Another special example is KFC's commercial for its commonweal fund aiming to help students in poverty finish their education. In the 90-second-long commercial which is seemingly more like a social responsible advertising, a girl's voiceover tells a story of her own. "It's at the age of 10 that I had my first KFC meal. At that time I didn't expect that KFC would change my life later. Having won the Dawn Scholarship from KFC, I made my dream of going to college come true." Then a series of flashbacks reflecting the girl's experience as an employee at KFC were presented. The whole commercial doesn't portray any images of KFC products but "a spirit encouraging all the people." In this case, the love between people works as emotional appeal to arouse consumers' resonance.
In the initial period of KFC's entry into China market, few of Chinese consumers were really impressed with the food itself. Instead, they were more fascinated with the eating experience: the encounter with friendly employees, quick service, spotless floors climate-controlled and brightly-lit dining areas, and smiling Colonel Sanders standing in front of the main gate (Yan, 1994). Having experienced the initial surprises brought by a never-seen western lifestyle, Chinese consumers have gradually calmed down and their consumption attitudes towards foreign products are getting more reasonable. They are more concerned with the nutrition and tastes of the fast food. KFC, who has taken advantage of McDonald's by offering poultry food which is more acceptable to Chinese people compared with beef, have taken consumers' needs and competition with other brands into account. As a country with the best culinary culture in the world, China was a big challenge for KFC's efforts to cater to the captious palate of Chinese consumers.
3. What can Chinese fast food restaurant learn from KFC or McDonald’s?
In the commercial a Cantonese restaurant with no consumers is the scene. Contrastively, a KFC outlet nearby is crowed with consumers for its new "Chicken Wrap of GuLao Meat". In the end of the commercial, even the Cantonese cook couldn't resist the temptation of the KFC food. When he takes a bite on the chick wrap, the tablet of the restaurant fell down from the wall. This commercial aroused the repugnance of the whole Cantonese restaurant industry. Moreover, many average people can't accept the idea conveyed in the advertisement that the Cantonese food, the representative of Chinese culinary arts, can be easily defeated by a foreign fast food. In this case, the reputation of KFC was hurt by its arrogance and neglect of Chinese people's cherishing of the traditional culture. It's always a challenge to promote fast food in China in that the country possesses the best culinary arts in the world. The lesson KFC should learn from this event is, as for any multinational corporation, it is an important issue to make efforts to avoid offending the host culture.
Fast food restaurants like KFC and McDonald's are distinct American brands. Differences between China and US politics, economics, social development and ideology became obstacles to international enterprises operating in China. Corporate culture could not be understood or accepted here, especially in the restaurant field, where culture plays a crucial role.
So the solution was to adapt: when in Rome, do as the Romans. Deep-rooted in the Chinese consciousness is the traditional culture of food and drink that features color, fragrance, flavor and variety. Fast food simply does not compare. Now that curiosity had faded, people returned to their own more extensive cuisine. Under such circumstances, the only way out was to combine the two different cultures. Fast food restaurants have been learning to absorb elements of Chinese culture.
Since the summer of 2001, KFC has introduced many Chinese items onto their menus. Preserved Sichuan Pickle and Shredded Pork Soup was one of the first. Consumers felt their traditions were being respected when they could taste Chinese cuisine at a foreign restaurant. The soup proved a success, and Mushroom Rice, Tomato and Egg Soup, and Traditional Peking Chicken Roll were soon added to the menu. KFC also serves packets of Happy French Fry Shakes that contain beef, orange and Uygur barbecue spices.
Not content to lag behind, McDonald's Vegetable and Seafood Soup and Corn Soup were introduced, and the company worked to modify the restaurants' design. During the 2004 Spring Festival, McDonald's on Beijing's Wangfujing Street attracted many people with a traditional Chinese look, decorating their interiors with paper-cuts of the Chinese character Fu (Happiness), magpies and twin fishes, all auspicious symbols.
KFC and McDonald's have absorbed the Chinese cultural elements of showing respect, recognition, understanding, assimilation and amalgamation, while maintaining the substance of the Western culture of efficiency, freedom, democracy, equality and humanity. This inter-cultural management mode, with American business culture at the core, supplemented by Chinese traditional culture, provides reference for international enterprises which need to adjust, enrich and reconstruct their corporate culture to enhance local market flexibility.
There are, however, certain conditions essential to inter-cultural management mode. On the objective side, there must be similarities in environment in order for the two cultures to connect and synchronize. KFC and McDonald's embody an accommodation of the fast tempo of modern life: a product of development and a market economy. Their resultant speed and efficiency are only meaningful in countries with a market economy. China's rapid economic development offered the environmental conditions corresponding to fast food culture. Services offered by fast food chains express their full respect for freedom, an American value, as well as the psychological statement of Chinese open-mindedness that yearns to understand and experience the Western lifestyle. Two cultures proactively crashed, connected, and assimilated. KFC and McDonald's use the localization strategy to re-express American business culture, with profound traditional Chinese cultural emblems, catering to local customs on the basis of standardized management.
4. What actions should the management of KFC and McDonald’s be taking for their respective companies future in shanghai? In particular what strategy should be adopted in relation to older consumers and expanding the demand for breakfast?
Health problems in fast food industry have been the hot topics in the U.S. It has been well known that fast food especially fried food can cause obesity and other health problems related with high intake of calories and carbohydrate. Even in China, people have come to realize the potential harm of taking too much fast food, especially for older people. However, so far in China there is not any legitimate procedure taken to monitor and limit the harm of fast food though people have paid attention to the health issues of fast food. Having predicted the coming debates on fast food, KFC in China have taken measures to eliminate the negative effects brought by its products. One of the strategies is the emergence of "White book on KFC China health food policy" which can be accessed from the web site of KFC China. In this white book KFC presents an overview about the health problems related with fast food in U.S. and China. KFC has indicated the relationship between some health problems with fast food, but in this white book it aims to justify the nutrition value of fast food. This white book can be deemed as a specific localization strategy towards the situation in China.
Western-style fast food is deemed as an invisible cultural invasion towards the Chinese traditional culture. Potential influences of fast food on the children, adult, especially the older people, are regarded as a force separating them from their own culture heritage. In Yan(2000)'s description of the fast food fever in Beijing in the mid 1990s, people were crazy about KFC and McDonald's not because of the taste of the fast food but the western lifestyle behind the food. However, I would argue that in today's China people are not long vulnerable toward any foreign products or culture. The desire which is rooted in the years of isolation from the world to peep into the world outside has faded gradually since the opening of China. In an open country, Chinese people are no longer fascinated with fast food just because it is a "fashion" but for its convenience and its capability to fit the fast pace of modern life. All in all, fast food in China has become a modern lifestyle instead of a fad.
REFERENCES
Wang, J. (2000). Foreign advertising in China :Becoming global, becoming local (1st ed.). Ames: Iowa State University Press.
Yan, Y. (2000). Of Hamburger and Social Space: Consuming McDonald's in Beijing. In D. S. Davis (Ed.), The Consumer Revolution in Urban China (pp. 171-200). Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
