Research article    |    Open Access
Culture Academy 2022, Vol. 2(2) 40-60

Diffusion of Innovation and Food Culture: Case Study on the McDonald's Advertisements in Turkey

Hakan Çelikten

pp. 40 - 60

Publish Date: December 31, 2022  |   Single/Total View: 21/8   |   Single/Total Download: 21/8


Abstract

Globalization, when evaluated along with the culture, points out the effort of a dominant cultural structure to be universal. The process of being universal consists of the emergence of innovation, its diffusion, and its interaction with the local. At the end of this process, it is inevitable to experience some changes and transformations in both the global and the local. As is realized, at the beginning of the globalization process, what claims to be global should exist as "innovation" and should diffuse. Then, the processes of the innovative and global one to confront the local and make itself accepted can be mentioned. The response of the local against the innovative one determines the direction of change and transformation. Therefore, the diffusion of innovation and the response of local are extremely significant in terms of seeing how the change process will take shape. When this is realized, it is also revealed that some strategies are implemented for the diffusion of innovation. What stands out among these is that the innovation must pay regard to the local while it diffuses, to suppress the response of the local and prevent the emergence of resistance. However, such regard should not be one-sided. The local's recognition of the innovation and its strategies will provide some advantages in attaining desirable outcomes on behalf of itself. In this study, the emergence of the fast-food chain called McDonald's, which has a global scale and contains various elements, as an innovation in Turkey and the cultural strategies it has applied while gaining a place in the Turkish market has been evaluated. For this purpose, the content analysis of McDonald's advertisements in Turkey has been carried out and the themes covered in the analysis have been examined under four titles: local cultural elements, local taste elements, national sentiment-oriented elements and taste elements belonging to different cultures. In each topic title, the references to the themes in question have been brought to the forefront and then what is emphasized and how is done have been examined. In conclusion, it has been tried to see how a global company utilizes local food memory and what changes it makes to this memory.

Keywords: Change, globalization, McDonald’s, advertisement, local memory


How to Cite this Article?

APA 7th edition
Celikten, H. (2022). Diffusion of Innovation and Food Culture: Case Study on the McDonald's Advertisements in Turkey. Culture Academy, 2(2), 40-60.

Harvard
Celikten, H. (2022). Diffusion of Innovation and Food Culture: Case Study on the McDonald's Advertisements in Turkey. Culture Academy, 2(2), pp. 40-60.

Chicago 16th edition
Celikten, Hakan (2022). "Diffusion of Innovation and Food Culture: Case Study on the McDonald's Advertisements in Turkey". Culture Academy 2 (2):40-60.