What is McDonaldization a metaphor for?

Table of Contents Show

History and Overview
What are the Four Principles of McDonaldization?
Advantages of McDonaldization
Downsides of McDonaldization
Examples of McDonaldization
Essay Question

Ritzer's McDonaldization thesis holds that McDonald's, with its efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control, is a good model for the forces of modern capitalism that structure both production and consumption. This article argues that while McDonaldization represents a particular collection of forces, there also exists a rising countertrend in post-industrial societies that we call eBayization. Whereas McDonaldization produces homogeneity and predictability, eBayization provides variety, adventure, and surprise, both for better and worse. Underlying these differences in the product line and consumer experience is a difference in organizational structures wherein McDonaldization emphasizes a centrally coordinated market, while eBayization brings the freedoms and abuses of a risk society.

The authors thank the three anonymous reviewers and Editor (at the time of writing) Lisa Peñaloza for their valuable comments.

In a large diverse society such as the USA, there is no single zeitgeist shared by everyone. By “dominant zeitgeist” we do not refer to a universal experience or even necessarily the majority experience, but rather to a socially constructed view of “what's happening now” which reflects emerging social and economic trends and is portrayed by the mass media as representing the spirit of the times.

A metonym is a particular type of metaphoric trope in which part of a larger entity is used to represent the whole: for example, the use of the term Washington to refer to the US federal government. In the present discussion, McDonald's and eBay are used metaphorically to represent larger economic and social trends of which they are a part, and hence are metonyms.

Multimixers were blenders used in making milkshakes.

Ray Kroc is the person most associated with McDonald's business success, although all the key elements of the business were created by the McDonald brothers before he arrived. He began as a business partner of the McDonald brothers in 1954. Kroc originally ran the franchising of the business and later purchased the entire business in 1961.

This figure of 50+ main items only counts unique food and drink items. A complete list of McDonald's SKUs (i.e., stock keeping units, including different sizes of drinks and ancillary items like margarine) comes to over 150 items. This data comes from the McDonald's menu, available at the company website.

For other views, Ahuvia (2005 Ahuvia, A. C. 2005. Beyond the extended self: Loved objects and consumers' identity narratives. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(1): 171–84. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 172) includes a brief review of the debate about whether construction of a coherent identity in contemporary post-industrial society is possible and/or desired by consumers.

A simple example of libertarian paternalism is placing high taxes on cigarettes to reduce smoking. This policy is “paternalistic” in that the government acts to influence consumers to behave in ways that are in the consumers' own long-term interest, even if the consumers might prefer a different behavior. This policy is “libertarian” in that it still allows consumers a measure of choice, rather than making cigarettes illegal altogether.

Prosumption refers to the merger of production and consumption. It occurs when the consumer plays an active role in helping produce the product.

By Charlotte Nickerson, published Feb 23, 2022 | Fact Checked by Saul Mcleod, PhD

Summary

McDonaldization is a term used to describe the penetration of American cultural and economic products throughout the world. It is used symbolically and is drawn from the market and ideological success of the McDonalds fast-food franchises all over the world.
McDonaldization is a process through which certain principles of fast food management, such as efficiency, come to dominate the ethos of various sectors in society. It was developed by sociologist George Ritzer in his 1995 book The McDonaldization of Society.
McDonaldization is an updated version of Max Weber's rationalization, which argues that the traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society are being replaced with rational and calculated ones.
The four characteristics of McDonaldized systems are efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. In essence, McDonaldized systems are built to provide consistent services to many customers in a way that is often quick and low-cost.
Critics have argued that McDonaldization spurs on effects contrary to its principles, in some cases decreasing efficiency, introducing costs that cannot be seen until far after the fact, and reducing the rights and wages of workers.

History and Overview

McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant — efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control — come to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world (Ritzer, 2018).

McDonaldization, as described by Ritzer (2013), is a reconceptualization of rationalization and scientific management. Rationalization refers to the replacement of traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society with rational and calculated ones.

Whereas the sociologist Max Weber (2015) used the model of bureaucracy to represent the direction of his changing society, Ritzer sees the fast-food restaurant as being more representative of how contemporary societies are changing.

What are the Four Principles of McDonaldization?

McDonaldization, according to George Ritzer (2018) has four key principles: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control through non-human technology. These lie at the heart of the success of McDonald's, and, more generally, of all McDonaldized systems.

Ritzer argues that McDonald's and other McDonaldized systems have succeeded because they offer consumers, workers, and managers the advantages of these.

Efficiency involves finding and using the optimum method for getting from one point to another. McDonald's drive-through, for example, provides one of the fastest possible ways to get from being hungry to being full. The fast-food model also offers other methods for satisfying needs.

A business fashioned on the McDonald's model may offer, or claim to offer, efficiency in, say, exercising, losing weight, lubricating cars, getting new glasses, completing taxes, making online purchases, or ride-hailing.

The workers in a McDonaldized system function by following steps in a predesigned and generally well-choreographed process (Ritzer, 2018).

Calculability emphasizes the quantitative aspects of the products sold — such as their portion size or price — and services offered (how quickly someone can get the product).

In McDonaldized systems, quantity is equivalent to quantity — services that provide a lot of something, or are inexpensive or very fast are automatically better.

For example, the McDonald's "Dollar Menu" quantifies both a low cost and the feeling that people are getting a lot of food for a small sum of money (Ritzer, 2018).

Consumers can also make calculations in terms of time. They may calculate, consciously or not, how much time it would take to go to a McDonald's, be served food, eat it, and return home in comparison to the time required to prepare food at home.

Ritzer argues that this is important to other food delivery chains — say, pizza restaurants — as well as brands that emphasize obtaining any good or service quickly, such as fast fashion.

Workers within McDonaldized systems emphasize the quantitative, rather than the qualitative aspects of their work. Because the quality of work must be uniform, workers focus on how quickly tasks can be accomplished.

Ritzer (2018) argued that digital services such as Facebook and Amazon are heavily McDonalized, and that the calculability aspect of McDonaldization has been enhanced by "big data."

McDonaldization is also built on predictability, meaning that the products and services will be more or less the same over time and in all locations.

McDonald's hamburgers should be virtually identical today in New York as they will be next week in London. Consumers, according to Ritzer, take comfort in knowing that McDonald's offers no surprises.

The workers in McDonaldized systems also behave in predictable ways, by following corporate roles and the demands of the systems in which they work. What workers do and even say is highly predictable (Ritzer, 2018).

The fourth element of McDonaldization, control, is exerted over the people who enter a McDonald's. The lines, limited options, and uncomfortable seats of a McDonald's encourage its customers to eat quickly and leave.

Workers in McDonaldized organizations are also controlled, often in a more blatant way. These employees are trained to do a limited number of tasks in exactly the way they are told to do them.

This control is reinforced by both the technologies used by the company and the way the organization is set up (Ritzer, 2018).

Advantages of McDonaldization

McDonaldization has numerous advantages, both for consumers and businesses. According to Ritzer (2018), these include:

A wider range of goods and services available to a larger proportion of the population
Availability of goods and services depends less on time or geographic location.
People can acquire what they want or need near-instantaneously
Goods and services of more uniform quality
Widely-available and economical alternatives to high-priced, customized goods and services
Services for a population that has less time due to longer working hours
The comfort of stable, familiar, and safe products
Consumers can more easily compare competing products due to quantification
Some products, such as exercise and diet programs, become safer in a carefully regulated and controlled system
People are more likely to be treated similarly despite their race, sex, social class, and so on
Organizational and technological innovations can be diffused quickly and easily through networks of identical businesses
The most popular products and services of one society can be more easily disseminated to others.

Downsides of McDonaldization

Although McDonaldized systems can enable people to do many things they were not able to do in the past, these systems also keep them from doing things they otherwise could do.

Ritzer notes that McDonaldization brings with it a number of seemingly contradictory inconsistencies, such as:

Inefficiency (rather than efficiency);
High cost (despite the promise the McDonalized goods and services are inexpensive);
falseness in the way employees relate to consumers;
disenchantment;
health and environmental dangers;
homogenization;
dehumanization.

Ritzer argues that, Although there have been many benefits that have resulted from McDonaldization such as variety, round-the-clock banking and shopping, and often speedier service, these rationally built services can lead to irrational outcomes.

By this, Ritzer means that they "deny the basic humanity, the human reason, of the people who work within or are served by them" (Ritzer, 1996).

For instance, the lines at a fast-food restaurant can be very long, and waiting to get through the drive-through can take longer than going inside. This rational system does not save people money: while people may spend less, they may do more work in the form of waiting for food.

Additionally, the food that people eat at restaurants is often less nourishing and contains high levels of flavor enhancers, fats, salt, and sugar. This contributes to the downstream health problems of society, such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, ultimately costing more than was saved by the convenience of this fast food.

As children grow up within these systems, they can develop habits that ensure their increasing dependency upon the systems.

The packaging used in the fast food industry pollutes the environment. And the ritual of fast food may take the place of that of the communal meal, reducing quality social time (Ritzer, 1996).

Examples of McDonaldization

One notable criticism of McDonaldization is that it has, in many ways, replaced skilled work with workers who must engage in repetitive, routinized, highly focused, and compartmentalized tasks.

This, sociologists have observed, has reduced workers' rights and wages throughout the world, as workers have become easier to replace and in higher supply due to the lack of skill required to do McDonalized jobs (Ritzer, 2013).

McDonaldization occurs when any institution follows its four principles: control, predictability, calculability, and efficiency. Amazon has a large database of items that they work with and sell. This includes groceries, electronics, and digital content.

With Amazon, consumers can order virtually any item online and these products will be delivered quickly and inspected carefully. This embodies the principle of efficiency.

Amazon also exhibits calculability — an emphasis on the quantitative aspects of products served and services offered. Amazon's price listings provide the perception that one can seek out the best deal.

Amazon has also trained its employees to behave predictably. Customer service agents follow scripts when dealing with inquiries, and Amazon moderates what sellers can sell on their website. As a result, customers can make purchases, in theory, without worrying about whether or not sellers are trustworthy.

Finally, Amazon exerts control on both its consumers and employees. The company — albeit not without ethical criticism — emphasizes timing their workers when packaging goods to ensure that these are delivered within a specific amount of time.

Robots also automate the picking of some products from warehouses. In all, this allows the company to provide a reliable and uniform experience to customers throughout the world (Ritzer & Miles, 2019).

Essay Question

In a culture built on the diverse contributions of various immigrant groups over time and the development of innovative technology, what will be the long-term effect of increased McDonaldization?

Charlotte Nickerson is a member of the Class of 2024 at Harvard University. Coming from a research background in biology and archaeology, Charlotte currently studies how digital and physical space shapes human beliefs, norms, and behaviors and how this can be used to create businesses with greater social impact.

Content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication.

This article has been fact checked by Saul Mcleod, a qualified psychology teacher with over 17 years' experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in psychology journals including Clinical Psychology, Social and Personal Relationships, and Social Psychology.

Nickerson, C. (2022, Feb 23). McDonaldization: Definition and Overview of the Concept. Simply Sociology. https://simplysociology.com/mcdonaldization-of-society.html

References

Hartley, David. "The ‘McDonaldization’of higher education: food for thought?." Oxford Review of Education 21.4 (1995): 409-423.

Ritzer, George. "An introduction to McDonaldization." McDonaldization: The Reader 2 (2002): 4-25.

Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of society: Into the digital age. Sage publications, 2018.

Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of society. Sage, 2013.

Ritzer, George. "The McDonaldization thesis: Is expansion inevitable?." International sociology 11.3 (1996): 291-308.

Ritzer, George, and Steven Miles. "The changing nature of consumption and the intensification of McDonaldization in the digital age." Journal of Consumer Culture 19.1 (2019): 3-20.

Weber, Max. "Bureaucracy." Working in America. Routledge, 2015. 29-34.