Comércio e consumo: análise de franquias de fast food em Uberlândia (MG)

Abstract

The eating habits have been changing throughout mankind according to its needs and, with its evolution, the habits have also changed. Meals which initially had a characteristic of survival, have become festive feastings, later on, they have become a familiar, social moment and, currently, a lonely activity, since contemporaneity has been demanding that one feeds in a fast pace so one can return to its daily activities. This paper had as objective the study of the new food consumption pattern, based on fast meals and performed out of one’s houses and, thus, analyze the profile of the consumers, in special the ones who attend the fast food franchising present in the city of Uberlândia (MG). In this paper, a study was presented concerning the location of these franchises through mapping and data analysis, which were collected through the application of questionnaires and observations made in field research. This paper was written based on the hypothesis that modern eating has modified the eating habits of the population due to the new work dynamics and social relations. It has been written from the premises that the facility to consume easier prepared foods, such as fast food, has modified the act of eating itself, being possible to even substitute homemade meals by fast and not healthy ones. The consumption of goods has been widely discussed in literature due to the fact that it has become controversial over the centuries, thus human necessities were being modified with time and several influences, making that the act of consuming became something indispensable, bringing status and, for some people, a feeling of power. Due to changes in the lifestyle of the worldwide population, work and globalization, the products commerce process expanded, surpassing old limits created by different political, cultural and ethnic views. Through changes in the current scenario, where brands have a great power and the privatization of services has become more present each day, the franchising rises to consolidate such powers, thus, with the advancement of the economical globalization and the human need for trustworthy services/products, the scenario has become propitious to the rising of a new kind of service that could attend a much more demanding public and detainer of knowledge by their rights. In Brazil, in the past few years, there was a strong growth in the number of franchises, this occurs due to the fact that a renowned brand allows us to associate it to security and reliability. The food franchises had a great growth in the country in the past few years, among them the fast food ones. The consume of fast food is characterized by eating foods of fast consumption, having as the main item in its menu hamburger and other industrialized items. Through the obtained results it was possible to conclude that the fast food consumption is considered as a way of leisure and pleasure also presenting a matter of status since its consumption isn’t done daily, but occasionally, usually in specific moments or occasions. The consumption of this kind of meal hasn’t modified the way of thinking of the population interviewed regarding complete or more nutritious meals, in the sense that they’d rather not to change this kind of food for a more caloric one, therefore, less healthy.