Haircut Survey Results

The McDonaldization of a Haircut

Based on the book "The McDonaldization of Society", George Ritzer
states that hair salons are not able to achieve the predictability of
a McDonaldized society, due to idiosyncrasies of each customer and
hair stylist, as no two are alike. He also states that the
McDonaldized franchise salons are predictable by the décor of the
salon, set-up, and products. Based on this information, I
hypothesized that although the franchise salons are not able to
McDonaldize the haircut itself, but they are able to create
predictability when the customers are serviced by the same stylist.
The customers also prefer efficiency of making an appointment at a
salon, rather than waiting as a walk-in.

The preference of walk-ins versus appointments indicates that people
prefer a less McDonaldized haircut by their choice of making an
appointment or going to a salon without an appointment, or also known
as a "walk-in". Of the people who frequent the franchise chains, half
usually make appointments and the other half walk-in. The lower
occurrence of appointments can be attributed to two factors. One is
the chains primarily taking walk-in customers and two, many people
don't want to waste anywhere from a half hour to two hours before
their haircut. Appointments are taken only if there is a specialty
service involved, such as a cut and perm or color. With this method,
the salons are able to focus more on a larger volume of haircuts and
restrict specialty services to the slower hours. Although the
customers of the franchise chains are more likely to have a specialty
service without an appointment, with 16 out of 18 people who frequent
the independent salons and have other services performed, it
calculates out to 89% of the customers, unlike the 17% of the
franchise chain customers. This may be attributable also to the range
of services offered by the independent salons. For instance, BoRics
(a franchise chain) is limited to perms, highlights, and
semi-permanent hair coloring. An independent salon would also offer
permanent hair coloring and other spa-like treatments. Of the people
who responded to this survey, the largest number of people prefer to
make appointments and have additional services performed that are not
offered at a franchise chain.

The highest deciding factors in preference to the type of salon were
quality and price. Customers want to feel that they are getting their
money's worth when it comes to salon services. Charts 3 and 4 compare
the quality of services in franchise salons against the quality of the
independent salons. While the average run to the independent salon is
not much more than the franchise salons, the quality is what makes the
difference. Only one person who indicated that a haircut was cheap
frequently visits the independent salons. All other responses
indicated that the price they paid was reasonable. With the franchise
salons, the majority of people do not get the best quality of service;
they are deciding based on what they consider to be a reasonable
price. The independent salons are able to give the higher quality of
service, as indicated in Chart 4, but they charge a higher price.

Another preference indicated by this survey is the number of people
who prefer the consistency of the same stylist each time. As seen on
Charts 5 and 6, the percentage of people who see the same stylist each
time they get a haircut at a franchise salon is 17%, compared to the
83% of customers who see the same stylist more than once, but not more
than six months. Considering that the majority of people who go to
salons get their hair cut between four and eight weeks, that means the
customer sees the stylist from three to no more than six times. This
is indicative of two aspects of a franchise or McDonalized salon. The
first is that turnover is high and the stylist is a low-wage worker.
Hourly rates have been posted as less than $7 per hour, which most
McDonald's employees would be paid more. At an independent salon with
the higher cost and wider selection of services, the stylist is paid
more and is more likely to stay. This is indicated in Chart 4, where
customers will see the same stylist for a year or more. During this
time, the customer is able to work with the stylist and communicate
what has worked for haircuts in the past and the stylist will tend to
remember a recurring customer and their preferences and achieving a
better haircut. Although consistency is typically a characteristic of
a franchised environment, the consistent aspect of a franchise salon
is not positive. The high turnover makes the end result of the
haircut less predictable, as George Ritzer mentioned, because of the
idiosyncrasies of both the customer and the stylist. In this case,
consistency of the stylist is preferred, as it brings a better end
product to the customer.

In conclusion, customers prefer to make an appointment to ensure the
quality of their haircut. In turn they are willing to pay slightly
more for that consistency of product. I conclude that my hypothesis
was proven correct.

Summary of actual responses (not all are from RCTN'ers)

Gender
Male 9
Female 24
Ethnicity
Caucasian 31
Asian 1
Maori (New Zeland) 1
Income
25K 4
25-50K 5
50-75K 4
75-100K 1
No Response 19
Number in household
1-2 17
3-5 16
Children under 18
Yes 11
No 22
Frequency
4 weeks 2
4-6 weeks 8
7-8 weeks 11
8 weeks or more 12
Length of Hair
4 inches or less 13
Jaw length 4
Shoulder length 4
Below the shoulders 12
Type of Salon
Discount 6
Salon/Spa 18
Cut myself 5
Other 3
Appointments?
Makes Appointment 21
Walk-In 12
Deciding Factors
Time 17
Organization 7
Price 12
Quality 20
None 2
Last Change in Hairstyle
0-1 years 10
1-2 years 6
2-3 years 2
4-5 years 14
5 years or more 1
Same stylist for every haircut?
Yes 20
No 12
Same stylist each haircut?
Never seen before 9
6 months 4
6-12 months 2
1 or more years 17
Customer Input
General idea 19
Very descriptive or bring a picture 6
No input 6
Stylist Feedback
Gives suggestions 15
Sticks to the style given by customer 13
No Feedback 3
Quality of Haircut
1 2
2 1
3 8
4 7
4.5 2
5 11
Other Services
Color or Perm 11
Manicure or Pedicure 9
Massages 6
Facials 7
Makeovers 1
None of the above 14
Price
$10 5
$10-$20 9
$21-40 4
40 0
Did not answer 14
Price Rating
Cheap 2
Reasonable 13
Did not answer 17