Standardization versus customisation. The role of culture

Fast food restaurants have expanded globally in recent years. As companies become global marketers to acquire new knowledge and a greater understanding of the fast food business and the environment, in which they operate in order to determine and adopt an appropriate marketing mix. Managers can use knowledge of a market's national culture to develop successful image strategies. This paper aims to explore the role of culture in the formation of consumer perceptions. To measure cultural influences a store image scale was constructed for fast food restaurants. An eight - step process based on Churchill's (1979), model, guided the development, validation and refinement of the scale. The final structure of the scale included six factors consisting of 14 items. The six factors are a) Adaptation to Locality b) Service c) Facilities d) Food quality e) Place to be and g) Sales incentive program. Then the relative weights of the six factor dimensions in influencing customers' overall image, as well as satisfaction and loyalty ratings were explored. Adaptation to locality has been found as the most important factor in the formation of store image as well as in predicting satisfaction and loyalty. The results of structural equation analysis have shown that the local culture factor is strongly associated with 'food quality' and especially with the "Place to be factor". The results can be very useful to marketers who want to invest in the local or other foreign markets.