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The survey asked a total of 10 questions including one question asking them to rate McDonald’s on various parameters like taste, variety, speed of service, etc. Response was received from 132 customers of McDonald’s. Profile of respondents To know the age group of respondents we asked them which age group they belonged. There were three segments in which the response can be divided: . Below 23 2. 23 – 28 3. Above 28 The pie chart below shows the breakup of respondents on the basis of their age group. [pic] Around 78% of the respondents who took this survey were in the age group of 23-28. Most of these people from this age group were either students or working people with lesser social obligations. There were very few respondents in the 18-22 age group, who are mainly students, and even fewer respondents from the above 28 years age group who represent the working class. Importance of various parameters in fast food restaurants
We asked respondents to judge McDonalds on the parameters taste of food, speed of service, cleanliness, ambiance and value for money, as to which is the most important one. The response received is represented in the pie chart below. [pic] From the survey conducted it was found that around 49% of the respondents preferred fast food joints primarily for the taste/choice of food available. Also a major part of the respondents felt that they visit fast food joints because the food is a good value for money as many items on the menu are available at very low prices.
Even if they go out with their friends or family in groups the total bill doesn’t hurt their purse much. Thus the taste of food and value for money are the most critical parameters while selecting a fast food restaurant. Surprisingly speed of service is the most important parameter only for 8 percent of the respondents. Customer satisfaction from McDonald’s Next we asked the respondents to rate McDonald’s on the following parameters: 1. Taste of food 2. Variety of menu 3. Ambiance 4. Value for money 5. Quality of service 6. Speed of service
The respondents were asked to rate each of the six as one of the four: excellent, good, average and poor. [pic] In relation to the response for the question on fast food needs that people seek when it comes to customer satisfaction at McDonald’s it is evident that the around 73% of the respondents felt that the taste of food at McDonald’s is good or excellent. Similarly 63% of the respondents felt that McDonald’s gives a good value for money. Though majority of the people seem satisfied with the ambience, quality of service and speed of service they also feel that the variety offered by McDonald’s in its menu is poor.
They feel that the menu could contain more items so that they can get a better choice. Consistency across joints McDonald’s is located across various cities in India and it is critical for McDonald’s to maintain consistency across its joints in cities and across cities. This strengthens the brand and retains customers travelling across various cities. To gauge how customers feel about the consistency across its various joints we asked the respondent how they feel about the consistency across various McDonald’s joints. [pic] About 69% of the respondents felt that McDonald’s offers consistent service across its outlets.
Also around 47% of the respondents who have experienced McDonald’s service in different cities feel that they get the same service in every outlet irrespective of the city. Around 21% of the respondents felt that McDonald’s does not offer consistent service across its outlets. Frequency of visits We asked the respondents for the frequency of visits made to McDonald’s. This was to gauge how frequently a consumer visits McDonald’s. [pic] It has also been noted from the survey that around 9% of the respondents visit McDonald’s multiple times a week.
Over 41% of the respondents do not visit McDonald’s very often. Their frequency of visits is less than once a month. Also almost 30% of the respondents visit McDonald’s once a month. Only 29% of the total respondents are more frequent in their visits to McDonald’s. Success of McDonald’s ads There have three punch lines used by McDonald’s. “I’m Loving it” which is prevelant now, “McDonalds mein hai kuch baat” which was during its launch and “Aapke zamane mein purane zamane ke daam” which is a punch line to highlight the low prices.
We asked the respondents on which they feel is best. The tag “I’m loving it received around 87 percent response. The remaining percentage was equally divided between other ads. The breakup hence is not presented as the current tag line line “I’m Lovin it” wins hands on. We also asked respondents to compare McDonald’s to three competitors in fast food segments with famous ads. The chains whose ads were compared were Pizza hut, Dominoes and KFC. Following charts represent the result collected from the survey for comparion of ads and the recall among respondent’s: [pic]
A major chunk of the consumers could recollect the McDonalds ads more than anyone else. This gives McDonalds an immense advantage to lead the fast food business in India. Its ad campaigns featured the international “I m lovin it” slogan. Later on, the campaigns were indianized to “McDonalds mein hai kuchh baat” which too was quite successful. Ronald McDonald himself has become a character predominantly perceived as children’s best friend. As a brand, the nearest competition McDonalds faces is from Dominos, the pizza chain primarily known for home deliveries. Brand Recall
We also asked the consumers which restaurant comes to their mind first when they think of fast food. This was done in comaprison with 5 competitors which included Pizza Hut, Dominoes, KFC and Subway and an option for local food joint [pic] McDonalds has more than 50% of respondent’s share of mind, which is the highest share of mind among its competitors. The closest in terms of share of mind come out to be Pizza Hut and local food joints. Who influences the decision We asked the respondents who influences their decision in selecting which fast food joint to go.
The options provided were “Self”, “Friends”, and “Spouse/Girlfriend/Boyfriend/Children”. Following chart represents the response from the customer: [pic] For the majority of the people, the person himself or his friends decide which fast food joint to go to. Only for 11% respondents, his family influences his decision. This is mailny because a person usually goes to fast food joints with his friends or alone, and not with his family. Conclusion from the survey McDonald’s fares well in terms of basic parameters of taste and value for money which customer looks for in a fast food joint.
It also has a successful advertisement which provides it a good share of mind and recall among the customers. The weak point as pointed out in the weaknesses earlier is the variety in menu. The competition from local food joints cannot be ruled out as McDonald’s moves to smaller cities. The local food joint without advertisement have a good recall almost as good as Dominoes. This will further increase in smaller cities. Limitations of survey The survey done online has some limitations as listed below: 1. Paucity of time as we have to do this project with our course curriculum doing all other assignments, exams etc. . The respondent belong primarily to the age group 23-28. Children who are a big segment are not covered in this survey. 3. The survey is an online survey and has limitations to judge quality of response. BUYING ROLES People play five roles in a buying decision: 1. Initiator 2. Influencer 3. Decider 4. Buyer 5. User Recognition of the different buying roles and specification of the people who play these roles is vital for any marketer and helps in deciding the communication strategy Any person who is feeling hungry or just wants to grab a snack can initiate the buying process.
We asked the respondents a question as to who influences them or decides where to eat. Majority of the people chose friends or self as the answer. Therefore, in most of the cases the role of influencer and buyer is played by friends or the consumer himself. The buyer can be the user himself or the people with whom he has gone to eat. And the user would include the consumer and those who eat with him. [pic] DECISION MAKING PROCESS [pic] A. Problem Recognition: Perceiving a Need The buying process starts when the consumer recognises a problem or a need triggered by stimuli.
Here in case of McDonalds, the need is triggered by an internal stimulus, i. e. the need to satisfy hunger. It can also be triggered by an external stimulus, for example a person may want to eat at McDonalds on watching its advertisement on the TV or on hearing about it from his friend B. Information Search: Seeking Value Consumers often search for the limited amounts of information. The information search stage clarifies the options open to the consumer and may involve: • Internal search, Memory • External search 1. Personal sources, such as friends and family. 2. Public sources, such as mass media . Commercial sources, such as advertising, company websites, and salespeople According to our survey, internal search and friends are the two most common sources of information for the consumer C. Evaluation of Alternatives- A consumer’s evaluative criteria represent the objective attributes of a brand such as: 1. Taste of food 2. Value for money 3. Ambience 4. Cleanliness 5. Speed of service From the survey, we found out that for the majority of the people, taste of food is the most important attribute in evaluating a product. [pic] D. Purchase Decision: Buying Value
In executing a purchase decision, consumer may have to make some decisions regarding the brand, the quantity, and the timing of purchase. So here the consumer selects the brand which he is going to buy. The consumers were asked which restaurants they will prefer to go and the responses were clubbed as shown in the graph below, which shows that McDonalds is at the top followed by Pizza Hut and local food joints [pic] E. Post-purchase Behaviour: Value in Consumption or Use After buying a product, the consumer compares it with expectations and is either satisfied or dissatisfied.
Satisfaction or dissatisfaction affects • Consumer value perceptions • Consumer communications • Repeat-purchase behaviour According to our findings we can see that most of the customers that have been eating at McDoanlds for long time and are satisfied. We can say this thing by the fact that they visit McDonalds frequently and rates McDonalds as good in almost all attributes [pic] [pic] PURCHASE PROCESS Since eating at a restaurant has very low involvement of the consumer while buying the product but significant differences exist between various brands, so the buying behaviour is Variety Seeking Buying Behaviour.
This means that while choosing for any fast food restaurants, customer normally chooses for variety in the fast food meal. In variety seeking buying behaviour, consumers generally skip the information search and post-purchase evaluation stages of the purchase decision process. In the consumer survey we also asked the respondents the first fast food restaurant they recalled. The response was in favour of McDonalds as 55% of the sample chose it. [pic] ———————– [pic]