McDonald’s pays attention on product diversity and it divides its target customers into different groups based on geographic characters and regional preferences. According to different regions, there are four market segmentations: Southeastern Asian market, the other Asian market, European and American market, Australian Market. In different areas, McDonald’s provides various products due to the different ingredients in different regions, for example, in the Asian market; people like to have rice, so McRice burger is in the menu, which uses rice patties instead of the usual buns.
Secondly, demographic segmentation is used. Customers are divided by their ages and income. For the young child, the kids’ meal is provided and there are some small toys contained in the kids’ meal, which can attract children. Meanwhile, in the consideration of the different income levels, McDonald’s offers discounted meals on a regular basis.
Thirdly, McDonald’s also uses psychographic segmentation. According to the customers’ interest, attitudes and values, McDonald’s would change its menu. For instance, some customers reported that some food contains too much fat and the calories are too high, in response to the feedback, McDonald’s introduced low-calorie meals. What is more, if some food is consumed too few, they will be removed from the menu.
Lastly, as different customers have different usage behaviors and habits, behavioral segmentation is applied as well. McDonald’s introduced drive-through restaurants, which is in respond to some customers they are too pressed for time to get out of their cars and order food. For the customers who have more time, they can choose to eat in and for the customers who just want to have a drink and dessert, McCafé can meet their needs.
