According to retail marketing research firm Soft Brain Field, McDonald's is overwhelmingly the most popular fast food in Japan, with 68 percent of survey respondents saying they patronize the American hamburger chain regularly. When asked which fast food they like the most, the answer for 33 percent is also McDonald's, with Mos Burger second at 25 percent and Mister Donuts third at 17 percent. Forty-two percent of McDonald's users patonize an outlet once a month, and 29 percent do so two or three times amonth, more often for lunch (43 percent) than dinner (29 percent).
Why do they prefer McDonald's? The most common answer is that it's inexpensive and they can order as little as possible, meaning they can go there when they're not in the mood for a full meal.
The main underlying attraction of fast food is predictability. People who patronize national or international chains know what to expect in terms of quality and, more significantly, price. They probably think that prices are uniform from one outlet to another. The British newsweekly The Economist exploits and reinforces this perception with its occasional Big Mac Index, which analyzes relative values of national currencies by comparing the prices of Big Macs in all countries using the assumption that the value of a Big Mac is uniform.