Customers Demand Best Food at the Best Price
Restaurant customers value food quality above all, but value's importance is growing.
By Mary Boltz Chapman, Editor-in-Chief -- Chain Leader, 11/1/2008 12:00:00 AM
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| According to R&I's Consumers' Choice in Chains, food quality is the most important attribute that drives customers' decisions on where to eat. |
It's the food, stupid. It's also the cleanliness, value, service and menu variety, as Restaurants & Institutions' Consumers' Choice in Chains reveals in detail. The annual research not only shows which chains consumers visit most often and rate the highest, it also reveals what makes up those dining decisions.
It's no surprise that food quality is the most important attribute to customers when deciding where to eat out. On a scale of 1 to 5, it receives a 4.42. Cleanliness is next on the list at 4.28, followed by value (4.22), service (4.12), menu variety (3.99), convenience (3.96), reputation (3.87) and atmosphere (3.67).
Over time, the importance of many of the attributes has grown. The only attributes that have remained constant over the past five years are food quality and cleanliness. The most significant change is in value: in 2004 it rated 4.12; in 2008 it increased to 4.22.
Demographic Differences
Women place greater stock on all of the attributes than men, though both sexes' top attributes are the same: food quality, cleanliness and value. But their choice of top chains for serving those attributes are not the same. Women's top chain for food quality was The Cheesecake Factory; for cleanliness, Dave & Buster's; and for value, In-N-Out Burger. Men chose Carrabba's Italian Grill for food quality and cleanliness, and Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza for value.
All of the age groups name food quality as their top priority. Gen Y, those 26 and under, tend to stress menu variety, reputation and atmosphere less so than cleanliness, value and service. Gen Y's top rankings went to The Cheesecake Factory in the menu variety category, In-N-Out Burger for reputation, and Carrabba's for atmosphere.
Matures, those 61 and older, are mostly concerned with food quality and cleanliness, scoring McAlister's Deli the best in food quality and Culver's tops in cleanliness.
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And the Winners Are... Restaurants & Institutions surveys consumers annually about awareness and patronage of restaurant chains. The 3,132 respondents provided information on more than 200 concepts. |
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| Source: R&I's Consumers' Choice in Chains, 2008; overall score is an index; percentages for each attribute represent respondents who rated the chain a 4 or 5 on a scale of a low 1 to 5 | ||
| By Segment | ||
| Segment | Concept | Overall Score |
| Overall | Carrabba's Italian Grill | 76.3 |
| Burgers | In-N-Out Burger | 70.1 |
| Cafeteria/buffet | Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes | 68.8 |
| Casual dining | The Cheesecake Factory | 75.9 |
| Chicken | Chick-fil-A | 67.2 |
| Coffee/snacks | Starbucks | 66.2 |
| Family dining | Cracker Barrel | 72.5 |
| Italian | Carrabba's Italian Grill | 76.3 |
| Mexican | On the Border | 64.5 |
| Pizza | Papa Murphy's | 72.8 |
| Sandwich | Panera Bread | 70.8 |
| Seafood | Bonefish Grill | 72.3 |
| Steakhouse | LongHorn Steakhouse | 70.6 |
| Treats | Jamba Juice | 68.3 |
| By Attribute | ||
| Attribute | Concept | Percentage |
| Atmosphere | Mimis Cafe | 83% |
| Cleanliness | Bonefish Grill | 86% |
| Convenience | Starbucks | 71% |
| Food quality | Carrabba's Italian Grill | 85% |
| Menu variety | The Cheesecake Factory | 87% |
| Reputation | The Cheesecake Factory | 88% |
| Service | Carrabba's Italian Grill | 83% |
| Value | Papa Murphy's | 78% |
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