McDonald’s in Hong Kong

“Indigenization” helps to explain the responses of Hong Kong locals to a foreign restaurant chain.

Objectives

After completing this assignment, students should be able to

• Explain what Watson means by this summary of his article’s argument: “In Hong Kong, the transnational is the local…” (122).
• Explain the common assumptions about globalization that Watson challenges.
• Explain active audience theory and its difference from the hypodermic model.
• Identify the ways that McDonald’s has changed the culture of Hong Kong.
  (e.g. clean bathrooms, queuing, birthdays, etc.)
• Identify the ways that the behavior and expectations of customers in Hong Kong continue to make the restaurant different there than it is here.

Reading

• Watson, “McDonald’s in Hong Kong” (L&B 121-29)
• Lecture Slides: McDonald’s and Indigenization

Quiz

• McDonalds Hong Kong