians love all things American or the view that the corporations are evil imperialist empires out to destroy local cultures in their never ending pursuit of money. The purpose of this paper is to find out what the actual consumers of fast food think about the product. Most of the research in the paper is based on personal interviews that I conducted with overseas University of Texas students from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China.
While the assumption that the Chinese consumers go to the American fast food places because of their fascination with American does have some basis in reality, it does not capture the complex reality that has made the American fast food industry a multibillion dollar industry in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China. The reasons why people go to the fast food range from the mundane, i.e. curiosity, to the more complex, i.e. a desire to be a part of the modern world.
Since hamburgers, pizzas, and french fries are not items found in the traditional Chinese diet, many first time customers went to the fast food places just to find out what the food and the entire fast food experience were like. Many of the students whom I interviewed said it was more the fact that fast food was something different, not the fact that it was specifically American, that first encouraged them to try fast food.
For some people the American aspect of the fast food was a major reason for going. By going to the fast food restaurants, the people have the chance to participate in and associate themselves with American culture.
Since people have differing conceptions of what America is, the exact aspects of American culture that the consumers found appealing also differ. For the younger generation the American fast food/tee-shirt and jeans culture represents a lack of formal rules, casualness, and youth. For young adults who are involved or wish to be involved in the business world, American fast food represents the modern, global culture.
When the fast food chains were first introduced, their prices were relatively high compared to lower end, traditional eating establishments. The high prices prevented most people from going there on a regular basis, and therefore fast food was seen a special treat.
Because of the fact that fast food places are mainly concentrated in the larger urban areas and have not yet reached rural towns, many rural tourists who visit large urban cities in China make a special trip to fast food places. Many tourists have their picture taken in front of the McDonald's sign or with the Ronald McDonald statue outside the restaurant to document their contact with an exotic culture.
Over time, as the number of fast food outlets increased, the reasons why people go to fast food places changed. All the interviewees who have become accustomed to the presence of the fast food chains, now cite the numerous locations as a major reason for going to fast food outlets. Some of the students said while they would never make a special trip to go to a fast food place, they sometimes ate fast food because they happened to walk by a fast food place when they were hungry.
In addition to the number of outlets, the locations of the outlets also play an important part in the popularity of fast food. McDonald's located many of its outlets near schools and college campuses. During the late afternoon and early evening the many of the local McDonald's are packed full of students who just got out of class.
Another reason for the popularity of McDonald's among the youth market is the toys. One student from Taiwan, who used to beg her parents to go to McDonald's during her childhood years, wanted to go to McDonald's not for the food, but for the Happy Meal toys. Recently the Happy Meal toys also attracted the attention of the adult market. The sales of Happy Meals at McDonald's in Hong Kong jumped 80% in 1998 after the introduction of the Snoopy doll, and jumped 10% in 1999 after the introduction of the Hello Kitty doll This increase in sales was driven by both kids and adults who bought and then resold the dolls at twenty times the original price.
The students also cited the atmosphere as another major reason for the popularity of fast food. Except for the higher end, more expensive restaurants, the traditional restaurants were not overly concerned about friendly customer service or cleanliness. While the quality of service at traditional places varies greatly depending on the personality of the waiter, the students said that the cashiers at the fast food places are always smiling and polite.
The students from Taiwan and China were also impressed by the cleanliness of the fast food places. One reason for the cleanliness is the fact that unlike traditional restaurants where the customers leave all the dishes on the tables when they leave, the customers at the fast food places throw their own trash away. The students were also impressed by the fact that employees were constantly sweeping the floors and cleaning the windows.
Unlike the students from Taiwan and China, the Hong Kong students didn't express the view that the service and cleanliness of American fast food chains are superior to domestic eateries. One student said even though everyone knew that they were expected to clean up after themselves, most people leave the trash on the tables when they leave.
When the students were asked to rank the reasons why they liked McDonald's, many of the students from Taiwan and China ranked the clean, friendly atmosphere as the main reason; the food itself was a secondary reason for liking McDonald's. The cleanliness, the friendly service, and the advertising helped create the feeling that McDonald's was a nice, warm place to be. Even people who didn't like the food at McDonald's enjoyed the atmosphere at McDonald's.
Unlike China and Taiwan where the prices at McDonald's were higher than traditional food eateries, the prices at McDonald's in Hong Kong are cheaper than most other eateries. The low prices were very attractive to the young students who had a limited supply of money.
A common criticism of multinational corporations is that they are evil, imperialists empires who are destroying local cultures in their unceasing desire to expand into new markets and increase their profits. However none of the students I interviewed expressed a strong negative view of the American fast food chains. One student told an interesting story that the first time she heard about the anti-McDonald's sentiment wasn't from other Chinese, but from American and Canadian students at a conference in Canada. She had a very positive view of McDonald's and was quite shocked by the strong anti-McDonald's, anti-American corporatism feelings expressed by the American and Canadian students.
While there is a bias against American fast food, especially among the older generation, the bias isn't for reasons that American critics normally cite. Many of the students said that their parents never even wanted to try American fast food because of the fact that they didn't consider it real food. In their opinion a real meal consists of rice or noodles, some meat and vegetables, not "two slices of bread, a small piece of meat and some ketchup.".Though they had a negative opinion about the food that the fast food chains served, that negativity did not translate into a dislike of the company.
Almost all of the students also shared the common belief that the introduction of American fast food companies was not a threat to their culture, because they believe that the Chinese people are too proud of their food culture to ever let fast food replace traditional food. Even the students who liked eating fast food, saw it more as alternative to their daily diet, rather than being the main part of their diet.
While the students from Hong Kong and Taiwan expressed no concern over the widespread presence of fast food back home, some of the students from China were bothered by the rapidly increasing presence of fast food in China. One student said while she readily accepts the presence of McDonald's in the urban cities, she is less supportive of the idea of McDonald's spreading into the rural areas.
Even the students who were bothered by the fact that American fast food corporations were taking more and more money from Chinese consumers, they were firm in her belief that an anti-McDonald's, anti-American corporate feeling did not exist. They viewed this corporate behavior as a natural part of doing business, therefore there is no just cause to have strong negative feelings against the corporations.
Not only did the students not have a negative image of American fast food corporations, some students even believed that the introduction of fast food has improved the local food culture. Previous to the introduction of fast food, not much attention was paid to the service and cleanliness of inexpensive, small scale eateries; good service and a clean environment were high priorities only in expensive, high scale restaurants. The students, who are old enough to compare the conditions of local eateries before and after the introduction of fast food, said that some local restaurants are trying to improve their service and cleanliness in response to the competition from the American fast food industry.
In 1974 the founders of Cafe Coral changed the eatery from a traditional style restaurant, to a self-service system that combined Chinese style food with Western style concepts of mass production, quality, service, cleanliness, and value. By 1999 Cafe de Coral had 112 fast food outlets in Hong Kong, second only to McDonald's 147 outlets. These domestic fast food companies have taken what they have learned from Western fast food companies and created viable alternative for local consumers who want both the service, cleanliness, and low prices associated with Western fast food and the taste of traditional Chinese food .
The spread of American fast food in China should not simply be seen as one-way process of foreign business imposing their product on local consumers. Consumers have as much affect on the way the product is perceived and used, as the corporations that market the product.
The fast food chains have made several changes in their menu to adopt to local food tastes. Examples include the Teriyaki burger at McDonald's, and a seafood pizza at Pizza Hut that comes with shrimp and squid. Numerous students mentioned the fact that they really liked the Spicy Chicken Wings at KFC. Even students who generally didn't like the taste of other fast food, liked the Spicy Chicken Wings. The popularity reflects the fact that Chinese people generally consider the wings, not the breast or the thigh, as the juiciest and best part of the chicken.
While American consumers spend an average of 11 minutes at McDonald's, the Hong Kong consumers spend an average of 20-25 minutes. One student I interviewed said she and her friends would often go to McDonald's for a "quick" thirty minute meal before going somewhere else such as the movies. While for Americans the idea of spending thirty minutes eating fast food seems to contradict the purpose of going to a "fast" food place, to Chinese consumers this behavior is quite normal.
Instead of viewing the fast food places simply as a place to grab something to eat and run, the fast food places are seen as a social gathering place for people, especially for youths and college-age people. It is common for young people to spend an hour or two at a fast food outlet, hanging out and talking with their friends. After school some students also go to the McDonald's near their school and spend a few hours there doing their homework and socializing. The students said that there was no pressure at all from the management or employees to "eat your food and go." The pressure to "eat your food and go" usually came from other customers who were waiting for the table.
One of the major reason why the fast food outlets have become a hangout spot for youths is because there are no other food establishments that students and their friends could hang out. The owners of small, family-owned Chinese restaurants expect the customers to finish eating in a reasonable amount of time so that new customers can be seated. The fancier restaurants, that are more accommodating to people who stay for longer periods, are too expensive for most youths.
The social aspect of eating at fast food places is also a reflection of the fact that eating, especially eating out, is considered a social activity to be shared with others. All of the students said that they would usually or almost always go out to the fast food places with someone else. Some students even said that they would never go out to eat alone.
For some students the primary purpose of going to the fast food places was to hang out, not to eat. A few of the students said that they went to the fast food places, even though they didn't like the food, because their friends wanted to go. They would order a drink and maybe something small like fries or a dessert, and spend quite a while there just hanging out and talking with their friends.
Though fast food has been accepted as part of the local food culture, fast food is still not thought of in the same terms as traditional Chinese food. The obsession that people have over Chinese food is not present over American fast food. When people go to a traditional Chinese restaurant, they can spend a good amount of time discussing which of the dozens and dozens of available dishes to order. While eating they will continue to talk about the food, commenting on the quality of the dishes, and urging others to eat more. When they go to a fast food place, ordering is a simple routine of picking which number value meal that they want.
The most telling indication of the non-foodness of fast food is the fact that many people don't expect to get full from the fast food. A few students said while they would feel ripped off if they went to a traditional place and didn't get full, the fact that they didn't get full from McDonald's never bothered them. A few of the students even commented on the fact that two or three hours after eating fast food, they would get hungry again. If they had eaten a real meal, meaning rice, meat, and vegetables, then they would be full for the rest of the night.
Nearly all of the overseas students said that after they came to the U.S., their desire to eat fast food greatly decreased. While this decreased desire for American fast food can be partially be explained by the fact that they are homesick for real Chinese food, the decreased desire is also a reflection of deeper issues.
Almost all of the over-seas students that I interviewed said McDonald's tastes better back home than here in the U.S. A few of the students that I interviewed were convinced that the fast food places in China put "Chinese spices" in the burgers that made the burgers taste "better" than the American counterpart. While America might have brought hamburgers to the Chinese markets, it took Chinese workers and Chinese spices to improve the American burger.
Not only do Chinese make better burgers, they also make better pizzas. Many of the overseas students said that they were disappointed the first time they ate pizza here in America because they were used to eating pizzas with five or six toppings back home. They thought it was a rip off that the pizzas in the U.S. usually only come with one topping.
The ubiquitous nature of fast food is also another reason for their decreased interest in fast food. Since the allure of eating something "different", something "American" is gone, the only reason left to go to the fast food places is the food itself. For most of the students I interviewed, the food just isn't enough of a reason to go to the fast food places.
The reasons consumers in China, McDonald's and Hong Kong go to fast food places is much more complex than the fact that "Chinese consumers are obsessed with all things American." Their reasons for going to fast food places range from characteristics shared by consumers throughout the world, such as convenience, location and hunger, to reasons that based on specific cultural values, such as the view that eating is a social activity. Ironically the food itself only plays minor role in the popularity of fast food. The emphasis on going to a fast food place as a social activity, rather than a eating activity, offers a definition of the term "fast food" that is vastly different from the one created by the business executives.
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