The Role of Mothers in Their Children's Eating at Mc Donald's

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A thank you goes to all the people that helped us to finish this project on time and to go through every step of it.

To begin with, thank you Dr. Hala for your continuous support and the perseverance, tolerance that you have provided us throughout the semester.

A thank you also goes to the Mc Donald's representatives in the north for providing us some information about the company.

Also a thank you goes to the mothers that took a lot of their time to respond to our surveys.

Last but not least, a thank you goes to Rania Al Najjar for her help in the SPSS.

Finally, we are very grateful for our parents who support us all the time.

ABSTRACT

This project examines the mother's behavior towards McDonald's restaurants in the north. The major finding of the Research is that some of the mothers find McDonald's unhealthy, which they believe is a major reason for obesity in many children. For this reason, the mothers suggested the introduction of a healthier, more nutritious happy meal.

Chapter 1 introduces the major Research questions whereas Chapter 2 offers a review of the literature on the role of the mothers in their children's eating at Mc Donald's. The methodology used is depicted in chapter 3, while Chapter 4 exposes the analysis of the results. The final Chapter consists of the findings and major recommendations.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF FIGURES vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

Chapter 1 1

Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 4

Literature of Review 4

2.1 Defining Mc Donald's 4

2.2 Parent's perception of Mc Donald's 5

2.3 Mother's Supervision 6

Chapter 3 10

Methodology 10

3.1 Description of the Sample 12

Chapter 4 13

ANALYSIS 13

Chapter 5 19

Conclusion and Recommendations 19

1.1 Conclusion: 19

1.2 Recommendations: 20

1.3 21

List of References: 22

Appendix 1: The questionnaire 24

Appendix 2: Major SPSS results 27

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Revenue & Profitability: Mc Donald's Corporation Worldwide (Fast Food Industry Profile, 2009) 5

Figure 2 The number of children in the sample 12

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Descriptive Statistics Summary 15

Table 2 Chi-Square Significance Analysis 17

Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

As for a marketing student, the personal agenda is to undertake a current practical marketing issue of what distinguishes McDonald's restaurants in Tripoli and what makes mothers interested in McDonald's. Moreover, this study will try to provide some of the existing information concerning the role that mothers play in the consumption patterns of their own kids under the age of 13 years old.

"Fast food is a growing component of the American diet 'fast food' has been defined as food purchased in self-service or carry-out eating places without wait service" (French, S A, L Harnack, and R W Jeffery, 2000). Fast foods market has developed in the past two decades more than other eating establishments. Fast food is very attractive because it is quick, tasty, and inexpensive (Grier et al. 2007).

One of the most franchised fast food restaurants is McDonald's which is internationally recognized for adapting its offerings to suit local culture and presenting a hygienic, comfortable atmosphere, especially suitable for families and kids under the age of 13.

In addition, as strange as it may seem, parents are considered to be the most important consumer sector of fast food. For example, if parents consume a lot of fast food, their children will be influenced by them and hence consume a great deal of fast food as well. Through media, fast food advertisements directed towards adults overspill to children and affect both age groups to seek fast food (Grier et al. 2007).

Studies show that obesity is a result of the consumption of fast food. Hence the interference of parents/mothers in their children diets is a necessity, to offer a source of sound nutrition advice and to teach the children to be Effective Consumers. Actually, the WHO (2000) states that "mothers are typically the primary care givers and take most responsibility for daily child feeding"; therefore, the question that arises is whether they take their children to eat at Mc Donald's and if so why do they do it and under what rationality?

More specifically, this study investigates the case of Lebanese northern mothers taking their children to McDonald's restaurants or prohibiting them from going to Mc Donald's. In time process, we would acquire practical skills and experience, and while conducting this Research, we will enhance our marketing research ability in the future.

This study proves that mothers play a role in their children's eating-out habits at fast food restaurants mainly Mc Donald's. As a result, this will give the Research a modest understanding to Mc Donald's as to how to target mothers and children.

To understand the impact (role) that mothers play in their children under the age of 13 junk fast food eating