McGorgeous

When I think of a beauty salon, the last thing that would come to my mind is McDonald's; however these organizations are actually very similar. Their similarities are not focused on what they offer, but rather how they offer services and products. I've been to beauty salons many times and I never made a connection between them and McDonald's until I learned about McDonaldization. The McDonaldization of society theorizes "the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as the rest of the world" (Ritzer 1993, p.1). This process of socialization incorporates four fundamental dimensions- efficiency, quantification and calculation, predictability and control. All of these four dimensions have been applied to beauty salons in Qatar. I wanted to find out more about this process and how it has influenced so many organizations, so this weekend I went to a salon to really observe how things got done!



Efficiency: The other day I was at a McDonald's drive-thru and I noticed a board on the wall that said the time taken to place an order and until you receive it is a guaranteed 90 seconds. When people use a drive-thru, they're obviously hungry and want to satisfy themselves in the quickest way possible. Likewise, beauty salons have several employees that tend to customers depending on what they want. For instance, some work on hair, makeup, manicure, pedicures, etc. so that the task can be done as efficiently as possible and to avoid any waiting time. Like consumers in McDonald's that move from hungry to full, customers in a beauty salon transition from feeling ugly to feeling pretty.

Quantification and calculation: Similar to how the prices at McDonalds are standardized in every branch, the prices for each different service in the salon are also set. When you first walk in the salon there is a poster with all the different services customers can choose from and their corresponding prices, just like a McDonald's menu. The prices in all the salons may not all be exactly the same, but they are in the same range. Also some salons offer express services, for example, some promise to perform a mani/pedi in 10 minutes. Customers can also make appointments beforehand so they can come in during a time that is convenient for them without having to wait. Many salons also provide services at home that allow customers to enjoy offers from the comfort of their own house.



Predictability: If you order a big Mac in a mall and then go to a gas station and order the same thing, you will expect and receive the same quality of what you purchased. This is the same for beauty salons. For instance, when I go in for my mani/pedi I expect my fingers and toes to look exactly how I predict them to be. This predictability can be seen in other services and other salons in Qatar and outside. Predictability can also refer to discipline, routine and order and one clear example of this is uniforms. Both McDonald's and beauty salon employees wear uniforms to show exactly here they belong within the organization. For instance, the cashier at the salon would wear a different colored apron than the other employees and the manager of the salon doesn't wear a uniform, just like a McDonald's manager who wears regular clothes.



Control: The food at McDonald's is assembled in a controlled and regulated manner. Each employee has a job that they do in a sequenced chronological order that will help ease the flow of production and delivery of the product. Equally, beauty salons employee numerous people for certain services. For example, if I'm going in to do my hair, my hair would be washed by someone and another person would move over and start working on it. Also what I noticed, beauty salons tend to get busier during the Eid holidays and to control the crowd, customers would be issued numbers and wait for their turn. This keeps things in order and maintains regulated production of the service. Ritzer also discusses the heavy involvement of machinery in Mcdonaldization. For example, in beauty salons everything uses machines, there's even a dryer for your fingers and toes after you apply nail polish. Each step in a beauty process involves a machine and nobody questions what the employees are doing, they only care about the end product. Similar to how the food in McDonald's is assembled to reach a certain quality, the same is done in the form of services for customers in a beauty salon.

McDonald's is recognizable in almost every part of the world with its golden arches which distinguish it. Beauty salons in Qatar are no exception, they are scattered almost everywhere due to their popularity and they have standardized everything from prices, target audience and symbolism. For instance the majority of beauty salons are for females only and they all have the silhouette of a woman to distinguish them. In these two different organization we see how McDonaldization is evident and all four dimensions are applied in beauty salons. We see how this fast food chain has changed, revolutionized and influenced how organizations perform and deliver services and products to customers.

The popular Culture in Clueless the Movie

When we feel impotent and out of control, and feel we are in need for a sanctuary in a place where we could gather our thoughts and regain our strength, where would we go? Well, according to Cher, we should go to the mall!  

 

Clueless is a comedy film directed by Amy Heckerling that was produced in 1995. The story is based on Jane Austin’s novel “Emma”; however, the setting is different, where the story takes place in Beverly Hills in the 1990s.

The film portrays the material and non-material culture of Beverly Hills’ high school kids, with all their values, beliefs, and norms.  Cher, the main character in the film, is a rich teenager, whose mother died long time ago while undergoing liposuction. She is obsessed with fashion, shopping, and matchmaking; yet, she is not interested in dating high school boys. Her ex stepbrother Josh is a college student, who keeps teasing Cher for being selfish and superficial, and tells her that her only direction in life is ‘toward the mall’. 

The film portrays the popular culture in Beverly Hills using sarcasm. Most of the people are materialistic, obsessed with fashion, dating, and plastic surgery. For example, a lot of high school girls had a bandage on their noses, and some on their chins, which mocks the fact that plastic surgery, and especially having a nose job, is a norm in this society. Moreover, one of the girls, trying to avoid tennis practice in school, tells the teacher that her plastic surgeon doesn’t want her to do any activity where balls fly at her nose. Another thing that contributes to this irony is the death of Cher’s mom while undergoing a liposuction surgery. The obsession with fashion is also exaggerated and observed when Cher designs her clothes in the morning on a computer screen rather than on her own body.

     This is the common culture in Beverly Hills, or the large subculture of the rich. People are expected to be fashionable, and this is shown when the new girl arrived to the school looking like a farmer, as one of the girls said. However, Cher and her friend Donnie decided to use their popularity for a good cause and start their “project” to give the poor girl a new look, so she would be able to fit in their society. Moreover, The girls have their own female language including terms that substitutes for things like period and sex. 

The film portrays the materialistic life people in Beverly Hills live. They understand the language of brands, the shopping mall is considered to be a place where Cher can concentrate, think and get focused. As Josh, Cher’s ex-stepbrother, says, Cher’s ‘only direction in life’ is ‘towards the mall’.  According to Coonie, ‘Cher’s main thrill in life’ is to give someone a makeover, ‘it gives her a sense of control in a world full of chaos.’   

The popular cultural represented in the film was shown to an extreme level of exaggeration and irony, however 16 years after the film release this popular cultural, based on materialism and consumerism, is now found not only in the US but also worldwide.

                          

Early Adopters: Geeky or Savvy?

My earlier blog about consumerism and materialism reflects the effect of the culture industry in designing products that make us consume more and more, transforming us into mindless consumers of popular culture and cultural products produced by culture industries...



However there is another dimension of consumerism that I would like to explore further. I know a special kind of consumer, the person you usually find first in line to purchase the new phone, the new ipod, the new laptop, the new “gadget” and the latest technology or model of whatever it is the culture industry is selling us.
Meg is a Texas student in the petroleum engineering major. He is also what Grazian refers to as an “early adopter”, an early consumer of a given company product or technology. As far as early adopters are concerned, he is definitely a record breaker. I’ve known him for 3 years, and whenever I buy something new, he always has something newer. He always makes what I own look out of date. My phone is always at least three generations behind his, and my other entertainment gadgets like my ipod are definitely not the “best” option according to him.



If you aren’t an early adopter, I’m sure you know one. Yes I’m talking about the person who can’t wait to show you their new special edition ipod, their new laptop with new features, their new camera, and their new high-tech gadget that can do something so cool – way cooler than what you already own. If the new products are not yet available in stores for you to line up in a cue, he would be the first to purchase it online before it is available for sale locally.



Early adopters are not just geeky consumers as many may think. Their influence on brand success, and impact on society and the consumerist culture can be significant. Potential consumers often seek early adopters’ advice, as they are way ahead in terms of expertise and knowledge on the particular product or innovation. Early adopters would have had more time being acquainted with the product than potential adopters and so would have acquired better understanding of its functions, uses and features. It is then likely that I ask my friend Meg whether I should purchase a certain piece of technology or gadget. Knowing that he would already have that particular item or replaced it about three times he would be a good source for advice and information. Even though I might look up a lot of reviews and information online, the “word-of-mouth” aspect of the interaction theory could be more effective in terms of convincing me to buy a given product. As this analysis on early adopters states, early adopters may “serve as a role model for many other members of a social system”. Early adopters then become somewhat respected by their peers and exemplify a way of using and purchasing products introduced by companies.



When I ask Meg for advice on a given gadget or piece of technology, his role is then to lower my uncertainty of purchasing it and to provide me with a vicarious hands-on experience through his own. His experience may not always be the best. Early adopters can face downfalls, but these negative experiences can serve the benefit of others.



Meg is not an online review or brochure, but someone who is not just trying to sell me a product. Hence, it is only natural that his peers and myself look to him for advice on new products. The effect a “Meg” would bring on any given society is more or less equal. We look to these early adopters for hopes of a successful purchase. It is always rewarding when you invest in something that proves to be suitable and worthwhile. So can early adopters transform us into savvy consumers?