Cultural Sensitivity
Since the mid-1980s, Indian society has undergone a dramatic shift in social values. The traditional caste-defined view of Indian life, which undervalues social and economic mobility, and the dominance of the Brahmanical culture’s disdain toward commerce have been challenged by the middle class in contemporary
Indian society. Getting rich and enjoying a good life has become the new mantra of social existence for the Indian middle class. With more income and more purchasing power, the status-conscious Indian middle class now seek to buy good quality consumer products and spend more money on food and entertainment. In metropolitan cities, extensive foreign media exposure and the Internet revolution have
While part of this vegetarianism is economic, a more compelling force is ethical and even religious. Jains avoid meat totally, while many Buddhists in India are vegetarian. Brahmins,
Saivite non-Brahmins of South India and several Vaishnavite sects across the country avoid meat. Interestingly, though, Brahmins of East India, Kashmir, and the Saraswats of the southwest eat fish and mutton. But even among meat-eaters, beef is taboo.23
For vegetarian consumers, McDonald’s offers veggie burgers, which are very popular among the vegetarians in India. Like the Maharaja Mac, the veggie burger has gone through a rigorous testing procedure and detailed planning.
Sanjiv Mediratta, McDonald’s quality assurance and product development manager for India, had test-marketed this veggie burger in 1994 in McDonald’s outlets located in three Asian population-dominated towns of London—
Southhall, Ilford, and Hounslow—before launching the product in India in
1996.24 Further, McDonald’s has sought to enforce strict standards in product development and cooking so as not to ruffle cultural sensitivities of the vegetarian consumers of the Indian