mktg 322 noodles & company research project
DESCRIPTION
MKTG 322 - Marketing Research Assignment: to choose a restaurant company that was not currently in College Station that we believed would do well in the area. Then to do primary and secondary research to decide if the company would succeed in College Station. Our group agreed to choose Noodles & Company as our restaurant feeling that College Station is lacking a healthy fast food option. We ran both focus groups and surveys as our primary research.TRANSCRIPT
Group 4:
Jennifer Karissa Hernandez
Eric Martin Mikulenka
Chrysah Renae Pederson
Daniella Ida Stromquist
Kyndal Nicole Teich
who are Noodles & Company?
• Limited Services Restaurant
• “fast casual” menu items
• specializes in Mediterranean, Asian, and American
cuisines
history
• 1955 in Denver, Colorado
• 2008 & 2009 received “America’s Healthiest Fast Food
Restaurants” by Health magazine
• 2010 received Nation’s Restaurant News’ prestigious
Golden Chain Award
menu
• Mediterranean, Asian and American pasta
dishes
• Sandwiches, soups, salads and tofu alternatives
• Customized made-to-order entrees
• Variety of beverage options including beer and
wine
• On average entrees range from $5.00-
$12.00
locations
• 300 locations across 20 states
• 3 of which are in Austin, TX
• Located on university campuses, metropolitan cities, and
high pedestrian traffic areas
statistics • Annual sales of $119.1
Million
• 3,500 Employees
• 43 items on menu
• $5-$12 per entree
current positioning
“Whether it’s noodles, pastas, salads, or sandwiches, we
have something for everyone. All made quickly and served
with style. And all for around $8.00.”
limited-service restaurant industry
• An establishment where:
• Pay before you receive your meal
• Have the option to dine-in, take-out or have
delivery
• 200,000 limited-service restaurants in the US with a total
annual revenue of $190 billion
• College Station has about 105 limited-service restaurants
• McDonald’s Corporation and Yum! Brands. Inc. command
the industry
competition
• Pei Wei
• Pan-Asian cuisine
• Small entrees, salads, noodle & rice meal options, & gluten free
options
• Jason’s Deli
• Family deli
• Soups, salads, lite meals, pastas, sandwiches, vegetarian & gluten
free options
competition
• Fazoli’s
• Italian family restaurant chain
• Pasta, flat-bread pizza, salads, and sandwiches
• Panera Bread
• Bakery-café restaurant
• Breakfast, lunch, fresh-baked goods, sandwiches, soups, and
salads
research questions 1. How often will Texas A&M students visit Noodles &
Company?
2. How much money would Texas A&M students be willing to
pay at Noodles & Company?
3. If Texas A&M students would appreciate the multicultural
selection of food offered at Noodles & Company.
4. If Texas A&M students would value the health options at
Noodles & Company.
5. How Texas A&M students would compare Noodles &
Company to other limited-service restaurants.
methodology
• Two types of primary research used in our study:
• Focus Group
• Survey
methodology: focus group
• Purpose
• To assess student interaction with limited-service restaurants
• To gather initial responses to the idea of a Noodles & Company
coming to College Station
methodology: focus group
• Research Design
• Conducted within Mays Business School, Wehner 157 A
• Moderator: Kyndal Teich
• Video Technician: Eric Mikulenka
• Transcriptor: Daniella Stromquist
• 7 participants:
• 3 females
• 4 males
• 18-24 years old
• Mean: 21.286
methodology: focus group
• Analysis Techniques
• Used content analysis to review transcripts of individual responses
• Created a code sheet
• Limitations
• We only able to conduct one focus group
• Certain participants did not contribute as much
as others
methodology: survey
• Purpose
• To gain insight on limited service restaurant preference and buying
patterns among students
• To measure whether Noodles & Company has comparative
advantage against other local establishments
• To assess the likelihood of students dining at Noodles & Company
if one were to come to College Station
methodology: survey
• Research Design
• Created and distributed through Qualtrics
• 49 participants
• 19-24 yrs old
• 45% were 21 yrs old
• Classifications ranged from sophomores to graduates
• 15% on campus living vs 85% off campus living
• Data Collection Method
• Qualtrics was distributed by email and Facebook
methodology: survey
• Analysis Techniques
• Summarization of individual questions – number of responses
and/or percentages
• Descriptive Statistics – mainly using mean to analyze interval
questions
• Cross Tabulations
• Limitations
• Only had time to gather about 50 responses
• No freshman respondents – not completely representative
focus group
• Questions
• What is your favorite kind of food?
• On average, how many times a week do you go out and eat?
• Other than being hungry, what are some of the reasons why you
usually go out to eat?
• How important is multicultural variety in a menu?
focus group
• Key Research Findings
• Participants eat out frequently
• Choose restaurants based off of:
• Convenience
• Eat at places around campus or near home
• Price
• $5.00-$10.00
• Food
• Participants were shown a menu:
• Didn’t believe that Noodles & Company is a healthy option
• Didn’t like the multicultural aspect of the cuisine
focus group
• Takeaway
• Convenience of location is the #1 factor when choosing to eat out
• Price range between $5.00- $10.00
• Participants didn’t care for healthy or multicultural menu items
offered by Noodles & Company
• When ask if they would eat at Noodles & Company if there was one
in College Station, over half of the group said no.
survey
• Analysis
• Frequency of Restaurant visits
• 62% of respondents eat out 2 to 4 times a month
• 68% of these respondents would only eat at Noodles & Company once
or less a month.
How often do you eat at Limited Service Restaurants?
Never
Less than
Once a
Month
Once a
Month
2-3
Times a
Month
Once a
Week
2-3
Times a
Week
Dail
y
Tot
al
How often
do you think
you would
dine at
Noodles &
Company if
one were to
come to
College
Station?
Never 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 3
Less than
Once a
Month
3 0 3 6 1 0 1 14
Once a
Month 1 2 0 7 5 3 0 18
2-3 Times a
Month 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 5
Once a
Week 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 6
2-3 Times a
Week 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Daily 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Total 5 2 5 15 13 6 1 47
survey
• Analysis
• Price
• 84% found $4.01-$8.00 as a reasonable price range
• With Noodles & Company ranging from $5.00-$12.00 those surveyed
found that the price just right
When purchasing a meal for yourself, what do you believe is a reasonable
price range for a Limited Service Restaurant?
$1.00-$4.00 $4.01-$8.00 $8.01-$12.00 More than $12.01 Total
How important
do you find the
following
qualities of a
Limited Service
Restaurant? -
Price
Not Important At All 0 0 0 0 0
Very Unimportant 0 0 0 0 0
Neither Important
nor Unimportant 0 3 1 0 4
Very Important 2 22 3 0 27
Extremely Important 0 12 1 0 13
Total 2 37 5 0 44
survey
• Analysis
• Multicultural Variety
• In general, when choosing where to dine multicultural variety had an
average importance of 2.48
• When shown a Noodles & Company menu the average importance of
multicultural variety was a 3.51
• The average satisfaction rating of the multicultural variety when visiting
Noodles & Company was 3.75
survey
• Analysis
• Health Options
• 66% of respondents feel that College Station is missing healthier
restaurant options
• 41 out of 46 respondents agreed that the Noodles & Company menu
appeal to healthy eaters
• On a scale of 1 to 5 there was an average of 3.48 for importance of
healthy menu options
• Of those who had previously dined at Noodles & Company the
satisfaction of healthy menu options was a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5
survey • Analysis
• How Noodles & Company compares to other Limited-services Restaurants
• Importance ratings with specific qualities of limited service restaurants:
• Satisfaction ratings with specific qualities of Noodles & Company’s food and service:
• For those who had previously dined there, satisfaction with customer service and multicultural variety surpassed the rating of importance of all limited service restaurants
Price Quality of Food Customer
Service Cleanliness
Healthy Menu
Options
Menu with
Multicultural Variety Location
4.20 4.23 3.34 4.26 3.48 2.48 3.95
Price Quality of Food Customer
Service
Cleanlines
s Healthy Options Multicultural Variety
3.25 3.75 3.75 4.00 4.00 3.75
conclusions
• How often Texas A&M students would visit Noodles &
Company?
• Focus Group: Might visit once
• Survey Group: Visit once a month or less
• With negative response from both sets of results we can conclude
that Texas A&M students would not dine frequently at Noodles &
Company.
conclusion
• How much money will Texas A&M students pay at
Noodles & Company?
• Focus Group: $5.00-$10.00
• Survey Group: $4.00-$8.00
• Noodles & Company: $5.00-$12.00
• Both results show that the pricing for Noodles & Company will not
pose a problem
conclusion
• If Texas A&M students would appreciate the multicultural
selection of food offered at Noodles & Company.
• Focus Group: one specific cuisine
• Survey Group: multicultural variety least important quality
• From this we conclude that Noodles & Company should not
position itself around a multicultural menu.
conclusion
• If Texas A&M students would value the health options at
Noodles & Company.
• Focus Group: believed Noodles & Company ≠ healthy
• Survey Group: believed Noodles & Company = healthy
• With conflicting data, we cannot draw a conclusion whether or not
students think Noodles & Company is a healthier option.
conclusion
• How Texas A&M students would compare Noodles &
Company to other limited service restaurants?
• Focus Group: unimpressed by Noodles & Company and want a
convenient location
• Survey Group: above average satisfaction in price, quality of food,
customer service, cleanliness, healthy menu options and
multicultural variety
• We can conclude that Noodles & Company has the potential to
hold their own against other local businesses if they are convenient
for students
recommendations
• Conduct more focus groups
• Distribute surveys
• A&M students age 18-24
• Current customers
questions?