Comments on: Story time IV: Ronald, patron saint of ethnography

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:53:25 +0000

I think Susan got it right. When you're ordering at the drive-thru, you can't see the cups. Even though the large cup does indeed fit in a cup holder, someone at the drive-thru may not be aware or confident of that, and therefore chooses the safer, smaller cup that they know will fit. This is also something the author can verify by driving by — checking to see if they put cups (or representations of cups) on or near the menu.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:37:04 +0000

Remember he said he "drives by and looks to see if McDonald's has implemented his suggestion" and most of the comments here can not be implemented by McDonalds, but my car manufactures. I would say cup size or differences in the menu would make a difference that could be implemented by McDonalds.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 14:06:41 +0000

1. McDonald's large size cups are plastic, not paper, with a narrower bottom specifically so they'll fit in a cupholder. From a strength / non-leak perspective the large cups are actually better than the regular paper cups -- and this has only gotten more true over the past few years as they switched to the current materials.

2. Soda is the largest profit item (highest margin, etc) for a QSR. So they'd do just about anything to increase the per-visit sales of soda, even if it meant spending more on the cup, etc.

3. In hot climates many drive-ins use foam cups that still fit into cupholders to reduce the sweating problem, so that is not the issue -- it's already covered by standard practice.

4. One reason may be at the drive in, the driver orders, whereas inside the individuals order. A driver is more likely to be budget sensitive, especially when forced to list the whole order out over the speaker system, than individuals ordering for themselves.

By: rwk

rwk — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 04:43:55 +0000

My guess is that it has to do more with the client than the transaction itself. I'm thinking that drive-throughs are favoured by soccer moms – with a van load of kids. (Yes, I'll have one regular coke with that, and three small)

By: Pete

Pete — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 09:14:52 +0000

When you're in McDonalds, you can actually see the various cup sizes. You decide which one you'd probably be satisfied with, then you think "well, it's only an extra 8p" (or 10c or whatever you deal in), play safe and go for the larger. When you're at the drive-thru, it's all a bit of an abstraction and you'd rather be a medium person than a large person. That is all. (Maybe).

By: John

John — Sun, 28 Aug 2005 19:17:30 +0000

Its pretty much dead here, but the recent post reminded me of this quandy, and I thought I'd go ahead and post what I think is the answer, just for laughs.

I think it has to do with the fact that you can get free refills inside. So you get the biggest cup and drink so you can refill on your way out, and therefore get the most for your money.

When you go through the drive through its a one-time-only affair. There is no promise of a free refill and so you are stuck with whatever size you get. No prmoise of a little something extra after your meal. Therefore you just get whatever the meal comes with.

Some would say that you would still order the biggest size if what you want is quantity, but thats just the point, you dont want quantity really, you want to know when you walk out of the restaraunt and get in your car that you've just gotten a whole bunch of something for nothing. You're not actually that thirsty, you just want to stick it to the man. If they allowed you to bring in containers to fill up with free soda people would be hauling out soda by the tankfull.

By: TruePravda

TruePravda — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 03:13:23 +0000

Around the ‘Sphere

Goings on in the blogosphere.

…

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 17:52:00 +0000

This comment list is an amazing testament to homo sapiens desire to solve problems. This is still bugging me ... my latest observation is that you can see the size of the cups when you are inside, but there are no cups to observe outside.

The other telling thing about this conversation is that it really highlights the importance of actually doing the research, not just thinking about a problem. Because when you actually do the research, you see many things that are not readily apparent from just thinking about something. (I may have to start hanging out at the drive through just to prevent myself from going bonkers trying to figure out the one correct answer.)

By: Temple of Me

Temple of Me — Tue, 16 Aug 2005 01:50:17 +0000

Ronald, patron saint of ethnography

I think Sonic listened to Grant McCracken……

By: kottke.org remaindered links

kottke.org remaindered links — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 13:31:26 +0000

Why do people buy a smaller size of Coke when going through the McDonald’s drive-thru than when they order from the counter?

http://www.cultureby.com/trilogy/2005/07/story_time_iv_r.html...