Crisis Management and Consumer Perception: The Case of the McDonald's Boycott in Indonesia

This research investigates the perspectives of Indonesian consumers towards McDonald's during the period of boycott that emerged after the 2023 Israel-Palestine conflict. More precisely, it examines the public's opinions toward the fast-food franchise following McDonald's Israel's decision to offer complimentary meals to Israeli soldiers, a move that led to demands for a boycott in Indonesia. The study utilized sentiment analysis to gather data from the social media site X (formerly known as Twitter) between October 2023 and August 2024. Python was employed for data extraction, and the Naïve Bayes method was used for sentiment classification. The findings indicate a substantial disparity in public perception, with the majority expressing unfavorable attitudes towards McDonald's, influenced by political, cultural, and religious elements. The study underscores the influence of global events and social media on consumer behavior, underlining the necessity for firms to implement strong crisis management plans. These findings are essential for the restaurant business to effectively handle unexpected problems like boycotts, indicating the necessity for strong brand resilience, customer loyalty, and social responsibility activities. The findings provide significant insight for both small and large organizations on properly handling force majeure situations.