Friday, July 10, 2009

Street Level Views - About Restaurants

Hello, welcome to Street Level Views -- the blog that has real, honest, `street views' and opinions; not the `professional respondent' views you get at market research facilities, or influenced opinions by respondents of focus groups. Indeed, all respondents intercepted on the street offer their opinions for less than 1.00 co-op. With all interviewing conducted by Rick Phillips a restaurant researcher and market researcher since 1978.

So, on July 4th I went to Piedmont Park in Atlanta and conducted seven, short, top of mind, interviews, with people over the age of 18, of mixed race and gender - about the subject of `restaurants'. As in all marketing research interviews, I used non-leading probes to find out the reasons behind most of their answers to my questions. The interviews were from 2 minutes and 59 seconds to 4 minutes and 37 seconds in length.

I also `aided' the participants to speak about three national fast food chains with a major presence in the Atlanta market - Arby's, Chick-fil-A, and Subway. Below, you will find a general description of those interviews:

"Coco" - Female 18-24 - Coco had unaided top of mind recall for Subway, McDonald's, Burger King, and Chick-fil-A. Coco was asked about the Subway sandwich she had brought to the park and she answered what other Fast Food chains she uses and how often. Finally, Coco answered the `aided' fast food chain of Arby's (she had mentioned the other two unaidedly) and answered questions about each main FF advertising. Find out the ONE FF chain that she has NEVER used and WHY. ------- 3 minutes and 54 seconds long (Also speaks about American Roadhouse.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJlZ-cOFbqg

"Nichole" - Female 25-34 - Nichole's top of mind restaurant was Moe's in addition to some other of her favorites. With this interview you can find out why Wendy's is her favorite FF. I also asked Nichole several times about her specific fast food frequency and if her frequency of FF usage is more often, less often, or about the same compared to a year ago. Nichole was aided into commenting about all three target FF restaurants (Arby's, Subway, Chick-fil-A) one of which she had only used ONCE in the last two years (interviews with trier rejectors can be quite enlightening). Finally, Nichole had a very fun story about Chick-fil-A's advertising about how she and her friends wished they worked on the ad account. --- 3 minutes 33 seconds long (Also speaks about `Nan' her favorite special occasion restaurant on (17th?). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj8ZsJ5JeAg

"Tara" - Female 35-44 - Tara's top of mind for FF included Chick-fil-A, McDonald's, 5 Guys Burgers, and Taco Bell - the last FF for Tara was "Jayson's Deli" - Tara indicated using FF less in the past year, find out her reasons. Concerning the remaining `aided' FF restaurants (Arby's, Subway) she hadn't used either in years - and was `turned off' now by one of the chains products. Additionally, she was aware of one of the chains ads - but - not the other. --- 3 minutes and 16 seconds long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtVziTDuZOY

"Leo" - Male 35-44 - Leo answered that the restaurants that come to mind `wouldn't be fast food, for sure'. When pressed to name a FF restaurant he reluctantly named Chick-fil-A and said how often he used it. Leo also gave his frequency to Arby's and Subway (the targeted restaurants) and his awareness of each's advertising. Find out the ONE FF chain that Leo, a confirmed non FF user, said was heads above the rest. ---- 4 minutes and 37 seconds long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v9QqZ9QeCc

"Kenya" - Female 35-44 - Kenya was perhaps the most FF oriented person I spoke with - using them at least 3-5 times a week. Off the top of her mind she quickly spoke about Chick-fil-A, Subway, Quizno's and Wendy's. One of these restaurants was and is her favorite and you need to hear how deeply she appreciates that FF restaurants particular characteristics and attributes - very heady deep stuff. If you want loyalty by a customer base, listen to her about this favorite FF. She also answered the Q. if she is going to FF more, less or the same as a year ago. Finally, she aidedly spoke of Arby's and related her usage, ad awareness and product choice at Arby's. ----- 4 minutes and 34 seconds long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTRO81RR7DA

"Bernard" - Male 45-54 - Bernard elegantly speaks about what he likes about his favorite sit-down restaurant. His top of mind FF restaurants were Chick-fil-A and McDonald's for which he indicated his frequency of usage and what he liked at each chain. Bernard also indicated which chain was his last FF usage. When `aided' into speaking of Subway, he says "I prefer Publix Subs". He also tells of his last `aided' Arby's visit. --- 3 minutes and 22 seconds long. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IQ1gg0ssVQ

"Chuck" - Male 55-64 - Chuck also, like most respondents, talked about sit-down restaurants when asked to name `restaurants' off the top of their head. When Chuck was directed to the FF branding, he reluctantly said Burger King and KFC, seemingly suggesting these might be all that he used in the FF category. And, when `aided' into speaking about the 3 targeted FF restaurants (Arby's, Chick-fil-A, and Subway) he was generally negative about all three - but - answered his frequency of usage for each one and commented on ads too. Chuck could be described as that `former more frequent FF user' that has gone largely away. ---- 2 minutes and 59 seconds.

If you would like to reach me send an e-mail to me at either rick@streetlevelviews.com or southernsurveys@aol.com - put `video research' in the subject line. I can also be contacted via the above e addresses if you would like to have me use `your restaurant' as one of the targeted restaurants in upcoming video research.

I also did interviews about `radio stations' on the fourth of July - look for that posting soon. If you want real opinions about any product, concept, or service, my video service is a great idea for you - as a research or content buyer - or -executive decision maker. This can be customized for the individual client too - restaurant or otherwise - let me be of service. Indeed, more to be announced soon about pricing on future video restaurant research.

I also have an occasional blog that you may find of interest as I relate information from my over 30 years of doing fast food research at the store level. http://www.restauranttradearearesearch.com/ (where you can find links to my other restaurant related webpages about Trade Area Surveys and what Street Level Views is all about - and, why it is better than old `research' methods to obtain opinions.)

Finally, you can see Chuck's interview (that I described above) below:



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