McDonald’s as a Cultural Brand in the Landscape of Attitudes of Polish Customers

Abstract

Purpose of the article: The analysis of the attitudes of Polish customers towards McDonald’s based on the identification of opposite social attitudes towards globalisation processes and perception of cultural brands. Methodology/methods: The qualitative analysis of the record of Internet users’ discussion has been conducted. The record of the discussion shall be regarded as an expression of opinion by an incidental group of respondents. For the purposes of the conducted research programmes weftQDA 1.0.1 and QSR NVIVO 10 have been used. Scientific aim: Utilization of postmodern interpretation of the socio-cultural context of running business for purposes of strategic management. Findings: The main differences between the supporters of the attitudes towards McDonald’s were related to two problems. Firstly, the discussion concerns what McDonald’s really is (how its service should be classified). Secondly, the thread of the discourse concerns the quality of McDonald’s offer. Further discussion involved the issues of impact of McDonald’s on the domestic business, and lifestyle of contemporary Poles and their dining habits. Conclusions: The landscape of attitudes of Polish customers towards McDonald’s is the issue of uncertainty in the strategic management within this company. It seems there is a need for paying attention to national cultural features of Poles and different attitudes of contemporary society expressed as a postmodern response to globalisation. Each group of problems mentioned may become an opportunity or a threat for McDonald’s business activity in Poland.