Before I came to Regent University, I spent a year working at Arby’s. In that position, I had the opportunity to witness several elements of economics play an important role in how Arby’s operates. For instance, Arby’s competes in the fast-food industry, which acts as a prominent example of monopolistic competition (Asamoah & Chovancová, 2011, p. 9). Thus, the firm relies on plenty of advertising “in order to maintain and increase its market share” (Asamoah & Chovancová, 2011, p. 9). Indeed, some of the marketing endeavors of Arby’s are highly renowned, with its slogan, “We have the meats,” being particularly well-known. Participating in monopolistic competition results in Arby’s needing to create such advertising to attract more consumers for reasons other than price, assisting the corporation in its efforts to gain a comparative advantage over its competitors (Asamoah & Chovancová, 2011, p. 9).
Moreover, Arby’s utilizes the economic concept of price discrimination. For example, it offers discounts to members of the military, seniors, and police officers. This increases the demand for its products from these consumers, and while I worked at Arby’s, I saw a significant number of senior citizens visit the restaurant to take advantage of their discount. Meanwhile, Arby’s also offers a large amount of coupons, serving as another example of price discrimination.
References
Asamoah, E. S., & Chovancová, M. (2011). An overview of the theory of microeconomics: Consumer behavior and market structures in fast food marketing. Ekonomika a management, 1-13. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.918.8380&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
This..... was amazing. I don't even care much for Arby's but to see someone discussing Economy from an Arby's perspective made me hungry for it. Well done!
Hi Thomas! I loved your post. I love that Arby's and their delicious french dip sandwiches could be discussed from an economic standpoint. Fast food restaurants are definitely monopolistic competitions and marketing is a great way they stand out. I worked at Dunkin' and "America Runs on Dunkin" is something so many people know which makes it a top seller. Price discrimination definitely increases the aggregate demand. When I worked at Dunkin', I also noticed this as well. Demand increased significantly whenever specific coupons would go out. This demand increase also increased prices as well. Not only how much items are, but also how much money was coming in the doors. When people could get a discount, they would often end up spending more.