ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

ALLAH, the most merciful who helped us in most crucial times enabled us to complete

this report. We are thankful to Mr. WAQAS for his guidance about this course and

providing us an opportunity for gaining practical experience and knowledge about FAST

FOOD project. He has always been kind in helping and guiding us for the preparation and

completion of this report.

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SUMMARY:

The report has been prepared to identify and analyze various factors that help consumer in

deciding fast food restaurants to dine in. Secondary and primary research has been

conducted, which has helped to identify various factors that play a decisive role and

estimate importance of those factors in making a choice of fast food outlets by

consumers.

The report has analyzed the responses of consumers regarding different fast food outlets

operating in PAKISTAN, such as McDonald, KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardees, and Dominos,

and the factors that are important for their selection.

It also helps to identify the decision rules that consumers use, and how they help the

marketers to design their advertisements and help the consumers in deciding that their

product provides them with the benefits they desire.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1)INTRODUCTION page 4-5

2)SELECTION CRITERIA page 5-6-7-8

3)CONSUMER DECISION RULE FOR

SELECTION OF FAST FOOD RESTAURANT page 8-9

4)SELECTION OF FAST FOOD RESTAURANT page 10-11-12

6)APPLICATION OF DECISION RULE page 13-14

7)ADVERTISEMENT (PRINT AD) page 15

8)DESCRIPTION OF THE ADVERTISEMENT page 16

9)CONCLUSION page 17-18

10)REFERENCES page 18-19

11)APPENDIX page 20

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INTRODUCTION

This study has been conducted to analyze the attitude of consumers towards fast food

restaurants and what factors influence their attitude towards these chains. The objective is

to find out what are the different criteria that encompass consumers’ decision making

process for fast food restaurant selection, particularly to determine what criteria they use

to evaluate and chose amongst the different fast food places that are operating in

PAKISTAN and how this evaluation can provide an insight for marketers to position their

products accordingly and making the product decisions such as pricing, promotional

strategies, adding new products to the line and packaging. For this purpose, several

articles related to the topic have been consulted and also primary research has been

carried out.

Starting off with the introduction of fast food, it’s the food which is prepared and served

within a short span of time, which include sandwiches, pastries, pizzas, processed meat

delicacies, and local favorites, among others. The industry in Pakistan is undergoing a

massive growth and despite fierce competition, it has managed to generate profitability

and is well-received by the local masses as well.

Recent statistics have revealed that fast food industry is the second largest in Pakistan,

with approximately 169 million consumers. Not only that, but this sector also accounts

for 16% of the total employment in manufacturing sector. It is that division of the

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industry which is the least affected by recession. McDonalds', Yum! Brands, Doctor's

Associates, and Burger King are the top brands, which add almost 24 percent of the total

revenue to the industry (Statista, 2011). Today, more than 500,000 fast food restaurants

are found to be running around the world

Recently, remarkable transformation has occurred in food consumption of the Pakistani

masses. Fast food consumption has increased radically because people prefer convenience

and good taste. This transformation has been facilitated by the changing lifestyle of the

consumers and the presence of multinational chains.

The major fast food chains operating in Pakistan include:

KFC

McDonalds

Hardees

Pizza Hut

Domino’s Pizza

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SELECTION CRITERIA

Study has revealed that consumer decision making and buying behavior towards these

foods is influenced by individual, social and personal factors, as for any other product or

service (Khan, 2007). Their buying behavior is individualistic and is dependent on the

customer and his environment, be it their income, perceptions, fads and fancies, social

status, culture etc.

According to a research published by “Emerald Group Publishing Limited” and

conducted by Asian Society of Management and Marketing Research, Islamabad,

Pakistan, who randomly surveyed university students of 3 cities i.e. Islamabad,

Gujranwala and Lahore, it was revealed that customers considered price, variety of food,

promotional deals and timely service as the important factors for the selection of fast

food restaurants.

Susan (1992) conducted a detailed study among the various age groups, in order to assess

the attributes that help them choose a particular fast food restaurant. The analysis surfaced

the factors to be style, ambience and taste of the food in that restaurant. The analysis at

Yale University (2009) illustrated that, but for making the consumers knowledgeable of

the calorie intake through fast food consumption; their preference for a variety is

dependent on the cost rather than the calorific value.

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The decisions made by consumers can be based on internal and external aspects of food.

One way to categorize the factors underlying deliberate food choices is to distinguish

food-internal aspects from food-external aspects (Furst et al., 1996). Food-internal aspects

relate to the properties of the food itself, for example, its taste, nutrients or texture.

External aspects of the food include both the physical environment in which the choice

takes place and also the individuals’ attitudes, preferences and motives. Often, the two

aspects go hand-in-hand because what ultimately matters is how an individual perceives

the food-internal aspects (Aikman & Stephen, 2005; Shepherd, 1989).

Glanz, Basil, Maibach, Goldberg and Snyder (1998) explored the factors influencing the

food preferences of Americans, the top consumers of fast food. The results revealed that

the taste is the primary consideration, followed by low price.

Ritzer (2001) brought forth the argument that the effect of signage, ambience and the

lively interiors on attracting the customer attention cannot be downplayed. Some fast food

outlets also provide play areas and play pens for kids. This is the feature considered to be

advantageous for the couples with young children, as the aims and entertainment of both

the adults and the children are satisfied at the same time. The toys and gifts offered along

with child meals have a strong pull-effect on children. These stimuli are enough to

persuade their parents for frequent visit to the store.

One instrument commonly used to measure individual food attitudes is the food choice

questionnaire, or FCQ (Steptoe et al., 1995). The FCQ captures the individual importance

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of nine factors that are measured based on a total of 36 survey items. These factors are

concerns about health, concerns about price and costs, convenience of preparation and

purchase, mood improvement and stress reduction, sensory appeal, such as taste, smell,

and texture, natural content and the absence of additives, weight control, familiarity, and

ethical concerns about the food origin and packaging. Most of these factors are similar to

dimensions described by other researchers (above). Among the FCQ factors, sensory

appeal, health, convenience, and price are commonly rated as the most important while

natural content, weight control, familiarity, ethical concern, mood, and convenience are

endorsed less strongly (Eertmans et al., 2005).

Zafar, Abbasi, Chaudhry and Riaz (2002) attempted to understand the fast food

consumption behaviors of Pakistani nationals. Word of mouth is the chief means by

which the consumers improved their knowledge on fast foods and such restaurants. The

pricing of these foods is conceived to be on the upper end and price sensitive consumers

opt out from the fast food consumption bandwagon. Cordial and courteous interaction

with the staff, the taste and quick service are the points of attraction towards the fast food

restaurants for the patrons. Further, these outlets are viewed as recreation and amusement

spots.

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Other studies conducted showed that quality of the food, price, promotional deals,

service quality, menu variety and ambiance were the factors most prominent while

making a decision choice for a fast food restaurant.

It can be inferred from all these studies that social, cultural, personal and health

considerations certainly influence the fast food buying and consumption behaviors of

customers around the world.

Based on all these factors identified, a primary research was conducted, comprising of

questionnaires that were randomly administered to respondents belonging to the age

group of 18-23. The respondents were provided with several alternatives identified in the

secondary research and were asked to rate them in order of importance for decision

making. The attribute given the highest rating was TASTE followed by Price and GOOD

COMPANY.

CONSUMER DECISION RULE FOR SELECTION OF FAST FOOD

RESTAURANT:

The buying decision of the consumer starts with an internal desire or an intention. Then,

he gathers data in this regard and searches for the available options to decide on the final

solution, considering the various factors. The marketers need to understand the

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psychological condition of the consumers, their decision process and should also consider

the fact that friends, family and surroundings play an important role in such decisions.

The consumption and buying decisions of consumers gain prominence in case of fast food

industry because of the tough competition among the multiplicity of players within the

markets. Their marketing strategies must be designed considering the economic

conditions, health related resistance to fast foods, changing lifestyle, tastes and

preferences of the consumers. Fanning, Marsh and Stiegert (2005) analyzed the

relationship between the socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect the fast food

buying and spending decisions. Both the latter variables vary in direct proportion to the

income and number of family members and are inversely proportional to their age and

education.

A)SELECTION OF FAST FOOD RESTAURANT:

Based on all of these factors identified, such as taste, ambience and price, a primary

research was conducted that encompassed the different fast food chains operating in

PAKISTAN; the respondents were asked to choose amongst them giving the criteria that

they use for its selection. The sample consisted of random respondents from the city of

RAWALPINDI/ISLAMABAD belonging to the age group 18-25.They were provided

with the following options to choose from:

KFC

McDonalds

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Hardees

Pizza Hut

Domino’s Pizza

The responses collected showed that the most preferred fast food restaurant was KFC

followed by McDonalds. On a scale of 5 attributes, about 75 % of the respondents chose

KFC for its superior taste.

This research is further proved by research conducted by a market research agency,

named Dynamic Research Consultancy, which has conducted a survey, sampling people

based on following details:

The sample consisted of males and females.

The age of the sample was 16 and above. However, two categories were made;

Youngsters (16-22 years)

Mature (more than 22 years)

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Geographically, the sample was extended across three major cities of Pakistan namely

Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad/Rawalpindi.

The results of the survey proved that KFC and Mc Donald’s were the most consumed fast

food chains among both the genders and both age groups. It also demonstrated that

youngsters are more likely to visit more; still mature adults have demonstrated a higher

proclivity towards fast food consumption. The study also showed that for

Islamabad/Rawalpindi, the most consumed fast food chains are; KFC, McDonald’s,

Domino’s Pizza and pizza hut.

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B) APPLICATION OF DECISION RULE:

The decision rules that consumers use while making a purchase choice fall into

COMPENSATORY and NON COMPENSATORY decision rules. COMPENSATORY

decision rule states that the consumer bases his decision by giving each relevant attribute

a weighted score and then sums up each alternative’s score, the alternative with the

highest score is then chosen.

However, based on primary as well as secondary research conducted on this particular

topic, it has been found that for fast food selection, the most preferred attribute for

majority of the consumers is related to the taste/quality followed by price. In following a

compensatory decision rule, it may be that an alternative ranking low on these attributes

(i.e. taste and price)may have an overall high ranking(because of high scoring on other

attributes such as service, ambience etc.) and thus be chosen for selection, which is not

the case in reality. Consumers go for the alternative that ranks highest on the most

important attribute with respect to them.

However, the simple heuristics perspective suggests

(1) That people are often frugal in terms of the information they assess for a choice, and

(2) That instead of aggregating many pieces of information by weighting and adding,

people base their choices on a much simpler yet still effective decision rule. The key

assumptions of this ‘‘fast and frugal’’ heuristics approach are that decision makers have

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limited time and computational resources, and that rather than trying to determine ‘‘the

best’’ option, they search for something that is ‘‘good enough’’ (Schwartz, 2004; Simon,

1955).

Thus, for the present case, the decision rule used by consumers would be

LEXICOGRAPHIC decision rule which is a non-compensatory decision rule where

consumers first rank product attributes in terms of their importance, then compare brands

in terms of the attribute considered most important by them. If one brand scores highest

on that particular attribute, it is selected. As proved by the research conducted and the

data collected, most of the consumers base their decision on the taste of the food (the

attribute ranked most important by them), therefore, if one brand has low scoring on taste,

it is rejected regardless of its score on other attributes. Also, fast foods fall in the category

of low involvement products; therefore, consumers don’t go into the lengthy process of

compensatory decision rule and base their decision on simple decision rules by focusing

on a single attribute most important for them.

There is considerable evidence that people’s decision making processes can indeed often

be characterized as rules of thumb that work reasonably well in many situations (Broder,

2000, 2003; Gigerenzer & Goldstein, 1996; Payne et al., 1993). With regard to food

decisions in particular Roering, Boush, and Shipp (1986, p. 78), as far back as 20 years

ago, assumed that consumers employ heuristics (empirical rules of thumb) to facilitate

making a satisfactory decision with minimum effort.

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ADVERTISEMENT( PRINT AD):

15

DESCRIPTION OF THE ADVERTISEMENT:

This advertisement is designed based on the LEXICOGRAPHIC decision rule, where the

prime focus is given to the taste/quality because it has been given the highest ranking by

the consumers. The background is colored white in order to create a contrast with the

message, also, combination of white and red color is a symbol of the brand KFC.

The advertisement is trying to appeal to the taste/quality conscious consumers, where

showing this whole and fresh piece of chicken is a symbol to sensate and enhance the

appetite of the consumers. The product has been advertised to make it look appealing to

entice customers by giving chicken a personality that is healthy and strong enough and

make the product look more tempting and hygienic.

Besides, the advertisement has a creative appeal and it attempts to gather attention of the

consumers by standing out from the usual ads of fast food chains, where the same sort of

advertisements have created sensory adaptation for the consumers.

This simple advertisement helps the consumer in decision making through keeping it

simple and not creating clutter in the ad, it helps them to focus only on the taste/quality

aspect of the product, because according to research it is the most important attribute

rated by the consumers.

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CONCLUSION

The study has been conducted to help identify what factors are considered important by

consumers while selecting a fast food restaurant to dine in. Various internal and external

factors have been identified through secondary research, and through carrying out

primary research it has been concluded that the factors considered by consumers for

selection are a function of their environment, culture, social status, perceptions and so on.

Internal factors such as taste, quality and nutrients are considered more important in

selection than the external factors, which include the physical environment such as the

ambience of the restaurant. However, the importance of external attributes cannot be

ignored, because service of the fast food restaurant is the most important attribute

amongst the external attributes.

The report has helped to identify the decision rule used by consumers for fast food

restaurant selection, which has important marketing implications for the marketers. The

decision rule used by consumers provides important insight to marketers to position their

products and create advertisements accordingly.

The report has helped to conclude that consumers go for lexicographic decision rule in

fast food selection, because fast foods fall in the category of low involvement products

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and for such decisions consumers don’t evaluate each and every attribute, rather they take

short cuts and base their decisions on a single attribute considered most important by

them.

This helps marketers to identify that one factor and formulate advertisements by focusing

on that particular attribute, so that they show the consumers that their product provides

them THAT desired benefit.

References

Furst, T., Connors, M., Bisogni, C. A., Sobal, J., & Winter Falk, L. (1996). Food

choice: A conceptual model of the process. Appetite, 26, 247–266.

Aikman, S. N., & Stephen, L. C. (2005). Has brownies for breakfast, baked

potatoes for dinner: Changes in food attitudes as a function of motivation and

context. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35, 181–198.

Steptoe, A., Pollard, T. M., & Wardle, J. (1995). Development of a measure of the

motives underlying the selection of food: The Food Choice Questionnaire.

Appetite, 25, 267–284

Eertmans, A., Victoir, A., Vansant, G., & Van den Bergh, O. (2005). Food-related

personality traits, food choice motives and food intake: Mediator and moderator

relationships. Food Quality and Preferences, 16, 714–726

Simon, H. A. (1955). A behavioral model of rational choice. Quarterly Journal of

Economics, 69, 99–118.

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Broder, A. (2000). Assessing the empirical validity of the ‘‘Take The Best’’—

heuristic as a model of human probabilistic inference. Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 26, 1332–1346.

Broder, A. (2003). Decision making with the ‘‘adaptive toolbox’’: Influence of

environmental structure, intelligence, and working memory load. Journal of

Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 29, 611–625.

Gigerenzer, G., & Goldstein, D. G. (1996). Reasoning the fast and frugal way:

Models of bounded rationality. Psychological Review, 103, 650–669.

Payne, J. W., Bettman, J. R., & Johnson, E. J. (1993). The adaptive decision

maker. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Roering, K. J., Boush, D. M., & Shipp, S. H. (1986). Factors that shape eating

patterns: A consumer behavior perspective. In National Research Council (Ed.),

What is America eating? Proceedings of a symposium. (pp. 72–84). Washington,

DC: National Academy Press

http://www.brandsynario.com/datadive/articles/fast-food-consumption-in-pakistan

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APPENDICIES

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