Glocalization
Glocalization (a portmanteau of globalization and localization) is the adaptation of a product or service specifically to each locality or culture in which it is sold. It is similar to internationalization. The term first appeared in the late 1980s in articles by Japanese economists in the Harvard Business Review. According to the sociologist Roland Robertson, who is credited with popularizing the term, glocalization describes a new outcome of local conditions toward global pressures. At a 1997 conference on "Globalization and Indigenous Culture," Robertson said that glocalization "means the simultaneity - the co-presence of both universalizing and particularizing tendencies."
The increasing presence of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide is an example of globalization, while the restaurant chain's menu changes in an attempt to appeal to local palates are an example of glocalization. Glocalization means a case in which a global product is transformed into another shape in order to meet the needs of local consumers. This is a phenomenon which is alter-native to Americanization. Perhaps even more illustrative of glocalization: for promotions in France, the restaurant chain recently chose to replace its familiar Ronald McDonald ascot with Asterix the Gaul, a popular French cartoon character.
More examples, McDonald’s tried to satisfy the tastes of Korean consumers by making Korean-style of hamburgers such as ‘Bulgogi burger’ and ‘Kimchi burger’. Starbucks is also trying out locally designed franchises in stores.
Disneyland was also not that successful in Hong Kong with park attendance and growth revenue on its beginning in 2005, so Disneyland then made an effort to cater to the local Chinese taste by reducing prices, adapting to local Chinese customs and labor practices and also changed the decors and settings. By accommodating the needs of local people, glocalization was successfully applied in Hong Kong. In a way, glocalization contributes to cultural heterogenization.