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Introduction
Wendy’s fast food restaurant was founded by Dave Thomas. After working directly under Colonel Harland Sanders at the Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, he opened his own food joint in 1969. The business name originated from the daughters nickname, Wenda. The restaurants headquarters is in Columbus, OH.
Marketing research is considerably a major strategy towards realization of profitability in any business organization. Marketing research can play a significant role in facilitating the advancement and profitability of Wendy’s. Basically, the objective and systematic identification, collection, analysis, dissemination and utilization of information aimed at improving decision-making is commonly known as marketing research.
The processes from collection of information to the use of the information to solve a problem present an organization with market opportunities. Marketing strategies help organizations to get attention from consumers and potential customers for their products and services.
For a new organization especially in the hotel industry, gaining market share can be challenging given the stiff competition inherent in the industry (Johnson et al, 2001, p.220)
The marketing environment is often a trick landscape for marketers with limited exposure particularly in the United States of America. The term is used to refer to the forces that influence marketing and impact an organization’s management ability to build and maintain. The forces that influence marketing include political factors, economic factors, socio-cultural factors, technological factors and legal factors.
These factors influence an organization’s capacity to perform and promote efficient operations. Cultural factors determine the marketing strategies that an organization uses to gain market share in a market where the prospective customers’ culture influence the purchasing trends. The region in which an organization conducts its business often influences the strategies that are to be used in marketing.
Wendy’s entered the market when other well established companies such as McDonald had already gained huge customer base and loyalty. Marketing research would have played a major role at the restaurant’s entry into the market. At this point the management would have been in a position to identify market trends, potential and the characteristics.
Consequently, forecasting would have been simplified in order to be fully prepared for the market. Marketing research also plays a significant role for firms such as Wendy’s once they are in the market as it helps in controlling market variables such as promotion, pricing and distribution.
It gives an enterprise a larger picture of consumer needs and an insight into what the competitors are capable of doing once you implement a marketing strategy.
Wendy’s management decision problem is based on whether the restaurants management should change the campaign strategy or introduce new products into the restaurant’s menu. Wendy’s business is primarily focused on the United States market. The competition is already stiff and new products are being introduced by competitors.
The introduction of the campaign labeled “Where’s the beef?” propelled Wendy’s market share to 12 percent. However, the introduction of breakfast menu in 1985 and new products such as Big Classic burger and SuperBar Buffet in 1986 and 1987 respectively did not prove effective for the restaurant. The establishment should have considered pursuing the advertising campaign albeit with new tactics.
The consumer preferences of Wendy’s products are not well defined as yet. This is because evry product they introduced into the market was received well by the market. However, when the main competitors launched an onslaught on the company, Wendy’s could not successfully deal with stiff competition which led to reduced profitability.
In this case, the marketing research problem was determining the consumer preferences and the advertising campaign. The company failed on both as it could not determine the consumer preferences due to limited market research and the advertising campaigns failed in absence of Dave Thomas
The most appropriate framework for obtaining information while conducting marketing problem research in Wendy’s case is Exploratory Research Design. The context of consumer preferecences and advertising campaign can be elaborated using the framework. This is because the problem is not data oriented but depends largely on qualitative explanations in solving the problems faced by the establishment.
The design has the potential to elaborate on the cause of failures inherent in the establishment and possess the capacity to make recommendations on combating the challenges. The Exploratory research is flexible and unstructured. For Wendy’s, the data for advertising cannot be quantified hence the need for Exploratory research.
The findings are tentative giving room for other insights to be integrated in developing the final solutions. In order to arrive at probable solutions, the design allows for pilot and expert surveys while simulteneuously reviewing case studies. Wendy’s case is not unique hence secondary data obtained from qualitative research and analysis will fit into the context when accurately analyzed (Johnson et al, 2001, p.227).
Considering that the establishment needs new ideas and insights, the design will be appropriate in paving way for the establishment to acquire market share and gain competitive advantage.
Imperatively, the design offers a platform for Wendy’s course of action while leaving room for further examination given the volatile nature of the fast food industry. The industry changes depending on consumer demands and technology. It is hence important to leave room for immediate and eventual future research.
The fast foods industry is among the largest segments of the food industry in the United States. The industry realizes more than $120 Billion in sales in the US. According to Jack and John (2010), Burger King, Wendy’s, McDonalds and Yum! Brands hold the top positions in market shares. McDonalds and Burger King hold the position of the most preferred chains followed by Subway then Wendy’s.
Wendy’s management have the option to use customer feedback, marketing activity, sales, distribution and cost datas in order to streamline the marketing activities as the basis of syndicate data. The main challenge facing Wendy’s in terms of useful data lies in the technology perspective.
The internet offers important data regarding businesses on how and why fast food restaurants succeed or fail. Standardized data of marketing is also deemed imperative for Wendy fast food restaurant. The establishment can use this data to check on consumer purchases in other fast food facilities to leverage on its customers.
Methodology
Utilization of qualitative research is of great importance to Wendy’s in its urge to expand in the United States. The method offers an understanding of the underlying motivations and reasons for conducting the research. Considering that the data collection method is unstructured, it leaves space for improvement in future.
The use of focus groups through ‘direct research’ procedures gives the researching entity an insight into consumer preferences. Consequently, the firm is able to focus on specific needs of the consumers which lead to the creation of competitive advantage (Wirtz & John, 1995, p.87).
The in-home personal survey method is the most appropriate for checking the response and the preferences of the consumer in view of the Cajun taste fish sandwich. This is because the instant response of the consumer determines the probability of the consumer being attached to this edible product.
The survey is meant to sample the response of the consumer where interviews are the most appropriate in determining the non-verbal expressions of the consumer. The observation of the interviewer is critical in determining the actual mood of the interviewee. Some interviewees tend to withhold their opinion regarding the real issues that affect them.
It is not uncommon for some interviewees to ask for remuneration at the end of the interview (Wirtz & John, 1995, p. 89). They expect incentives once they taste the commodity. This is attributed to suspicion which may lead to legal obligations that were not part of the obligation in the first place. Some questions to pose to interviewees would include:
- How do you perceive the quality of Cajun versus the price
- Has the manufacturer of Cajun made effort to advertise the product? (How did you learn the product has been introduced into the market?)
- Would you recommend Cajun to friends and relatives? Why?
The extent to which the respondent can use the data a company seeks to use is a limitation that cannot be easily neglected. The diversity of queries that are to be posed in the questionnaires is dependent on the level of interaction the interviewee has with the interviewer and this typically relies on the kind of devised questionnaire. The ability to see potential questions is also important (Westbrook, 1980, p.70).
This however depends on the capacity of the researcher to scrutinize huge amounts of data and give appropriate response.
In most cases the in-home method of research can be defined on two platforms namely the efficiency and effectiveness. The efficiency is the frequency of applicability while the effectiveness is the completeness of the overall study.
Experimentation is important for Wendy fast food restaurant as it suggests several ways in which the establishment can gain from the advertising campaigns. Investing in Research and Design (R&D) can play a much larger role in determining the overall placement in the food industry depending on the resources the entity allocates for the for alleged business venture.
Advertising can only cause research and design to be minimized due to constrains in resources. However, resources cannot cause the two other aspects to wholly be affected or else the entity will run out of business hence will not exist in the global fast food markets.
Experimentation in terms of price levels can be either alternatives or variables. An illustration of this is the established price levels. The higher the cost of advertising and the quality of the placed advertisement, the higher the return on investment for the particular business as was the case with Wendy fast food restaurant.
Basically, Wendy’s experimentation would have cost more than the cost that was incurred due to the nature of the entirely assumed business (Wirtz & John, 1995, p.102). The company was competing with McDonalds hence posed a value comparative incidence to the former fast food restaurant.
The logic behind scaling should never change whenever the same amounts, quantities or volumes are being measured. This is because assigning symbols or numbers to specific characteristics of tangible objects are conditions that have been pre-used. The general rule is that the corresponding characteristics and numbers should not change but should be applied without bias.
In measuring preferences, prices, sizes and location of the product should not account for a product. In essence, the non comparative scales data does not directly involve stimulus objects. For Wendy’s, the number one issue is new products which are currently ‘not liked’ by the consumers.
However, the consumers of the same product rank it as number one in the global fast food market. This implies that primary scales such as Likert, Stapel and semantic differential scales could be used to gauge the extent of customers’ preferences of the tendered fast foods. The basic scales provide leading indicators that depict why consumers always yearn to maintain product purchase intentions as well as preserve loyalty.
The data collected through these scales show fast food restaurant consumers perceptions and rating on the type, quality, taste, flavor, price and brand of the tendered products.
If a customer is asked in the scale whether he or she will likely or unlikely to return in that fast food restaurant, the provisional scale response from the client is enough to determine whether such a consumer is satisfied or dissatisfied with the tendered services and products (Wirtz & John, 1995, p.96). It is on the basis of the scale rating that a fast food restaurant stands a chance of knowing its clients preferences.
Finally, the primary rating scales might serve as powerful marketing tools given that the clients could be asked whether they are willing to recommend either friends or relatives to utilize similar products from the same restaurant.
Furthermore, if a client retorts by indicating that the expectations are exceeded or met, this could be a clear indication that service and products provisions satisfied the needs. Hence, the client will give preference to a similar commodity when he or she returns to the fast food restaurant (Westbrook, 1980, p.69).
Likert Scale: Customer satisfaction is a term commonly utilized in marketing to gauge how commodities supplied by a given corporation either surpass or meet the expectation of the consumers. The habitual measure of clients’ satisfaction entails a survey where sets of statements that use Likert scale or technique is applied.
Through this technique, the client is asked to assess every statement based on their performance expectation and perception of the fast food restaurant being measured. The contentment is usually gauged on five points scale or even ten points scale (Johnson et al, 2001, p.231). The table below shows Likert five point scale.
Irrespective of the applied scale, the main objective appertains to the measurement of the clients’ alleged contentment with the experience of the fast food restaurant offerings.
Semantic differential scale: This is another best performance measurement scale. Using this scale, the respondents may be asked to assess their fast food restaurant experiences based on a set of items that correspond to certain points. The items could be ‘favorable to favorable’, ‘I did not like the food at all to I liked the food’, ‘unpleasant to pleasant’, ‘terrible to delighted’ alongside ‘dissatisfied to satisfied’.
The scale could be applied to do fast food comparisons where both the mean and medium are used to determine the general preference differences and similarities that exist between the offered food stuffs (Johnson et al., 2001, p.220).
Stapel’s scale: Since this scale has a single word phrase that indicates the clients’ response direction, the categorized items may help a fast food restaurant to gauge products and services that customers prefer most.
Negative ratings on the scale imply that customers are dissatisfied with the product hence no consumption preference will be given to such a product (Johnson et al., 2001, p.234). However, positive ratings signify that the commodity will be consumed upon the clients return to the restaurant.
The following table is an example of a questionnaire for assessing consumer preferences
In order to determine whether Cajun taste fish sandwich is appropriate for the market, a sampling plan must be put in place. The survey ought to include the visual color of the package and the customer preferences. The sample size should be determined by the plan adopted for the survey. Most importantly is the fact that the plan should include as many possible parameters as the system can allow.
The selection of the sample size depends on the funds available to conduct the research and the statistical strength of the data required. Where the funds available are limited the sample size should only include the people readily available.
Alternatively, the intended variance to for an estimate from the sample used can be can be used. Lastly, a target of the strength of the statistical test to apply after collection of the sample can also be applied. This depends on the researcher and their intended goal.
Selecting the field workers for conducting fieldwork to carry out a survey in the field of determining whether consumers will be interested in consuming fish is a challenging task. The workers need to be qualified tasters themselves.
Previous survey experience and education level should also be taken into consideration when selecting the fieldworkers. They need to be trained how to conduct the survey without intimidating the interviewees. This implies that overqualified interviewers who might follow personal agenda should be avoided (Wirtz & John, 1995, p.91).
Supervising field workers to ensure that relevant data and information is collected is equally an important aspect. The evaluation of workers is a paramount factor that contributes to the success of any company.
Evaluating field workers contributes to defined specification of the job as it takes into account the mode data collection. Thus, the level of education, friendliness, prior field experience and the desire to participate in data collection should be taken in account when selecting fieldworkers.
Missing data in research can be treated in various ways depending on the state of the data. The specimens with missing information can be discarded from analysis or the absent data can be extrapolated from the existent information. Therefore, for this study we can deduce this data from the existent one in the following ways.
Based on the data collected, on family orientation, comfort and healthy foods consumed the education level of the customers can be assessed. For instance, more educated people are bound to lay more emphasis on diet rather than price or quantity of foods. Though not always true, educated people also tend to live much more comfortable lives than the less educated.
Therefore for purposes of the study, those who live comfortable lives can be assumed to be more educated. Moreover, the kind of responses given can also gauge the level of education. The more detailed and articulate the response, the more educated the customer.
Income level determines what people can or cannot afford. The information gathered concerning price can depict people’s purchasing power. Responses that are more concerned with price would imply customers with low income level while those less concerned depict customers with a high income level.
The level of comfort could also be used to gauge the people’s earnings. For instance, those with comfortable lives can be assumed to be high income earners and vice versa.
Employment status on the other hand, determines whether one has money to spend on luxuries or not. Unemployed people tend to consume only the affordable ordinary foods. They tend to care less about the nutrient content of foods consumed.
Therefore, their responses on healthy foods will be less concerned. Lack of employment also implies no source of income consequently; these people are bound to lead less comfortable lives. Employed people will be concerned with the speed of service as they are only allowed a particular period to have their meals. The opposite is also true.
Marital status is implicitly depicted by the collected data. Married people tend to be cleaner than single people particularly the men. Therefore, critical responses on cleanliness are bound to come from married people. The speed of service is can be used to evaluate the marital status.
Young mothers’ tend to be impatient particularly if they have no one to attend to their kids. Moreover, they will be more concerned about the health of their family than how much it costs them.
Recommendations and Conclusions
In order to advance the current study, involvement of management experts in the restaurant industry is paramount. Their opinion regarding the industry is crucial. Their expertise in defining marketing problems and opportunities is of great importance.
In order to have a diverse opinion on the subject, the number of interviewees would be increased to twenty. The involvement of such a big number of experts not only would be challenging but has the capacity to consume a big duration.
In order for an organization to be profitable, marketing research is an aspect that requires to be well funded. This strategy often works in marketing environments that are highly competitive. It would hence be recommendable for Wendy’s management to put high regard to this aspect.
It is paramount for the management to consider increasing the resources towards marketing research. Creating a Research and Design team within the company will help in solving marketing challenges that face the company and the general restaurant industry.
Conducting marketing research in Malaysia would be different from conducting the same in the United States. This is because of the diversity in demographics, nature of the Malaysian culture and the experts involved. Americans are more responsive to research processes as opposed to the Malaysians.
Americans pride themselves in being part of a research process due to what is largely considered as patriotism. On the other hand, Malaysians consider such processes a waste of time which could otherwise be used productively.
References
Johnson, M. D., Anders, G., Tor W. A., Lervikc, L. & Jaesung, C. 2001. The evolution and future of national customer satisfaction index models. Journal of Economic Psychology, 22 (2), pp.217–245.
Westbrook, R. A. 1980. A Rating Scale for Measuring Product/Service Satisfaction. Journal of Marketing, 44 (Fall), pp.68-72.
Wirtz, J. & John, E. G. 1995. An Experimental Investigation of Halo Effects in Satisfaction Measures of Service Attributes. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 6 (3), pp.84-102.
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