CHICAGO — A typical quick-service restaurant customer is male, Caucasian, between 25 and 34 years old, usually accompanied with a spouse or significant other and likely to dine in the restaurant, according to recent consumer restaurant brand metrics research from Technomic.
Technomic also found 91% of consumers ranked the food at such restaurants to be an important or very important attribute, with 88% saying the same about cleanliness, 86% placing importance on service, 84% ranking value important, 78% seeing beverages as important and 61% believing the atmosphere is important.
Consumers believe Chick-fil-A, Culver’s, Golden Corral, Jamba Juice and Papa Murphy’s do the best in quick-service with their food, and Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone Creamery, Culver’s, In-N-Out Burger and Papa Murphy’s ranked the best on cleanliness. Chick-fil-A, Culver’s, In-N-Out Burger, Krispy Kreme and Papa Murphy’s did the best in service with Chick-fil-A, CiCi’s Pizza, In-In-Out Burger, Krispy Kreme and Papa Murphy’s doing the best in value.
Overall, 82% of quick-service restaurant consumers said the food quality at their recent visits was good or very good, and quick-service patronage peaks with the 25 to 34 age group and then decreases with older ages. Consumers also form opinions about products and services whether they have had a first-hand experience or not as 66% of consumers believe the average quick-service restaurant is good or very good at emotional connection and 58% of consumers saying the restaurants are good or very good with brand image. Consumers also give quick-service restaurants an average rating of 56% for advertising effectiveness, but that ranges from 69% of consumers who believe the top chain is good or very good to a low of 33%.