Impact of Marketing Strategies on Consumers’ Patronage
Chapter One
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this quantitative research is intended to highlight factors affecting consumer choice of restaurant in Enugu metropolis with references to Fast food restaurants. The specific research objectives include:
- To investigate whether individual determinants and social factors influence consumer patronage of fast food retaurants.
- To assess whether consumer choice of restaurant has any significant impact on patronage of fast food restaurants.
- To examine the extent of relationship marketing practices on patronage of Fast food restaurants.
- To assess the extent of overall consumer perception on patronage of Fast food restaurants.
- To discover the effect of consumers loyalty strategies on consumer patronage of Fast food restaurants.
CHAPTER TWO
Relevant Literature Overview of Fast food restaurants (FFR) in Nigeria
The history of fast food operation (Salami and Ajobo, 2012) could be traced to the beginning of subsistence farming. The family working in the farm usually took a respite and fed on roasted yam, plantain and maize preparation instantly as work progresses. Another instance of fast food preparation is during the harmattan when family members gather around an open fire to keep warmth. They usually roast all kinds of foods for consumption. The fast food operation, in its modern form started in Lagos by Eddy king Burger, an expatriate resident in Lagos during the colonial days. A fast food restaurants (FFR) also known as a Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) is a specific type of restaurant characterized by fast cuisine and minimal table service. Food served in fast food restaurants are cooked in large volume in advance and kept hot and is usually available ready to be catered away, even though there are usually available sitting arrangements. Some trace the modern history of fast foods in America to July 7, 1912 with the opening of a fast food restaurants called the “Automat in New York”. The Automat was a cafeteria with its prepared foods behind small glass windows and coin-operated slots. The company also popularized the notion of “take-out” food, with their slogan “less work for mother”.
The American company, White Castle is generally credited with opening the second fast-food outlet in Wichita, Kansas in 1921. Fast food has generally been designed to be eaten “on-the-go”, and often does not require traditional cutlery and is eaten as a finger food in most cases in South-Eastern Nigeria in fast food joints. Fast food outlets have become popular with consumers for several reasons. One is that through economies of scale in purchasing and producing food, these companies can deliver food to consumers at a very low cost.
According to Ogunlade (2010) “food” is used as a collective term for the end products that consumers eat or drink. It is considered not merely as a collection of inputs to satisfy human nutritional requirements, but also possesses a multi-dimensional set of consumer-satisfying attributes such as taste, appearance, security, convenience etc. According to Raimi and Towobola, (2011) the term “fast food” was first recognized by Merriam-Webster dictionary in 1951. It refers to food that can be easily prepared and served very quickly in an outlet to consumers. It can be served directly from oven to table (sit-in) or presented in form of take-out packages or containers (take-away).
Common fast food menu found in outlets worldwide apart from drinks include pizzas, pies, hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, fries, sandwiches, noodles, salads, potatoes, rice, chicken, ice-cream, coffee, mushroom, candies, fish, beef, etc. Also, various sizes, types and kinds of outfits exist worldwide for the purpose of retailing fast foods. These range from stands, wagons, carts, kiosks to restaurants; and modern-day fast food retail outlets, better known as Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs). Fast food businesses are many and located everywhere with round the clock services where applied e.g. in convenient shops, drives, patrol and gas stations, hospitals, camps, schools, cash points etc. According to Salami and Ajobo (2012), Nigerians were first introduced to fast foods within the context of what obtains in the Western societies by the United African Company (UAC) when they opened Fast food restaurants restaurant in 1987. Since the introduction of Fast food restaurants into the fast food industry, consumer acceptance of fast food has continued to increase. These include Tantalizers, Sweet Sensation, Tasty Fried Chicken, Chicken Republic, Mama Cass, Munchies etc. Some of the fast food chains like Mr. Biggs, Tantalizers and Tasty Fried Chicken. The latest big entrants are McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). With the exception of McDonalds and KFC none of the other fast food chains are known to operate under franchise agreements, even though many of them have outlets in the major cities of Nigeria such as Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Calabar, Warri and Asaba. The city of Lagos remains the headquarters of fast foods in Nigeria, though it has penetrated other cities and regions as well.
However, as more people migrate to the already crowded cities the demand for fast food is expected to rise. To meet demand, many local restaurants known as ‘Bukateria’ have sprang up in many cities alongside the Western-induced fast food restaurantss to serve this additional population.
Consumer Satisfaction and Relationship Marketing
Customer satisfaction is an abstraction of reality as satisfaction differs from customer to customer, product to product and service to service (Kumbhar, 2011). A good number of companies had chosen customer satisfaction as an enviable approach to nurture customer orientation and centricity in the daily running of their business affairs (Emrah, 2010). Consumers vary tremendously (Lacobucci, 2000). Ola (2003) states that it is worthwhile for the organization to distinguish different customer groups and develop product and services tailored to satisfy their needs. Wendel (2000) explains that satisfaction is a condition in which an individual feels pleased when his needs and desires are granted. Okolo, Agu, Obikeze and Ugonna (2015) state that customer satisfaction is the nucleus of an organisation’s success. Although many companies relegate customer satisfaction to profit making by holding tenaciously to the principle of continuous attraction without judicious retention, a few had discovered the long lasting benefits of de-emphasizing attraction and emphasizing customer retention and loyalty according to Okolo et al. It forms the basis upon which a customer repurchases a product (Mosahab, Mohamad and Ramayah, 2010). It is an individual’s state of mind after he had made purchase of a product and after having measured or weighed the performance against his expectation for the product or service to perform or meet the customer requirements (Wang and Shieh, 2006; Salami and Ajobo, 2012). It is an outcome to product evaluation process (Giese and Cote, 2002). It is the equitable state of mind that a consumer finds himself after the purchase and consumption of a product (Asma, Abdul, Muhammad, Muhammad and Naveed, 2015).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
Methodology
The researcher employed survey method by administering structured questionnaire to gather primary data from customers of Fast food restaurants restaurants in Enugu Metropolis. The scope of the study is on the effects of marketing strategies on consumer patronage of Fast food restaurants in Enugu. The population of the study includes customers of Fast food restaurants which is indefinite and therefore, Topman’s formula was used to determine a sample size of 340. Content validity was used to determine the validity of the instrument by giving allowing marketing research consultants and lecturers of marketing department to modify and make the necessary corrections so that the instrument can measure what it ought to measure. The value of the test of reliability is 0.90 which was conducted using Cronbach’s Alpha which indicated that there is internal consistency of the instrument. Chi-Square data analysing technique was applied in testing the hypotheses.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS
PRESENTATION OF RESULT:
The results of conducted are highly presented with the interpretations and comprehensive analysis of it. Below is the
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
Summary of Findings
The findings of this research work are as follows:
- Individual determinants and social factors have a significant influence on consumer patronage of Fast food restaurants. Customers’ level of income, age, personality, reference group, social class etc must be recognized in packaging an offer to them to avoid unnecessary mistakes. This is in consonance with kotler and Keller (2006) when they highlighted the personal and social factors that influence consumer behaviour.
- Consumer choice has a significant impact on the patronage of Fast food restaurants. Choice is a very important aspect of consumer decision making process. Choice impact on patronage as Arsil, Li and Bruwer (2016; Esmaeil, 2014) assert that choosing among alternative products depends on consumer’s evaluation of the product attributes, consequence of product use and personal value.
- Relationship marketing practices has a significant effect on the patronage of Fast food restaurants. Management should create relationship marketing portfolio and equip the manager with the training required to make perceive their customers as part and parcel of their business to establish a win-win situation. (Mollah, 2014).
- Consumer perception has a significant effect on the patronage of Fast food restaurants. They need to perceive the company as their own personal business. But the company first of all has to make itself a deluxe and favoured brand. Kotler and Armstrong (2008) supports this statement with their submission that consumer perception is an individual’s interpretation of a company’s offer. It is this interpretation that encourage patronage (purchase) especially when the interpretation is positive and favourable to the company.
- Consumers’ loyalty strategies have a significant effect on the patronage of Fast food restaurants. When customers are treated better, they will not only embark on repeat purchase but will also inform other cronies to patronize Fast food restaurants. On the contrary, when they are poorly treated they go about telling the whole world through social media network ((Babalca, 2013; Okolo et al., 2015).
Conclusion
Customers have grown very sophisticated that are even more aware than most marketing executives on the adoption of some marketing strategies to impact positively on their company’s bottom-line. A whole lot of marketing strategies could impact on the patronage of a services industry like that of Fast food restaurants restaurant. Individual factors such as age, income, personality, motivation, self concept, etc as well as social factors such as social class, reference group, family, culture etc affect patronage. Similarly, relationship marketing strategies, loyalty strategies, and consumer perception of Fast food restaurants offerings affects consumer patronage.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made:
- Marketing managers and executives should monitor the trends in the market to aid them in identifying and satisfy the needs and wants of consumers. They should monitor what influence them most in making critical decisions affecting their purchases.
- Marketing managers should understand that consumers have got their choices as they are quite different from each other and one another. That is because what is good for the geese may not be good for the gander.
- Relationship marketing strategies should be adopted by all companies as part of their corporate strategy and culture. They should perceive their customers as part and parcel of their business to establish a win-win situation.
- Fast food restaurants has to project and position itself as a good corporate citizen so that its image will affect consumer perception positively and go ahead to generating good reputation and goodwill for the company.
- Adoption of effective customer loyalty strategies will go a long way to attracting and retaining the customers. Such strategies like prompt services, offering free bottled water, serving larger food rations than competitors, opening early and closing late, serving different food menus etc will definitely make customers loyal.
References
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