Strengthening The Image Of Mickey Mouse In Disneyland Paris

Entertainment Culture

Similar with other Disneylands, Disney Company have been using Mickey Mouse as the icon of Disney and Disneyland. The Disneynization helped to strengthen the image of Mickey Mouse in Disneyland Paris. However, the promotion of Mickey Mouse in Disneyland Paris created a tension between Disney and French Culture. It can be analysed from the image and characteristic of Mickey Mouse.

Disney tended to promote the tradition US Mickey Mouse to Disneyland Paris. This traditional US Mickey Mouse was very virtuous (Matusitz, 2010). Through the merchandising and decoration from Disneynization, it kept to promote this traditional image in Paris. However, the French interpreted the image of US Mickey Mouse as a very rigid and not

These interactions are analysed in micro level or macro level. Micro level of analysis focuses on smaller component of society such as face-to-face interactions between individuals and individuals, while macro level of analysis focuses on impact of social structures and sees society as a whole. Structuration theory analyses phenomenon from both micro level and macro level. Based on the ideas proposed by Giddens, it is interpreted that French people had a strong sense of identity as a French that when Disney tried to apply its American style of practices directly on Disneyland Paris, a sense of cultural imperialism and invasion from external culture was experienced by French. In order to protect their own local culture, French used their bargaining power, purchasing power, to change the structure of Disney, which represented powerful dominant culture. From sociological perspective, the importance of local culture is emphasized that dominant parties cannot use their power to force local people to accept their

USD 1.2 billion subsidies from the French Government also helped (Groote, 2011, p.25). Besides, the product differentiation of Disneyland also created customer loyalty and thus the switching costs of the customers were high. As for the bargaining power of suppliers, it is relatively low. Since Disneyland had its worldwide reputation, which was a source of sustainable sales, the suppliers could enjoy stable revenue from being a partner of Disneyland. Next, Disneyland Paris faced a medium buyer bargaining power. In 1992 to 1994, there was a recession in Europe that people became more price-sensitive, given the low income of people and the high prices Disneyland charged, customers did not possess much bargaining power. Threat of substitute is relatively high. Unlike Disneyland’s expectations, most Europeans tended to stay in Disneyland for only one day; they preferred not to live in Disney Hotel for few days. Apart from visit to Disneyland Paris, alternative activities were planned if they had long holidays. As for the intensity of rivalry, the threat is medium. Although there was a number of theme parks in Europe, given the high switching costs of customers, Disneyland Paris had been market-leading (Table 1). The theory focused less on the cultural factors and