Dissertation on "Promotional Strategies in Quick Service Restaurants in the UK"

/>

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

II. Chapter II- Quick Service Industry Background

2.0 Introduction

2.1 Quick Service Restaurants Industry (profile)

2.3 Individual Chain Strategies

III. Chapter 3-Literature Review

3.0 Introduction

3.1 Quick service restaurant Industry

3.2 Promotional Strategies

3.2. 1 Differentiating the Product

3.2.2 Increasing Sales

3.2.3 Stabilizing Sales

3.2.4 Accentuating the Product's Value

3.2.5 Choosing a Promotional Mix

3.3 Branding

3.3.1 Branding Case Study

3.3.2 Demographic Branding Strategies

3.4 Promotional Strategies involving Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Chapter IV. Methodology & #8230;

Chapter V. Results

Chapter VI. Conclusion

Chapter I

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Quick Service restaurants are popular throughout the world. However, such restaurants are most popular in the United States and the United Kingdom. While many other industries have struggled to survive as a result of the global economic crisis, the Fast Food industry in the United Kingdom has experienced growth. The popularity of quick service restaurants and the competitive nature of the industry have produced the need to develop unique promotional strategies. Such strategies are designed to attract and retain customers. There are various promotional strategies that have been utilized by companies in the fast food industry for many years. In addition there are some more recently developed strategies that have come about as a result of technological advances and the prevalence with which people utilize the internet to obtain information.

The purpose of this discourse is to examine the use of the promotional strategies within the context of Quick Service Restaurants in the United Kingdom. The research will explore the ways in which these promotional strategies assist in attracting customers while also increasing the profitability of various restaurants within the quick service industry.

1.2 Background

The promotional strategies of quick service restaurants have long been a subject of significant interest. The development of the Fast Food industry has been most widely researched within the context of the United States and the United Kingdom. In fact, these two countries lead the world in the number of fast food restaurants and the consumption of fast food. The popularity of quick service restaurants within these two countries is due in part to the promotional strategies adopted by the various companies that operate in these regions of the world. For the purpose of this discussion we will focus on quick service restaurants and their promotional strategies as it pertains to the United Kingdom.

For the most part, many of the promotional strategies that are adopted are implemented after careful study of the market. Such studies are designed to investigate factors such as demographics, income, employment rates and education. All of these factors play a role in determining the type of promotional strategy that will be adopted.

1.3 Aim & Objectives

The aim of this research is to analyze the Quick Service Restaurant industry in the United Kingdom and to determine the ways in which promotional strategies are developed and utilized. The objectives of the research are as follows:

To Establish why there is a need for promotional strategies in the QSR Industry

To examine the how customers respond to promotional strategies

To assess the modifications that may be necessary for promotional strategies in the future

1.4 Research Questions

The research questions associated with this dissertation is as follows

1. Do promotional strategies create customer loyalty?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages associated with promotional strategies?

3. How have recent advents in technology influenced promotional strategies?

3. In the future, what types of promotional strategies might appeal to quick service consumers?

1.5 Methodology

The research will involve 15 participants who will complete a 15-question survey about promotional strategies of quick service restaurants in the United Kingdom. The survey will be developed using a five-point Likert Scale. The research will be quantitative in nature with statistical analysis.

1.5 Chapters

Chapter One- Chapter one is the Introductory chapter and provides a brief overview of the items that will be contained in the research. The chapter includes a summary of promotional strategies as it pertains to the Fast Food industry in the United Kingdom. Additionally this chapter expresses the Aims and objectives of the research along with the research questions. There is also a small methodology section, the details of which will be expanded upon in the Methodology Chapter.

Chapter Two- This chapter is designed to provide specific background information on the Quick Service Industry in the United Kingdom. This information involves the most successful players in the industry and the position of the industry in the context of the overall economy of the United Kingdom. The research in this chapter will also focus in the strategies utilized by individual chains and the strategies that are also common to the overall industry.

Chapter Three- The literature review is presented in Chapter three. The information contained in this section will focus on the different types of promotional strategies that are utilized to influence consumer behavior. In addition, this aspect of the research focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of promotional strategies. The purpose of the literature is to provide a foundation upon which to build the findings.

Chapter Four- A detailed methodology will be discussed in Chapter four of the dissertation. The methodology will explain the methods used and provide the actual survey utilize for the research. This chapter will discuss Data Collection and the Data Analysis associated with carrying out the research.

Chapter Five- The discussion chapter will bring together the findings of the survey and compare them to the themes present in the literature review. The purpose of this chapter is to answer the research questions and to determine in what ways that aims and objectives set forth in the introduction were realized.

Chapter Six- The final chapter will provide a conclusion for the entire dissertation along with recommendations for future research in this area of study. The purpose of this chapter is to resolve any issues arising out of the research findings.

Chapter II- Quick Service Industry Background

2.0 Introduction

The Quick service industry in the United Kingdom has flourished over the last few decades. In addition to Multinational Corporations such as McDonalds, there are also British owned chains such as Chicken Cottage. American companies are attracted to the UK because it "is a natural entry point into Europe, with an established eating-out culture that readily embraces new style cuisines and branded concepts (Thompson, 2010)." Many British-based fast food companies are present and thriving because they saw a need or a niche associated with certain types of food and they have been about to exploit the desires of British consumers. Whether multinational or nationally owned the British people are in love with quick service restaurants.

2.1 Quick Service Restaurants Industry (profile)

According to Kuhn (2009) UK's fast food industry has actually benefited from the recession. This is evident as a result of the industry showing an 8% increase in the last year. Even though the leisure industry, taken as a whole has suffered a closure rate of 10% the Fast food sector in the United Kingdom's top ten cities have increased by 8.2% and now total 1450 (Kuhn 2009). Concerning fast food restaurants the author also reported that

"the most successful brands have been Domino's, Eat and Pret A Manger. Burger King has been the least successful, having closed 11.8% of its outlets in the top 10 cities. Pizza chain Domino's has increased its presence by a whopping 50%, while healthy fast food group Eat boosted its portfolio by 36.4% and sandwich chain Pret A Manger by 29.7%. Across all 705 UK town centres analysed by the report, sandwich chain Subway grew… READ MORE