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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 |
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