Marketing strategies are well known to many Americans and are used all over the world. The fast food industry has one of the most advanced ways of marketing that are undeniable and unstoppable. I am particularly interested in this topic because I am very fond of business and I enjoy learning about how businesses, in particular fast food industries, create desire through advertising promoting growth in their sales. Going to be majoring in Marketing and Global Supply Chain Operation Management (GSCOM) the question relates to what I will be dealing with in the future. This research topic really has no effect on me because either way I enjoy getting fast food once and a while, although I am interested to see what truth lies behind their techniques. I personally enjoy their promotions of the Shamrock shake and the buy a Big Mac get one for the price of yesterday's temperature, which is biased towards the north. These both attract my attention and have a way of getting me to think of eating at McDonald's for a meal once and a while. I am only qualified enough to give out information that I find from articles I assess, so I am a secondary informative source.

In the article: Cross-cultural Competitive Benchmarking of Fast-food Restaurant Services, fast food restaurants take on more global markets allowing for more customers, ultimately increasing profit. To do this they must calculate and classify the cultural differences to connect with the native customs to be able to compete with the other markets worldwide. This article compares the service value of the fast food industry of the USA and Korea by developing set standards seen throughout the different geological locations. Some of the major values and interests are the differing preferences of the customers in different locations. It has found that Americans enjoy a better quality of fast food compared to Koreans who value a cleaner environment. Koreans also value courtesy throughout the restaurant and the price of the food far less compared to Americans. The authors Hokey Min and Hyesung Min are both credible authors. Hokey Min is the head of the Department of Management at the Bowling Green State University in Ohio; Hyesung Min is also head of the Department of Tourism Management at the Yuhan University in South Korea. Both of these credible men come together and create a well written comparison evaluating with first hand knowledge of the differing cultures.

Within the U.S. there are many regulations concerning how industries advertise to certain groups of people and what specifically they advertise. Fast food chains are especially regulated when it comes to advertising to children. In the article, Children's Recall of Fast Food Television Advertising -- Testing the Adequacy of Food Marketing Regulation qualified researchers aim to determine if McDonald's and Burger King are really staying within their commitment of programs that limit the rewards and boost the healthy styles. The researchers emphasize the amount of fast food commercials aired throughout the day and look into concepts that are being taken away from the commercials. They are able to test a subject amount of adults and a number of children to evaluate their responses to the commercials. Results came in just as they had assumed where kid's commercials emphasized the premiums and did not care about the healthy food choices offered, on the flip side commercials targeting adults got the kids to remember food. This shows that fast food advertisements are able to get kids to focus on the food instead premiums if that benefits their initial goal of the commercial. Many authors all come together to contribute an enormous amount of knowledge into the research of the effect of commercials in the fast food industry. Although the authors alone are a primary source, the overall research serves a secondary because of the lack of participants. It is also a study of 2010 to 2011 which makes it irrelevant to the marketing techniques used today.

In the article, Examining the Relationship Between Advertising Expenditures and Sales of Quick-Service Restaurants in the United States, research was conducted to show the relationship between advertising and sales in the quick-service restaurants. The research was driven from the leading QSR brands in 1986 to 2007 using a time-series regression analysis. Major interests throughout the article were mostly highlighted on the importance of marketing techniques and the increase on sales. However, results show that the QSR industry should focus publicizing more on outdoor advertising instead of their electronic advertising which normally leads in their expenditures. Results show that the outdoor advertising has a higher connection to the increase in sales compared to any other marketing techniques. The authors are both very credible that have a lot of research and experience backing their titles. With the research being backed with such knowledge and large amounts of data, it justifies as a primary source with a minor slant. The minor slant comes from the time in when the research was taken and the evidence gathering bringing a slight irrelevance to the present circumstances.

Marketing research is highly credible when it comes to efficiency in the profit margins. This research question allows businesses in the industry evaluate how they represent their promotions and advertising styles to create the most profit. It is arguable because many people will comment on the ethics of how the fast food industry targets certain age and racial groups towards certain methods of advertising. Many people disagree with targeting of younger children who have no clue what goes on and the affects of innutritious food and beverages choices. Others, however, see no wrong in targeting the young children if they show or promote healthier food choices within the advertising technique they are doing. Ultimately, decisions are up to the parents and individuals on what they get and if they even want to go to the fast food restaurant.  Many consumers also see greed, as they see the big chains just trying to increase their profits instead of actually caring about the individuals they serve. Another perspective on this question comes from most likely marketers as how to increase the wants and needs within the restaurants. By evaluating consumer's lifestyles and preferences the fast food market can identify areas it lacks in the eyes of the consumers, therefore caring and looking after their loyal and potential customers. These ideas all are well thought out with meaning and pros and cons, however my perspective differs slightly from most. Marketing, a tool in which businesses use to increase profit. On the flip side, they are increasing profit because they are appealing to the customers with new goods and services that are benefiting or enjoyable to the consumers. Choices are not made from the advertising, but oneself and if one may choose to go to a fast food restaurant, blaming a promotion stands irrelevant because the consumer can not contain their self control. I may change my question to base off of every fast food industry with just an emphasis on McDonald's because every fast food restaurant has similar circumstances.

