PNNL

Abstract

McDonaldization and the exportation of the new means of consumption tend to support the view that in at least some sectors the world is growing more homogeneous than heterogeneous. Against those globalization theorists who tend to focus on the importance of the local and therefore on heterogeneity, the study of McDonaldization and the new means of consumption emphasizes transnational issues and uniformity throughout the world. Fast-food restaurants do adapt to local markets, but the basic procedures of operation and marketing remain the same across a wide range of international settings. This is true even of indigenous versions. The uniformity is exported by transnational corporations, with nation-states less and less able to control or restrict such exports.