The changing nature of consumption and the intensification of McDonaldization in the digital age

TLDR

McDonaldization remains profoundly relevant to brick‑and‑mortar consumption and is even more applicable in the digital age, where digital speeds up rationalization and intensifies consumption. This article re‑examines the McDonaldization thesis in light of social changes since the 1990s and the onset of digital consumption, aiming to understand what its intensification means for contemporary consumption experience. The authors critically interrogate how McDonaldization plays out in McDonalds, Amazon, and Wal‑Mart. The article concludes that digital platforms accelerate rationalization and intensify consumption, making McDonaldization more relevant in the digital future than in the bricks‑and‑mortar past, and raises concerns about the ideological power of seemingly natural digital platforms.

Abstract

In this article, we re-examine the McDonaldization thesis in light of social changes that occurred since the 1990s and notably in light of the onset of digital forms of consumption. The argument is presented that while the theory of McDonaldization remains profoundly relevant to the consumption of bricks-and-mortar locales, it is even more applicable in the digital age, as well as “bricks-and-clicks” consumption sites. The ways in which McDonaldization is played out in three iconic companies, namely, McDonalds, Amazon, and Wal-Mart is critically interrogated. On this basis, the article seeks to understand what the intensification of McDonaldization means for our understanding of the contemporary consumption experience. Arguing that theories are routinely outpaced by the pace of social change, we contend that the digital speeds up processes of rationalization while intensifying levels of consumption. The article concludes by reflecting on what this might mean given that we now live in an age of networked individualism, for our understanding of the relationship between place and consumption: the degree to which digital platforms appear to consumers to be “natural” and thus ideologically powerful, being of particular concern. For this reason, we suggest that the McDonaldization thesis is, in fact, more relevant in the digital future than it was in the bricks-and-mortar past.