McDonald's and Perceived Value

Peter Gardell

14 years ago

McDonald's has done well through this latest bump on the economic road. The reason is that they have the systems as discussed in an earlier post that allowed them to expand a dollar menu but still make profit by increasing volume.

Now that Washington reports that our economy is doing better (I for one, am leery about the positive reports; I still haven't heard patients saying they are doing that much better), it will be interesting to see what happens. McDonald's has not felt confident enough that they can move away for their successful move of the past few years. It remains to be seen if they will be able to transition out of the Dollar Menu model without a negative reaction from the public.

People are very wary of what their money will by. For some, $.99 cent cheeseburgers and $.99 cent quarts of iced tea are worth it for the perceived value and the convenience. I think that the whole thing boils down to the perception of value. Not just the dollar and cents amount.

Fast food - exactly what is on the menu. Nowhere does it say gourmet, epicurean, fine or even good. People are there for filler and the least amount of time spent getting it the better. You don't even have to get out of your car and walk into the location if you want to save even more time.

We need to give the patient a feeling that the experience they receive in the office is like no other. Respect our patients' time and save them visits. If we succeed we will have taken a big step in creating a raving fan.