Introduction: R&I’s 2007 Consumers’ Choice in Chains Awards

How do you learn what consumers expect from chain-restaurant dining experiences? Ask them.

By Staff -- Restaurants & Institutions, 9/15/2007

How do you learn what consumers expect from chain-restaurant dining experiences? Ask them.

The adage is that consumers vote with their wallets, and totaling sales is one way to identify the most popular chain-restaurant brands. That is what R&I’s annual Top 400 Chains report does.

But the annual Consumers’ Choice in Chains survey takes a different approach, one that recognizes that consumers evaluate restaurants not only with their patronage but with their hearts and minds as well. Diners weigh all aspects of their experiences with a chain in deciding whether they will return and, if so, how strong a relationship they will build with a brand.

Since 1981, consumers have been given the opportunity to explain their expectations and to say how well those standards are met by the chains where they dine. This year, more than 3,100 people were surveyed, and their evaluations of 111 chains in 13 menu categories are presented on the following pages.

Among the brands that emerge as having the most-satisfied customers are several chains that have won in the past as well as a few surprising new category leaders, and R&I applauds the platinum, gold and silver winners in each group. But the value of the Consumers’ Choice in Chains research goes beyond the ratings for individual chains. Of value here to all foodservice operators are the insights into customers’ decision-making processes and the standards by which customers choose where to invest their emotions as well as their dollars. —The Editors

How the Winners Are Chosen

R&I’s Consumers’ Choice in Chains survey respondents are a representative sample of U.S. consumers weighted to match the population by age, gender, household income, ethnicity and region. In all, 3,159 adults provided data about their awareness and patronage of more than 150 of the largest U.S. chains. These brands were selected for inclusion based on rankings in R&I’s 2006 Top 400 Chains list. The margin of error for this data is +/- 2%.

• To gauge customer loyalty, respondents who patronized a chain in the past year are asked whether they intend to return. In addition, guest satisfaction on eight attributes is measured through customers’ ratings of each chain they patronized. To derive overall scores, performance on the attributes is weighted according to the category. This is done using separate ratings that consumers provide to indicate the importance of each attribute in selecting a restaurant in a given category. The weighted overall score can be used to compare chain performance across segments.
• For a chain to be considered for Consumers’ Choice in Chains awards (and for its perfromance ratings to be included in this report), at least 3.5% of respondents must have patronized the chain during the previous 12 months.
• The methodology for Consumers’ Choice in Chains is designed to create data for competitive benchmarking, demographic analysis and strategic planning. Category reports can be purchased and custom analysis services are available. For more details about R&I’s Consumers’ Choice in Chains data, please contact Marcia Misheikis at (630) 288-8211; e-mail inquiries to mmisheikis@reedbusiness.com.