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ISSN : 1225-7060(Print)
ISSN : 2288-7148(Online)
Journal of The Korean Society of Food Culture Vol.34 No.4 pp.424-431
DOI : https://doi.org/10.7318/KJFC/2019.34.4.424

Determinants of Consumer Satisfaction in Fast Food Industry of Lahore Pakistan

Asma Ali, Jong-In Lee*
Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, Kangwon National University
Corresponding author: Jong-In Lee, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, Kangwon National Univ., Chuncheon, 24341, South Korea Tel: +82-33-250-8668 Fax: +82-33-259-5564 E-mail: leejongin@kangwon.ac.kr
June 3, 2019 June 20, 2019 July 11, 2019

Abstract


The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the key success factors for the fast food industry in the region of Lahore Pakistan. Fast food concept developed very speedily in the last few years in Lahore region. The success or failure of a fast food industry based on some factors like Physical environment, Brand-name, Food quality, Price, Taste, Promotional activity, Habitual consumption, Health threats, Consumer expectation, and Family meal. To identify which of these factors has a greater influence on consumer satisfaction, four fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, PIZZA HUT, KFC, and subway were targeted randomly. The proposed research is quantitative in nature and for data collection; a random sampling technique was used. A questionnaire survey answered by 273 people was considered in this research. Data have been analyzed through statistical techniques. It is observed that Brand name, Food quality, Physical environment, Health threats, Price, Family meals, Habitual consumption, and Consumer expectation showed significant impacts on Fast food industry compared to other factors evaluated herein.


Consumer satisfaction , fast food industry , regression analysis , fast food consumption , family meals

초록

    I. Introduction

    Over the last decades, the consumption of junk foods has increased worldwide (Bahadoran et al. 2012). A recent study has shown that the trend of fast-food consumption among Pakistanis as well as the number of fast-food restaurants in Pakistan is increasing considerably (Dawn 2015). Fast food signifies as it can be prepared easily with minimum process time using low-cost ingredients e.g. High-fat meat, added sweetener, and fats. People usually prefer these low-cost ingredients over nourishing ingredients such as lean meats, fresh vegetables, and fruits. In times past, people preferred to serve home-made food during family gatherings. A decade ago, young consumers between the ages (20-30 years) visit fast food channels for fun and change (Goyal & Singh 2007). There are many reasons for the popularity of junk food over home-made food. One of the main reasons is that due to challenging working conditions, many people prefer to spend extra hours in the office. Therefore, they facilitated customer, if a customer stays indoors, then food can be delivered to them at their location whether at work or elsewhere. As earlier research showed that there has been a constant rise in the demand for convenience foods and snacks over a number of years (Traill 1994;Keynote 2003).

    The term “Fast food” was recognized in the dictionary by Merriam-Webster (Marrium-Webster 1828) in the year 1951. Mostly small capital is needed to start fast food restaurants. Over the last two decades, the demand for fast food outlets is increasing in Pakistan. After the successful launch of Macdonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Frichick’s, Dominos, and Almeida, many stakeholders have started to invest in fast food businesses. The colorful and encouraging promotions are responsible for the rapid rise of fast food restaurants in major cities and small towns across the whole country (Baig & Saeed 2012).

    Fast food is a new trend because 25 years ago there was no trend of fast food and restaurant system in a country like Pakistan. But now, in Pakistan, there are thousands of fast food restaurants currently operational and distributed in all major cities (Food Journal 2016). Pakistani consumers have welcomed these restaurants system because they do not like to cook food every day at home (Yahya et al. 2013). Years ago, people use to consume freshly prepared food with their families at home. But now the scenario has changed, dine out trend is increasing in Pakistan. Due to increase in income and the participation of women in the workforce suggests of its low nutritional value, fast food has become a status symbol for the modern culture as it satisfies the masses especially the adults and young children (Ritzer 1992).

    The feeling of enjoyment and fulfillment of expectation is known as consumer satisfaction (Zaire 2000). Satisfaction describes is an individual feeling of pleasure or the disappointment, when a consumer’s expectation level is satiated, then the consumer’s level of satisfaction also increases, but if not then the consumer faces disappointment (Khan et al. 2013). Fast food chains such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, McDonald’s, Subway and Hardee’s are estimated to have combined sales of Rs.92,000 crore by 2016-2017 as they expand into smaller places.

    During meals, the family discussion has a positive impact on family bonding and also good for relationship (Julie 2014). A Family gathering has many beneficial effects namely; table manners; keep the mood light, happy, calm and loving environment (Hand 2005). In the modern world, every person has their own busy schedule; therefore, both children and parents ignore the importance and benefits of family meal meals. Various researchers suggested that having family meals together at least five times a week play a positive role in child development (Fulkerson et al. 2008). If we have family meals together, it may reduce the chances of obesity; eating and eating disorders (Brotherson 2009).

    In this study, we try to conclude the attributes that have become the reasons for customer’s attraction regarding consumption of fast food and how these characteristics and factors affect the customer satisfaction level in the fast food industry. As well as, to find out the factor that has the greatest impact on the satisfaction level of fast food customers.

    II. Materials and Methods

    1. Sample Size

    In this study, data was collected into two sections. The first section presents demographic information about the respondent’s characteristics, such as gender, age, occupation, marital status etc. The second section targeted those factors which may have an effect on customer satisfaction related to fast food restaurants. A sample of 323 respondents was taken through the close-ended questionnaire with structured and unstructured questions. Out of which a total of 273 useable questionnaires were received. 50 questionnaires were removed from the sample because the respondents did not complete the survey. As the focused of this research on customer satisfaction of fast food industry of Lahore Pakistan and for the very same purpose the customer in McDonald’s, Subway, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) were selected randomly from different demographics. Most of the questions in this research were related to the format of the Likert Scale in the range from strongly disagree to strongly agree.

    2. Data and Model

    There are two variables discussed in this study i.e. dependent and independent variables. Customer satisfaction in the fast food industry shows dependency on the physical environment, Food quality, Brand name, Price, Taste, Promotional activity, Habitual consumption, Consumer expectations, Health threats, and Family meals. The population researched here is Pakistani consumer’s, who belong to different demographics. Convenient sampling method was adopted to select the consumers. The present study is based on both primary and secondary data. A structured questionnaire was employed to collect primary data. Various research papers, including journals, books, and online reports were studied to collect the secondary data.

    The data was analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression Model. The theoretical models of the multiple linear regression can be defined into two types, namely in regression using one single independent variable, called univariate regression analysis and analysis using more than one independent variable, called multivariate regression analysis (Tabachnick 1996). A multiple linear regression model (or a regression equation) depends on a number of independent (or predictor) variables X1, X2, Xk can be obtained by the method of least square. In multiple linear regressions, there are k explanatory variables, and the relationship between explanatory variables and the dependent variable is formulated as in the following;

    Y=β 0 +β 1 X 1 +β 2 X 2 + ............. +β k X k +ε

    where Y is=response variable, Xi is=predictor variables, βk is=parameter, ε is=error (Mendenhal 1993;Draper 1998;Mckenzie 2005).

    The number of respondents of different age groups and different professional backgrounds was contacted was 323. Out of which a total of 273 useable questionnaires were received. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 (SPSS Chicago 2012), was used to compile the results. Table 1 describe the research variables, Table 2 depicts Characteristics of consumer’s profile, Tables 5 and 6 shows reliability test to check if data set is reliable using Cronbach alpha test, while Table 3, Table 4 and Table 7 represent Regression Model Summary, ANOVA and Regression Coefficients respectively.

    III. Results and Discussion

    1. Characteristics of the respondents

    In Table 1, describes the research variable description. Table 2 summarizes the respondent’s profile like gender, family, socioeconomic status, and the consumption pattern of fast food among the respondents and their parents. The results showed that Male was dominant in eating fast food than girls with a response rate of 61.90%. Several female participants elaborate that they avoid consuming fast food as it may have negative affects their figure: “I think girls eat less fast food than boys, because girls are more conscious about their figure than to boys” The customers considered the following factors that influence their extensive reasons for fast food consumption: 1) fast-food eateries and restaurants are easily available; 2) As compare to home-cooked food, the fast food restaurants have many options which providing people with numerous choices. The most frequent age group was group no.1 i.e.; 20-30 with 56.04% response rate and age group 30-40 was second with 27.10% response rate and third 40-50 with 8.05 response rates and the group above 50 with 8.81% response rate respectively. Each age group has its own intentions and requirements towards consumer satisfaction. So, the marketers and restaurants holder need to determine their target to age group so that planning and action can be accomplished to meet their expectation and this will motivate to a higher rank of consumer satisfaction (Khatibi et al. 2003). The respondents expressed the following reason that influenced them for consuming fast food: 1) don’t have enough time for cook; 2) just for fun; 3) due to more income; 4) fast food is delicious. Most respondents were students (55.67%). There are many reasons that did contribute to the student to consume more fast food meals like, ease of access, shortage of time, and the main aspect of eating junk food with friends. Out of 273 respondents, 58.98% were single in the 20 to 30-year-old age group category, mostly singles and workaholic know what they desire and they are less sensitive to prices and willing to spend what they want (Abdullah & Rozario 2010). And married persons have their own priorities; they are busy with their career and family and have limited time to prepare meals. Hence, they might prefer to consume a meal that is easy to available, fast and hassle-free, convenient and affordable compared to preparing and cooking at home (Melkis st al. 2014). A majority of 48.71% visits restaurants occasionally and only a minor percentage of 8.43% respondents used to visit fast food restaurants once in every two months. 65.20% of respondents preferred to visit with friends and 34.80% go with family. The most notable statement was “I would like to go too fast food restaurants more often when hanging out with friends”. A majority of people 42.53% preferred fast food because of more income, 27.80% people visited fast food outlets just for fun and the rest of 29.67% people preferred fast food because they did not have enough time to cook. According to Pattern and fry (2015), the population is becoming more educated and thirtyfour percent of millennials have a bachelor’s degree or higher, but income is stabilized. So, due to education exposure may have openness to trying new foods (Desilver 2013). Nowadays, both the father and mother are employed and they do not have enough time to prepare food, so they just prefer fast food”. The most preferred restaurants was McDonald’s, while KFC was ranked second and Pizza Hut ranked third and subway ranked fourth with a small difference only.

    The value of adjusted R square in Table 3 reveals that the dependent variable, consumer satisfaction is affected by 0.596 percentage due to physical price, food quality, brand name, promotional activity, taste, price, health threats, habitual consumption and family meals as a whole and remaining 40.4% is due to other factors that are being held constant in this research but they have their impact on the concept. It shows that physical price, food quality, brand name, promotional activity, taste, price, health threats, habitual consumption and family meals are responsible for satisfying customers. The overall model was also significant, tested with the help of ANOVA. Table 4 ANOVA table is showing the level of significance. Through the table, it is clearly illustrated that all subfactors, Physical environment, Food quality, Brand name, Price, Taste, Promotional activity, Health threats, Family meals, Consumer expectations, and Habitual consumption are related to satisfaction and that the relationship between them is significant as compared to alpha value =0.05.

    Table 5 shows the results of the reliability test, to check the internal reliability of the instrument, Cronbach’s alpha was used and the value comes to 0.640. Which is above the recommended reliability of 0.6 (according to social science) standard of acceptance for reliability and hypothesis of reliability is acceptable. Hence it is observed that the data set is normal and it satisfies the assumption of regression analysis, so the regression analysis can be applied on the data set. Table 6 depicts item wise means and standard deviation analysis of selected variables. The results show that if items have marginal variations then these scores expect to be fairly similar. On the contrary, if the difference between variables is notably higher (or lower) then the items having unexpected scores may need to be removed from the questionnaire to make it more reliable.

    Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the model with ten independent variable and consumer satisfaction as one dependent variable. Table 7 is the coefficients table. Unstandardized Coefficients describe how much the dependent variable diversifies with an independent variable when the rest of the independent variable is held constant. Out of ten predictors, price is most important because it shows high beta value 0.604 which is greater than all remaining beta’s and it shows a positive relationship with dependent variable i.e.; consumer satisfaction. Among ten predictors, the first important variable is Health threats with a standardized coefficient of 0.140, a second important variable is Family meals with a standardized coefficient of 0.128 and the third important variable is the Brand name with a standardized coefficient of 0.124. So there are three main factors that are responsible in order for Consumer satisfaction in fast food restaurants in Pakistan. Promotional activity [b= −0.11], Food quality [b= −0.67], Taste [b= −0.70] and Consumer expectation [b= −0.128] have a negative relationship with dependent variable. The negative beta value of these four variables like promotional activity, food quality, taste, and consumer expectation in multiple regression models indicate that when promotional activity, food quality, taste and consumer expectation is not in accordance with the expectations of consumers their satisfaction level declines.

    IV. Summary and Conclusion

    Regarding all types of business organization, consumer satisfaction is the most essential issue, and considered as most stable feedback, for the perfection of any business organization. As a part of marketing, consumer satisfaction plays a pivotal role in the market. And for measuring the consumer satisfaction this research was conducted and to scrutinize the relationship between the consumer satisfaction to Physical environment, Brand name, Service quality, Promotional activity, price, taste, health threats, habitual consumption, Consumer expectations, and Family meals. Brand name, Food quality, Physical Environment, Price, Health threats, Family meals, Habitual consumption and Consumer expectations are the key determinant of customer satisfaction in the purchase of fast food industry. Price is the most important because it shows the high beta value among the ten variables. At the end, it could be concluded that there is a significant positive relationship between Brand name, Food quality, Physical environment, Price, Heath threats, Habitual consumption, Consumer expectation and Family meals to consumer satisfaction.

    Acknowledgment

    We thank all of particulars who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the research.

    Figure

    Table

    Research variables
    Characteristics of the respondents
    Model summary
    ANOVAa
    Reliability analysis
    Item Statistics
    Multiple Regression Co-efficient

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