Pizza Hut, Inc. Local Pilot Survey results Prepared for: Dr Michael Hyman Prepared by: December 11.1997
December 11. 1996 Ms Karen Lankford President, NMSU American Advertising Federation New Mexico State University Subject: Report on the results of the Pizza Hut, Inc. local pilot survey Dear Ms Lankford I am pleased to present you with a report on the results of the Pizza Hut, Inc. local pilot survey This report was prepared in accordance to the research proposal-contract that was submitted to you in September 1996 As we predicted, the report indicates that people get food to carryout more often than they eat inside a full service restaurant. The report recommends that in order to entice people into eating at Pizza Hut, advertising should emphasize the quality of food, employee friendliness/service, and Pizza hut offers. These characteristics were found to be the most important to customers when selecting a restaurant. The survey was distributed in two ways. Approximately 75% of the surveys were gathered by myself via mall intercept. The remaining 25% was distributed by members of the NMSU American Advertising Federation to their acquaintances within the target audience The total number of surveys tabulated in the results is 100. I believe that these questionnaires are representative of the customers involved in the study. In preparing the pilot survey questions, information from local focus groups and secondary data was used. The survey was found to be habits, pizza preferences, media habits and demographic Omer preferences regarding restaurant complete and addressed a number of areas including: cus The results of this survey can be used by the Nmsu american Advertising Federation to design a national survey as well as to make preliminary decisions regarding a national advertising campaig for Pizza Hut, Inc. I would like to thank you for your cooperation in completing this research and I look forward to working with you in the future Andrea Juarez Researcher American Advertising Federation
Table of Contents Pizza Hut, Inc. Local Pilot Survey results Letter of Transmittal Executive Summary Research Introduction Methodology Results 4-11 Consumer Behavior Restaurant Attributes Media Habits 479 11 Limitations Conclusions 1. Recommendations ppendix Research Proposal urvey Consumer behavior Statistics estaurant Qualities Statistic Media Habits Statistics
Executive Summary Background In 1997 Pizza Hut, Inc. plans to make a $2 billion investment to modify existing restaurants or to build new ones. This involves everything from updating the design and decor to providing new ways to sell the product to the consumer. Pizza Hut, Inc. has requested that the NMSU American Advertising Federation create an integrated marketing communications campaign that will introduce these changes to the target audience. The purposc of this local pilot study was to determine the target audience's attitude toward eating at full service restaurants. Ultimately, the results of this study will be used to create a national survey. Results may also be used to make preliminary decisions regarding a national advertising campaign for Pizza Hut, Inc In defining the limits of this study, several areas were identified including: determining the target audience's attitude toward eating at restaurants, defining the target audience's behavior relative to its decision to dine out, determining what restaurant services, selection, or other variable the target audience likes most when eating out, identifying the extent to which the target audient dines at Pizza Hut, Inc. restaurants, and determining the target audience's media habits This research design consisted of exploratory research conducted through a local pilot survey The samplc dcsign sclected for the survey included adults between the ages of 18 and 49. Local target audience members provided the database for this study. The selection of sand g etpt, respondents was done by convenience sampling. The survey was distributed via mall int and was also distributed by NMsu American Advertising Federation members to their acquaintances within the target audience age group. The total number of target audience members surveyed was 100. There was a 100% response rate. Results Consumer behavior Most respondents(42%)said they get food to carryout"1-2 times a week. " In general, 65% of respondents get carryout at least once a week, and 34 of respondents rout at least once a month. Men get carryout more frequently than women. Most respondents(39%)eat in a full service restaurant"once a month In general, 43 of respondents said they eat at a full service restaurant at least once a week and 56% of respondents said they eat in a full service restaurant at least once a month. Women and people with incomes of $45,000 or more are more likely to eat in a full service restaurant more In general, 6% eef respondents eat pizza at least once a month and 3 1 %eat pizza at least once a week/Men, people ages 18-24 and people who make $25,000 or more eat pizza most frequentl The majority of respondents(68%)said they eat at Pizza Hut"once a month"and over half of these respondents were women
Restaurant qualities When choosing a restaurant, respondents answered that the following qualities are ver important": food quality (8 dliness(51%), and prid (47%). These responses matched answers to a similar question that asked respondents to choose the best quality of their favorite restaurant: 53% answered quality of food, 14% answered price 12% answered service, and 8% answered atmosphere. Those qualities considered"fairly important"are speed of service(58%), atmosphere (42%)and menu variety (37%o). Approximatel 42% of respondents said that they pay about"$4-7 per person"when eating at Pizza Hut Media habits The majority of the target audience listens to radio is between 6am-3pm during the week(67%) The top four radio formats were Country (24%), Rock(18%), Adult Contemporary(14%),and Golden Oldies(13%). Most respondents watch TV from 7: 30 on during the week(77%). The most popular program types are Situation Comedy(42%o), News(21 %), Sports(17%)and Drama (14%). Almost half of the target audience (48%)answered that they use the Internet. The target audience reads a variety of magazines including the following types: Womens(16%), News and Business(12%), and Fashion and Entertainment(10%). Most members of the target audience do not read the local newspaper regularly Conclusions and Recommendations Conclusions respondents eat pizza at least once a month and also eat at Pizza hut at least once a mont ost Most respondents get food to carryout more often than they eat in a full service restaurant. Consumers find the following attributes most important when selecting a restaurant: food quality cleanliness, employee friendliness, and price. They care less about speed of service, atmosphere and menu variety. Most respondents listen to the radio in the morning and early afternoon with with the most popular program types being Situation Comedy and News. Almost halfar etime Country and Rock formats being most popular. Most respondents watch TV during prim he Internet. Respondents read a varicty of magazines, but don't read the Recommendations A national survey should be created that omits general restaurant behavior questions and replaces them with more specific questions regarding consumer perceptions of Pizza Hut restaurants and its competition. The survey should define why people go or don't go to Pizza Hut. It should define why Pizza Hut is chosen or not chosen over other restaurants. The survey also needs define Pizza Hut's position within consumers minds. Since it is difficult to collect accurate media ary research should be gathered to determine media habits of the target audience. Advertising for Pizza Hut, Inc. restaurants should include ference to an improved atmosphere since some respondents do find this fairly important. At the same time advertising should emphasize quality food, employee friendliness, and price because most customers find these attributes very important
Pizza Hut, Inc. Local Pilot Survey results Introduction Pizza Hut, Inc is the leading national pizza restaurant in the U.S. and continues to dominate in market share for both the Dine-in and Delivery business. In 1995 Pizza Hut, Inc generated U.s sales of S5.7 billion and lead the nearly $14.9 billion pizza restaurant segment with an average 5% share This share is twice the size of its two leading national competitors, Domino's and Littlc Cacsar's. The remaining market share is held by regional chains and by"Mom and Pop local In 1997 Pizza Hut, Inc. plans to make a $2 billion investment to modify existing restaurants,or build new ones. This involves everything from updating the design and decor to providing new ways to sell the product to the consumer. Pizza Hut, Inc has requested that the NsU American Advertising Federation create an integrated marketing communications campaign that will introduce these changes to the target audience. The purpose of this local pilot study was to determine the target audience's attitude toward eating at full service restaurants. Ultimately, the results of this study will be used to create a national survey, and to make preliminary decisions regarding a national advertising campaign for Pizza Hut, Inc Objectives In defining the limits of this study, several areas were identified. A careful review of those areas led to the identification of the following research objectives To determine the target audience's frequency of eating in a full service restaurant versus getting food to carryout. To determine what restaurant services, selection, or other variable the target audience likes most when eating out To identify the extent to which the target audience dines at Pizza Hut, Inc. restaurants. To determine the target audiences media habits Methodology This research design consistcd of exploratory research conducted through a local pilot survey. A efficient way of collecting a large and varied amount of information from the target audience d structured questionnaire survey design was used because of it was an inexpensive, convenient and pertaining to the restaurant dining behavior, interests, and media preferences. The survey design included a variety of close ended questions related to the research objectives. The sample design lected for the survey matched the target audience defined by Pizza Hut, Inc. Eligible respondents were adults between the ages of 18 and 49. Local target audience members provided the database for this study. The selection of survey respondents was done by convenience sampling. The survey was distributed via mall intercept at the Mesilla Valley Mall in Las Cruces NM. It was also distributed by NMsU American Advertising Federation members to their
acquaintances within the target audience age group Distributors were told to hand out the survey and to allow respondents to fill out the questionnaire at their desire. The total number of target audience members surveyed was 100. There was a 100% response rate. Each question on a returned survey was verified to be answered completely and correctly, but respondents were not contacted to confirm that they had filled out the survey. The statistical methods used to analyze the data were obtained through the SPSS Statistical Analysis Computer Program. Through the program, frequency and cross tabulation data was generated reflecting the results of the survey. Results Consumer Behavior Carryout Frequency: Most respondents(42%)answered that they got food to carryout "1-2 times a week. "The second most frequent response was answered by 23% of respondents who said they got food to carryout 3 or more times a week. "In general, this question indicates that 65% of respondents get carryout at least once a wcck and 34% of respondents get carryout at least once a month Frequency of Carry Out How often do you get food to cary out? 2o806g8 Opeimmrth Tice/month Gender: Cross tab data indicates that men get carryout more frequently than women. Of those who answered that they get carryout"1-2 tilmes a week, "52% were female and 48% were male Of those who get carryout"3 or more times a week "only 40% were female and 60% were male In general, 34% of males and 31% of females get carryout at least once a week. The same trend occurs when comparing how often people get carryout per month. Of those who answered that they get carryout"twice a month, " 69% were male and only 31% female. Of those who get
carryout"once a month, 61% are female, and 39% are male. In conclusion, 18 of males and 16% of females get carryout at least once a month Income: According to cross tab data of those who get food to carryout" 1-2 times a week, "31% make under $15,000. Because it doesn't seem realistic that people with such a low income could afford to eat out so often, this may indicate that the question was answered by students who do at out quite frequently, but may also have money from their parents to spend Eating at a full service restaurant Frcqucncy The most frequent response to"How often do you eat at a full service restaurant was"once a month, "given by 39% of respondents. The second most frequent answer was 1-2 times a week, " given by 30% of respondents. Frequencies for this question indicate that 43% of respondents eat at a full service restaurant at least once a week and 56% of respondents eat in a full service restaurant at least once a month Frequency of Restaurant Dining How often do you eat in a full service restaurant? No answer 3 or more times a wk 1-2 times a week Once a month Twice a month How often do you eat at a full service restaurant? Gender Survey results show that women are more likely to eat in a full service restaurant at least once a week, while men are more likely to eat in a full service restaurant at least once a month Of those who answered that they eat in a full service restaurant"1-2 times a week, 57%o were female and 43% were male. Of those who answered that they eat in a full service restaurant once a month, "62% were male and 38% were female. In general, 23% of women and 20% men eat in a full servicc restaurant at least once a week. Of those who eat in a full service restaurant at least once a month, 33% are male and only 23 are female Income Cross tab data indicates that people with higher incomes are more likely to eat in a full service restaurant more often. Of those who eat in a full service restaurant" 3 or more times a
week, 62% make $45,000 or more annually. Income doesn't have much of an effect on those eating out"1-2 times a week "where 47%o of respondents make $24, 999 or less and 53%of respondents make $25,000 or more. The majority(64%)of those who eat in a full service restaurant only once a month make $24, 999 or less Eating Pizza month." Close behind was the 34% of respondents who answered that they eat pizza twice a month. " Finally, 28% of respondents answered that they eat pizza "1-2 times a week. " This question can be summarized as 69% of respondents eat pizza at least once a month and 31% of respondents eat pizza at least once a week Frequency of Eating Pizza 2 How often do you eat pizza? How often do you eat pizza? Gender Men eat pizza more frequently than women. Of those who answered that they eat pizza 41-2 times a week, " 61% were male and only 39% were female. Of those who eat pizza"once a month"66% are male and only 34% are female. But, of those who eat pizza"twice a month, 62% were female and 38%were male. In general, 17% of males eat pizza at least once a week, whereas only 14% of females do, and 36% of males eat pizza at least once a month whereas onl 33 of females do Age cross tab data indicates that those between the ages of 18-24 tend to eat pizza more often than any other age group $25,000 or more. Finally, of those who eat pizza"1-2 times a week,0 y(5390)make.6%) Income:Cross tab data shows that of those who eat pizza"once a month, "the majority( make $24,999 or less. Of those who eat pizza" twice a month, " the majorit eS45,000or Imo
Eating at pizza hut Frequency When answering how often they eat at Pizza Hut, the majority of respondents (68%) answered"once a month. "The next most frequent response was only given by 20% of respondents who said they"never"eat at Pizza Hut. In general, the results of this question indicate that 77% of respondents eat at Pizza Hut at least once a month, four percent of respondents eat at Pizza Hut at least once a week, and 20% of respondents"never eat at Pizza Hut Frequency of eating at Pizza Hut How often do you eat at Pizza Hut? aoa四 times/wk -2 times a week How often do you eat at Pizza hut? Gender Of those who eat at Pizza hut"once a month 56% are women and 44% arc mcn. In general, 40% of women and 37 of men eat at Pizza Hut at least once a month. Of those who answered that they had never eaten in a Pizza Hut restaurant, 84%o were men Restaurant attributes Food Quality Frequency When answering the question"How important is food quality? " 83%of respondents answered that it was"very important Cleanliness Freyuency When answering the question "How important is cleanliness? "70%o of respondents answered that it was"very important. Emplovee Friendliness frequency When answering the question, How important is employee friendliness? "51% of respondents said it was"very important, " and 32% said it was"fairly important 7
