Week 6 Writing Journal

 Two new sources:

1. Jie, L. (September 9, 2008). McDonald’s growing in china. February 25, 2010. Retrieved from China Daily: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-09/08/content_7007412.htm

I found this source by typing “McDonald’s research consumer behavior in China”. The main purpose I use this source is because I think I need more evidences to prove that McDonald’s has done a lot of research of local consumer preference in China before they sale the goods/service to the marketplace. Thus, I have a big found from this article, firstly, this article is written by Chinese editor and the source’s website is China Daily. It has more provided that the information from the source is correct. Secondly, the author stated that McDonald’s has founded focus group studies Chinese consumer eating behavior. It is useful and well to support my main point.

2. Tang H. (February 3, 2010). Drive through tips for china. February 25, 2010. Retrieved from Creaders.NET: http://www.creadersnet.com/newsViewer_english.php?id=667355

I found this by typing “McDonald’s drive through in China”. I need it because I think I didn’t provided enough evidence for McDonald’s drive through part on the last week journal. Also, this week I used this article to support my point which stated that McDonald’s drive through strategy is successful in China and bring a big jump to them to make more profit. This source is credible due to the author is Chinese editor and the website is Chinese newspaper as well. Moreover, on the article’s bottom, the author stated that the source of the article is Wall Street Journal which usually provided credible information to the readers. Therefore, I choose it to support my main point. However, I just want to mention about a new idea about my research after I finished today’s journal. I think in the future, I would combine this article’s information to my first paragraph which mentioned that McDonald’s has researched the local consumer preference and custom in China. Because in Tang words, he mentioned the drive through strategy success is due to the Chinese usually busy and it is a kind of lifestyle (it is similar as Chinese custom) of them. So, I will try my best to combine this idea next week.


 Synthesizes the sources into paragraph (I combine both old and new resources to make a completed paragraph):

In China, McDonald’s has adjusted their marketing strategy to create new flavors of the products. For example, McDonald’s has changed their menu a little bit different than the original menu in the United States. According to Adams (2008), “they seem to have found the magic touch for capturing that taste bud of people all over the world, even in countries that don’t eat beef, like India, or those that prefer rice, like the entire Asian region”. McDonald’s has researched local consumer eating behavior first and then decide to change the menu. Moreover, Hume (2010) stated that in addition to provide core menu which included Big Macs, McChicken, and Egg McMuffins in China, they has changed a little bit of menu in local city to fix the consumer preference. There is one information Hume (2010) provided, “In Hong Kong, the traditional Filet-O-Fish sandwich is the top seller. In Shanghai, McDonald's Spicy Chicken Filet Burger sells best, and a Spicy Filet-O-Fish recently was added” (p. 1). It evidences that McDonald’s would look at the sales reports and then decides what have to be changed in original menu. However, besides McDonald’s research local consumer preference, it has founded focus group studies to research more detail about Chinese eating behavior and custom. According to Jie (2008), “we do extensive focus group studies of Chinese consumers, and one of the things that Chinese consumers say over and over again is that 'we come to you because you are a Western brand, if we want to rice or congee we can eat at home or in Chinese restaurants, we want to sample the Western brand” (p. 1). Jie (2008) mentioned one example which McDonald’s produced right goods to fix the Chinese custom. The example is corn cup which is success introduced to healthy and nutrition Chinese consumer for offering a cup of healthy corn rather than French fries on the Happy Meal menu. As the sentence Jie (2008) stated, “It was invented by the McDonald's China research and development center and proved to be very popular due to its healthy content and flavor and it has been introduced to other Asian marketplaces” (p.1). Thus, research local information is an important step to any business. McDonald’s does well on it and perform their marketing strategy well in China.

McDonald’s successfully promotes the products into entire China region in recent years. It does really good brand marketing plan in China which is not only making good profit, but has been well-known for the China people. Also, the people most easily recognize McDonald’s and even the age from five to seventy. According to Griffith (2008), “Two decades ago, McDonald's was largely unknown here, except as a symbol of the decadent west. But a capitalist revolution has swept through the People's Republic. And today mainland China, still officially Communist, is home to 800 McDonald's restaurants — with 200 more in Hong Kong”. It represents that McDonald’s has grew very fast within two decades and has big market share in China.

In China, McDonald’s has created two niches which is drive through and locations open all night and it has excellent growing in selling. Niche means a special region demand from customers for supply special goods or services. Drive through and locations open all night strategy performs successfully in recent years and let McDonald’s become the restaurant leading place in China. There is one example talked about McDonald’s did the drive through service excellent while the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008, “it has 770 units in China now (the first opened in 1990) and intends to have at least 1,000—and 50% of new stores with drive-thru windows—when the Beijing Olympic Games begin in August 2008” (Hume, 2010). Furthermore, in August for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the McDonald’s global CEO declared that “the mainland's fast-food market was worth almost $200 billion last year and was growing 16 percent per year, sources from the Ministry of Commerce say. We are going to continue our growth at a faster rate in China, while it has little to do with the association with Olympics” (Jie, 2008). Drive through strategy is a huge market in China and make McDonald’s make more profit with it. There is one statement said by Jeffery Schwartz, chied executive of McDonald’s China business, “We see the future of China with cars, communities and houses spreading out, we think the potential for drive-throughs is huge” (Tang, 2010). What is more, The Associated Press (2007) mentioned that “Deutsche Bank's West added McDonald's drive-throughs have reported sales 15% to 20% higher than non-drive-through locations” (p.2). Drive through make McDonald’s earn more profit within a short period. As a result, drive through and locations open all night are two successful niches.

 Two questions:

1. How is my paper going so far? Is organization good or not? Do I need to reorganize my structure?
2. In my article, do you think I should talk more detail about McDonald’s marketing stratagem or do you think my main topic of McDonald’s is enough to continue the paper? For example, McDonald’s marketing way or their advertising with promotion which appeal to Chinese consumer.

Reference

Adams, B. (November 7 2008). Purple Slinky. February 8, 2010. Retrieved from: Nine mcdonald’s products that actually flopped:http://purpleslinky.com/humor/food/nine-mcdonalds-products-that-actually-flopped/

Griffith, W. (August 15, 2008). McDonald’s has a big appetite for china. Retrieved from: msnbc.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26226387/

Hume, S. (2010). The road to china. February 16, 2010. Retrieved from: BuyerZone: http://www.buyerzone.com/professional_services/franchises/rbic-road-to-china.html

Jie, L. (September 9, 2008). McDonald’s growing in china. February 25, 2010. Retrieved from China Daily: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2008-09/08/content_7007412.htm

Tang H. (February 3, 2010). Drive through tips for china. February 25, 2010. Retrieved from Creaders.NET: http://www.creadersnet.com/newsViewer_english.php?id=667355

The Associated Press. (September 17, 2007). McDonald’s china strategy. February 16, 2010. Retrieved from: Los Angeles Times- Article Collections: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/17/business/ft-mcdon17?pg=2

Week 5 Writing Journal

Summary of two sources:
1. The Associated Press. (September 17, 2007). McDonald’s china strategy. February 16, 2010. Retrieved from: Los Angeles Times- Article Collections: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/17/business/ft-mcdon17?pg=2

This source stated that McDonald’s created two niches which is a special region demand from customers for supply special goods or services. There are two niches McDonald’s provides in China: drive through and locations open all night. Moreover, the article mentioned that McDonald’s had reported sales increases than before. It is useful to me, because this information support my point which McDonald’s does good job on their marketing strategy. Also, the two niches had opened McDonald’s restaurant leading place in China. I would synthesizes this article when I mention about McDonald’s is well-known in China. I will provide the report from the article to support my idea.

2. Hume, S. (2010). The road to china. February 16, 2010. Retrieved from: BuyerZone: http://www.buyerzone.com/professional_services/franchises/rbic-road-to-china.html

This source has some related to the first one, which mentioned about McDonald’s drive through in China. Also, the article talked about McDonald’s has researched local consumer taste behavior and has created new flavors to fix Chinese consumer taste. Especially, there is not only one menu in China, but a bit dissimilar in some China’s cities, such as Beijing, Hong Gong and Shanghai. Thus, I would add this data into my first main point which stated that McDonald’s research local consumer taste behavior first and has changed the menu a little bit different.

Combine two new sources into paragraph:

In China, McDonald’s has adjusted their marketing strategy to create new flavors of the products. For example, McDonald’s has changed their menu a little bit different than the original menu in the United States. According to Adams (2008), “they seem to have found the magic touch for capturing that taste bud of people all over the world, even in countries that don’t eat beef, like India, or those that prefer rice, like the entire Asian region”. McDonald’s has researched local consumer eating behavior first and then decide to change the menu. Moreover, Hume (2010) stated that in addition to provide core menu which included Big Macs, McChicken, and Egg McMuffins in China, they has changed a little bit of menu in local city to fix the consumer preference. There is one information Hume (2010) provided, “In Hong Kong, the traditional Filet-O-Fish sandwich is the top seller. In Shanghai, McDonald's Spicy Chicken Filet Burger sells best, and a Spicy Filet-O-Fish recently was added” (p. 1). It evidences that McDonald’s would look at the sales reports and then decides what have to be changed in original menu. Thus, research local information is an important step to any business. McDonald’s does well on it and perform their marketing strategy well in China.

McDonald’s successfully promotes the products into entire China region in recent years. It does really good brand marketing plan in China which is not only making good profit, but has been well-known for the China people. Also, the people most easily recognize McDonald’s and even the age from five to seventy. According to Griffith (2008), “Two decades ago, McDonald's was largely unknown here, except as a symbol of the decadent west. But a capitalist revolution has swept through the People's Republic. And today mainland China, still officially Communist, is home to 800 McDonald's restaurants — with 200 more in Hong Kong”. It represents that McDonald’s has grew very fast within two decades and has big market share in China. Furthermore, McDonald’s has created two niches: drive through and locations open all night. Niche means a special region demand from customers for supply special goods or services. The two niches perform successfully and let McDonald’s become the restaurant leading place in China. There is one example talked about McDonald’s did the drive through service excellent while the Beijing Olympic Games in August 2008, “it has 770 units in China now (the first opened in 1990) and intends to have at least 1,000—and 50% of new stores with drive-thru windows—when the Beijing Olympic Games begin in August 2008” (Hume, 2010). As a result, drive through and locations open all night are two successful niches.

Reference
Adams, B. (November 7 2008). Purple Slinky. February 8, 2010. Retrieved from: Nine mcdonald’s products that actually flopped: http://purpleslinky.com/humor/food/nine-mcdonalds-products-that-actually-flopped/
Griffith, W. (August 15, 2008). McDonald’s has a big appetite for china. Retrieved from: msnbc.com: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26226387/
Hume, S. (2010). The road to china. February 16, 2010. Retrieved from: BuyerZone: http://www.buyerzone.com/professional_services/franchises/rbic-road-to-china.html
McDonald’s franchise. (February 3, 2010). February 14, 2010. Retrieved from: GreenwichMeanTime.com: http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/usa/websites/business/franchise/mcdonalds/index.htm
The Associated Press. (September 17, 2007). McDonald’s china strategy. February 16, 2010. Retrieved from: Los Angeles Times- Article Collections: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/17/business/ft-mcdon17?pg=2

Week 4 Writing Journal

In my own words, a definition of quoting is write down the words exactly as same as original source, also we have to provide quotation marks and author’s name by following APA format. Paraphrasing is we condense the original paragraph and point out the main ideas. Summarizing is we write more widely than quoting and paraphrasing such as summarize the paragraph’s main points and provide some overview.

My topic is “How does McDonald’s strategy deal with consumer taste in China”, which is related to my major: marketing. In my process of the topic research, I found out that McDonald’s has adjusted their marketing strategy to create new flavors of the products. They do it well in China and successfully promote the products into entire China. Also, I knew McDonald’s do really good with their marketing which not only making good profit, but has been well-known for the China people. Firstly, McDonald’s has changed their menu a little bit different than the original menu in China. According to Adams (2008), “they seem to have found the magic touch for capturing that taste bud of people all over the world, even in countries that don’t eat beef, like India, or those that prefer rice, like the entire Asian region”. Secondly, McDonald’s do really good brand marketing in China; the people must easily recognize McDonald’s, even the age from five to seventy. According to Griffith (2008), “Two decades ago, McDonald's was largely unknown here, except as a symbol of the decadent west. But a capitalist revolution has swept through the People's Republic. And today mainland China, still officially Communist, is home to 800 McDonald's restaurants — with 200 more in Hong Kong”. It represents that McDonald’s has grew very fast within two decades and has big market share in China. However, I hope after my audience read my article they would understand how well McDonald’s performs their new marketing strategy in China and have some general ideas of good marketing strategy.

Reference
Adams, B. (November 7 2008). Purple Slinky. February 8, 2010. Retrieved from: Nine mcdonald’s products that actually flopped:
http://purpleslinky.com/humor/food/nine-mcdonalds-products-that-actually-flopped/
Griffith, W. (August 15, 2008). McDonald’s has a big appetite for china. Retrieved from: msnbc: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26226387/

journal week three

My research question is “How to deal with diversity of global consumer consumption behavior?” From the research of last week’s Journal 3, I have researched about the international consumer consumption behavior. After I found out some information from online resource database, I think I have to clarify my main point about marketing. Firstly, I would challenge me one question which is stated at the first sentence, “how to deal with diversity of global consumer consumption behavior?” The reason this question occur is because there are many kind of marketing strategies are followed by a lot of company around the world. Therefore, I am interesting to ask that how other companies deal with those diversity marketplaces in every country.
In my readings about research, I have learned that many firms change their marketing strategy to fix different countries’ marketplace. Due to every country’s culture, business marketplace, and consumer consumption behavior, the firms usually expend their original marketing strategy to a little different ways. For example, they would create new flavors for their products in some places to appeal for local consumer. And then, the firms get more profit and successful in their global marketing business.
My thesis statement is the corporation primary has to research and know the consumption situations within the country, and modify their marketing strategy to fasten on the place’s business marketplace. On the other words, my research main point is that corporation should build further different sale strategies for different cultures from their basic marketing plan. There is one great example to discuss, McDonald’s. According to McDonald’s International marketing strategy (2010), the author stated, “The business model is basically the same no matter what country it goes into. What varies from location to location is the food. For example, according to the country locator on the company's web site, where you can find fascinating information about the company's International restaurants, in Argentina, instead of the Big Mac, the most favorite sandwich is the McNiffica, (patty, cheese, tomato) while in Japan, it's a McTeryaki, and in India, McDonald's serves no beef in its burgers, which are made of tofu” (p. 1). This statement mentioned that McDonald’s makes their products different from country to country.
My audience would be academic college students, marketing person, and the people who interested in worldwide company international marketing strategy. My purpose is to find out what kinds of new strategy much company change for fix the international marketing place.
Lastly, I found out two resources which can support my thesis statement.
1. McDonald’s international marketing strategy. (2010). Retrieved from: Lots of Essay.com: http://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1694996.html
This resource provides me some information about McDonald’s different marketing strategy in other country. Also, it tells us more example of McDonald’s in other country, such as Japan, India, and Argentina. In conclusion, this article is valuable in my research. Although I cannot know the author of this article, this article still credible for me. Because Essay.com is a website which provides professionally written essays to the people who pay for the fee. Thus, I think Essay.com may be a credible resource for me to research more information about my topic.
2. Perner, L. (n.d.). Consumer behavior: The psychology of marketing. Retrieved from: usc Marshall University of Southern California: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/
This article helps me understand how to get better know about international consumer consumption behavior from psychology point of view. The author is Lars Perner. He is a Ph.D who is assistant professor of clinical marketing of University of Southern California. He might be an expert in the field and this article also important to my topic.

Summary of Two Articles

On the website of Writing@CSU, there are some main points the author mentioned about, such as introduction of a “keyword”, definition of “refining a search”, and four electronic databases to demonstrate the usage of keyword. Firstly, keyword is a very important component to find out our information online. Keyword can help us to link to vary electronic journals, articles, newspapers, and books. Moreover, the author said the easiest way to enter the keyword might be article title or author’s name. After we put a keyword into database engine, we will figure out variety information immediately. Secondly, the definition of “refining a search keyword” is to find out some better results from internet by using more specific keywords. The article gives us one example is research the impact of television on violent behavior. If we would like to obtain further and accurate data, we might type in the keywords television and violence rather than the sentence “the impact of television on violent behavior”. Thirdly, the article provides four online database links for us to demonstrate the usage of keyword. There are The Lycos Web Search Site, The ERIC Database, The SAGE Online Library Catalog, and The Melvyl Online Library Catalog.
On the other article, it teaches us how to use synonym to make our research different. If we can use synonym well when we research our data from database, the results would be more accurate and specific. Also, there are some examples, such as type ladies or female instead of women. It is very useful to me and is a good technique to help me refine my keyword in the future.
In the beginning I used the keywords “international consumer consumption behavior” to search on Google. I found out an article called Consumer behavior: The psychology of marketing (http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/). This article mentioned about basic ideas of consumer behavior related to the psychology of marketing. The author researched about the possible elements which were consist of general consumer behavior. This keyword is helpful to me, and I try to refine my original keyword at next research. I used both of “marketing strategy” and “international consumer behavior”. I got a lot of new information and looked around them. One of them called How to develop a marketing strategy in 5 easy steps (http://marketing.about.com/cs/advertising/ht/5steps2strategy.htm). This article is useful to me as well and help me figure out how to understand marketing consumer behavior patterns and develop a marketing strategy. Finally, after I doing these practices of keywords, I understand how to appropriately use the keyword and refine them.