Burger King and McDonald’s are viewed as the strongest players in the fast food hamburger industry both at home in the U.S. and internationally. They were both founded in the 1950s and pioneered the U.S. fast food market. The two restaurant chains pursue a rather similar strategy, therefore they have always been in close competition, with Burger King being the second best. They both target the family market and aim to provide reasonably priced and rather standardized products through the chains of franchises and partially through own restaurants (Michman & Mazze, 1998).
The cornerstones of McDonald’s strategy are standardization, process efficiency and high sales volumes that make it possible for the company to generate profits even when offering low prices to customers. McDonald’s restaurants are located not only in major cities but also in suburban areas and special locations, such as airports and hospitals. McDonald’s is also the most successful chain in the international market mainly due to the first mover advantage that it gains by rapidly entering new markets, quickly establishing well-spread networks of restaurants and adjusting the menu to the local tastes (Koontz & Weihrich, 2009). Burger King, on the other hand, emphasizes customization and positions its food at slightly higher quality level than that of McDonald’s. However, the difference between the two chains is not very apparent to the clients and Burger King always remains the second best in this rivalry (Michman & Mazze, 1998).
This dominance of McDonald’s over Burger King is also confirmed by the consumer attitudes analysis. Burger King scores lower than McDonald’s based on the overall performance, particularly in terms of cost and location. The only criteria that consumers find superior in Burger King products are the taste and the service. This fact is consistent with the positioning of Burger King’s food as being of a slightly higher quality than that of McDonald’s. It is interesting to note that consumers do not see any difference in the product variety offered by the two restaurants, hence Burger King’s strategy of product customization has no or little effect on customers. Both chains, however, operate significantly above the industry average, which indicates that consumers generally prefer them over other brands.
Considering that Burger King lags behind McDonald’s according to several parameters, its executives should take steps to change the status quo and to alter consumer attitudes towards Burger King’s products, while capitalizing on the restaurant’s strengths. Firstly, the company should sustain the high level of service and food quality that are currently valued by consumers in order to get a more distinct position in the market. It is particularly important in the light of the recent healthy lifestyle trends and the attempts of McDonald’s to offer a wider variety of food items on the menu to cater to the needs of health-conscious customers. The issue of variety is also relevant for the international markets, where McDonald’s is largely dominating by customizing products to the country-specific demands. This strategy should be adapted by the Burger King, as their focus on burger-oriented meals makes it hard for the chain to expand into other regions of the world. Cost and Location are the two aspects that Burger King should also improve on to enhance consumer perception. Cost, however, should not be emphasized if the company manages to effectively position itself as a higher quality restaurant with a larger variety of products. Location, however, is key in the fast food industry. Unlike McDonald’s, Burger King opens fewer restaurants mainly in central locations in cities and towns. Customers, however, expect fast food restaurants to be readily available everywhere. Therefore, Burger King should expand its restaurant network to include more remote places and special locations, where fewer dining alternatives are available, such as highways.
Despite McDonald’s leadership in the industry, the company can still benefit from slightly altering its strategy to improve customer perception. Particularly, they should adopt a more customer-centric approach, where the quality of food and service should be the main areas for improvement. These issues may relate to the fact that McDonald’s operates through franchisees that are hard to control, especially if they are located in countries that are culturally and/or geographically distant. Current brand repositioning already helps to change the image of McDonald’s restaurants. However, the level of standardization and process efficiency seem to damage the taste of the products as well as the level of service. Hence, McDonald’s would benefit from conducting further market research into the way customer want to receive their food, as well as from introducing stricter product and service quality control for its franchisees.
References
Koontz, H., & Weihrich, H. (2009). Essentials of management. An International Perspective. (8th ed.). New Delhi, India: Tata McGraw Hill.
Michman, R. D., & Mazze, E. M. (1998). The food industry wars: Marketing triumphs and blunders. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.
