The Impacts of Marketing Mix on the Consumer Experience in Fast Food Industries

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The Impacts of Marketing Mix on the Consumer Experience in Fast Food Industries

1R.Uma Maheswari, ²G.Nagamuthu, HOD, Dept of MBA STC College, Pollachi

Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women

Abstract- The paper aims at analyzing marketing mix of a chosen fast food company. The theoretical part of the work deals with function and role of marketing mix and explains each element of marketing mix. For this study the data was collected from 120 respondents in Coimbatore City.

Percentage analysis, Weighter average rank analysis and Chi-square test used for analyzing primary data to find the relation between various marketing mix elements. Co- relation coefficient was used to find the relationship between various elements. Based on the analysis, some suggestions and recommendations were given.

Keywords: product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, process, people

INTRODUCTION

The marketing mix is a model of creating and implementing marketing strategies. The elements are the marketing tactics, also known as the 'four Ps', the marketing mix elements are price, place, product, and promotion. The model was developed by Neil Borden who first started using the phrase in 1949.Particular attention being paid to services marketing in recent years, theorists have identified additional variables which could be added to the 4 P’s. Fifield and Gilligan recognized the three more variables as an integral part of marketing mix- process, people and physical evidences.

When blending these mix elements, marketers must consider their target market. These seven P's are the parameters that the marketing manager can control, subject to the internal and external constraints of the marketing environment. The goal is to make decisions that center the seven P's on the customers in the target market in order to create perceived value and generate a positive response.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

According to Neil Borden ( 1964) who first started using the phrase in 1949 , the Marketing mix is a model of creating and implementing marketing strategies. It stresses the blending of various factors in such a way that both organizational and consumer objectives are attained. The elements are the marketing tactics, also known as the 'four Ps', the marketing mix elements are price, place, product, and promotion. According to

Lauterborn (1990), the study claims that each of these variables (4 P’s) should also be seen from a consumer’s perspective. According to Gronroos (1994), the Marketing mix built from a concept of the marketer as a

“mixer of ingredients” that plans various means of competition and blends them into a “marketing mix” so that a profit function is optimized, or rather satisfied.

According to Peter Doyle ( 2000), the study claims that the Marketing mix approach leads to unprofitable decisions because it is not grounded in financial objectives such as increasing shareholder value. It has never been clear which criteria to use in determining an optimum Marketing mix. According to Möller (2005) , the study highlighted some key criticisms against the Marketing mix framework that the Mix does not consider customer behaviour but is internally oriented.

According to Fakeideas( 2009) ,the study found that the Mix does not take into consideration the unique elements of marketing. According to Rafiq and Ahmed (2012), the study found that there is a high degree of dissatisfaction with the 4Ps, however, 4Ps is thought to be most relevant for introductory marketing and consumer marketing. The result also suggests that the 7Ps framework has already achieved a high degree of acceptance as a generic marketing mix .

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To find the motivating element of the marketing mix model which makes the customer to purchase of the McDonald s product

2. To build an analytic connection between the customers satisfaction with the marketing mix 3. To analyses impact of the people, process , price

and physical evidence towards the customers.

HYPOTHESIS

HO: There is no significant relationship between marketing mix elements and consumer experience H1 :There is significant relationship between marketing mix elements and consumer experience

METHODOLOGY

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Coimbatore city has been selected for the study.

Statistical tools such as percentage analysis, weighted average rank analysis and chi-square test analysis are used for this study. The primary data was collected through survey method using interview schedules.

FAST FOOD INDUSTRY

The fast food industry, also known as Quick service restaurants (QSR) have been serving tasty food in quick time for many years. The major players of the fast food industry include McDonalds, KFC, Pizza hut , Dominos and Subway. Fast food franchises focus on high volume, low cost and high speed product. Frequently food is preheated or precooked and served to-go. Consumers enjoy being able to get a familiar meal in each location, and the menus and marketing are almost the same in every location. Hence, there has been a huge market share, increase in the employment rate and high growth rate which indicates a positive growth in future.

Fast food franchises are also focusing on expanding into new product lines, such as the coffee initiative- McCafe which is intended to offer competition to Startbucks.

McDonalds is luring customers back into their stores, hoping they will purchase food as well. The fast food industry is still a large and diverse industry with plenty of opportunity. Its certain that the challenge is being answered with innovation, and fast food franchises are responding with new offerings, pricing and strategies to lure consumers back in. The future trends of the fast food industry will be that the industry will begin to make larger internal and external business decisions.

The food at fast food establishments will be brought to an acceptable level of nutritional value. By 2025 , the fast food industry will have transformed from a food provider to one that serves a specific health benefit. The industry will move from healthy to functional, by concentrating on basic nutrition such as creating the vitamin burgers by replacing unhealthy ingredients with healthy alternatives that keep the taste consistent also providing the nutritional value.

THE MCDONALDS -OVER VIEW

The story of McDonalds started in 1954 when its founder Raymond Kroc saw a hamburger in San Bernardino , California and envisioned a nationwide fast food chain.Kroc proved himself as a pioneer who revolutionarized the American restaurant industry.Today McDonalds is the world’s largest fast food chain serving 47 million customers daily.

MCDONALDS IN INDIA

McDonalds entered India in 1996.McDonalds India has a 50-50 joint venture partnership with Connaught Plaza restaurants and Hard castle restaurants. The Connaught plaza restaurants manages operations in North India

while the Hard castle restaurants manages operations in Western India. Apart from opening outlets in major metros, the company is now expanding to the tier two cities as well

Elements of Marketing Mix ( 7 P )

Product : The product is a combination of tangible and intangible aspects of the products offered by the manufacturer to the customers.

Price : Price means the monetary value of the product has been fixed for exchange purpose. The price is the amount a customer pays for the product.

Place : Place represents the point or location where the product is made available to purchase. It is required that the products and customer should be available at a point then only the sales would be possible. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet.

Promotion : It includes all means of communications a marketer uses in the market for their products or services so as to create awareness, persuade the customers to buy and retain in future also. The promotional mix includes advertising, personal selling , sales promotion ,public relations ,direct marketing and corporate image.

People : The services are being provided with the help of employees and to the customers. There is direct contact for delivery of the services to the customers. The type of people providing the services are important hence , the people are to be selected, trained and motivated consciously to make the customers content with the service provided.

Process : For availing a particular service , certain activities are to be performed which requires a procedure , mechanism and flow of activities by which services are to be delivered. It is important to maintain a a standard format for availing the services without which the service cannot be delivered properly with uniformity.

Physical Evidence : The physical evidences create the environment in which the service or product is delivered. It includes two types – Internal evidences such as interiors of the environment , décor etc and external evidences such as building, parking place, gate and a long drive- way etc.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 The number of respondents are limited to 120.

 Time is a major constraint in doing the project.

 The findings and observation are based on the respondents answer which may be affected by the personal bias.

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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION CUMULATIVE PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS Table:1 Profile of Respondents

Factors Particular No. of Respondents % Cumulative

%

Gender Male 43 36 36

Female 77 64 100

Age Below 21 43 36 36

21-35 55 46 82

36-50 22 18 100

Above 50 0 0 0

Marital Status Married 50 42 42

Unmarried 70 58 100

Never 17 14 14

Frequency of Visit Once / Twice a Week 31 26 40

Once / Twice a Month 58 48 88

Once / Twice a Year 14 12 100

64 % of the respondents are females, 46% are between the age group 21 and 35, 58% are married and 48% are frequently visiting once or twice a month.

Table:2 Motivating Factor Among the Various Marketing Mix Elements Weighted Average Rank Method

Variable/Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 TSV AVS Ranks

Product 3 4 2 14 8 21 68 715 595 I

Price 2 3 6 10 8 73 18 670 558 II

Place 7 9 17 54 21 3 9 478 398 IV

Promotion 5 7 11 13 66 9 9 551 460 III

Process 35 64 7 5 4 3 2 256 213 VII

People 57 20 14 11 8 7 3 286 238 VI

Physical Evidence

11 13 63 13 5 4 11 404 336 Ranks

Source : Primary data

The table shows the ranks assigned to the variables using the weighted average ranking method. The first rank has been assigned to “Product” , the second rank to “Price” , third rank to “promotion” , fourth rank to “place” , fifth rank to

“physical evidence” , sixth rank to “people” and seventh rank to “process”.

Result

Therefore, the most preferred variable is the “Product” of McDonald's using the weighted average rank method.

Table:3 Satisfaction Level of Marketing Mix Element S.

No.

Satisfactory level No of respondents

Percentage (%)

1 Highly satisfied 12 10

2 Satisfied 52 44

3 Neutral 43 36

4 Dissatisfied 9 7

5 Highly dissatisfied 4 3

Total 120 100

44% are satisfied, 10% are highly satisfied and 36% are neutral about the marketing mix of McDonald s, respectively.

Table:4 Association Between Price and Physical Evidence

Objective : To find out the relationship between the people, process , price and physical evidence towards the customers.

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0ij Eij Oij-Eij (Oij-Eij)^2 (Oij-Eij)^2/Eij

57 59.8 -2.8 7.84 0.13

11 10.4 0.6 0.36 0.03

10 7.8 2.2 4.84 0.62

10 10.73 -0.73 0.53 0.04

2 1.86 0.14 0.019 0.01

2 1.4 0.6 0.36 0.25

25 21.46 3.54 12.53 0.58

3 3.73 -0.73 0.53 0.14

0 2.8 -2.8 7.84 2.8

Total 4.6

Factors Degree of Freedom Table value Calculated value Relationship

Physical evidence &Price 4 9.488 4.6 Not Significant

Result : Table value is greater than the calculated value, the null hypothesis is accepted and the alternative hypothesis is rejected. There is no significant relationship between the physical evidence and price.

Table:5 Association Between People and Process 0ij Eij Oij-Eij (Oij-Eij)^2 (Oij-Eij)^2/Eij

50 48 2 4 0.08

4 4.5 -0.5 0.25 0.05

6 7.5 -1.5 2.25 0.3

5 10.4 -5.4 29.16 2.80

3 0.97 2.03 4.12 4.24

5 1.62 3.38 11.42 7.04

41 37.6 3.4 11.56 0.30

2 3.52 -1.52 2.31 0.65

4 5.87 -1.87 3.49 0.59

Total 16.05

Factors Degree of Freedom Table value Calculated value Relationship

Process & People 4 9.488 16.05 Significant

Result : Table value is lesser than the calculated value, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted. There is a significant relationship between the process and people.

Table:6 Correlation Between Place and Physical Evidence

X Y x=X-X^- y= Y-Y ^- x.y x² y²

97 83 57 43 2451 3249 1849

5 11 -35 -29 1015 1225 841

18 26 -22 -14 308 484 196

Total ∑ x .y =3774 ∑x²=4958 ∑y²=2886

Correlation coefficient (r) = 0.997

Result : As the correlation value is 0.997 which is between +1 and -1 , there is a positive correlation between place and physical evidence.

Table:7 Correlation between product and promotion

X Y x= X- X^- y =Y-Y^- x.y x² y²

38 13 -2 -27 54 4 729

22 86 -18 46 -828 324 2116

60 21 20 -19 -380 400 361

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Correlation coefficient (r) = - 0.75

Result : As the correlation value is – 0.75 which is between +1 and -1 , there is a negative correlation between product and promotion.

FINDINGS:

 68% agree that the quality and packaging of food is good, 73% agree that the menu gives emphasis on customer requirements.

 40% agree that the price suggests best value for money,65% agree that the price is reasonable when compared to its leading competitors.

 77% agree that the price reflects good quality of food,60% agree that the location aids easy accessibility.

 81% agreeing the restaurants are located at prime locations,79% agree that the promotional strategies induces the target customers to purchase the product.

 72% disagree that the consumers are well informed about the promotional strategies,81%

agreeing the effective usage of different medias.

 53% agree that the quality of service provided by the staff is satisfactory, 50% agree that the staff employed provides fast and friendly service.

 80% agree about the speed of food preparation , 44% of the respondents are satisfied with the marketing mix of McDonald s.

SUGGESTION:

They may try to adopt innovation to overcome the challenges .

Fast food franchises are responding with new offerings and pricing strategies

They can practice continual enhancement and improvement in their menu.

CONCLUSION:

The fast food industry has its challenges, from rising food costs, economic recession and changing perceptions about health. The major problems faced by the Fast food industry include the growing restaurants , health related issues ,changing trends , changing consumer preferences, long service hours and profit repatriation. There are many ways being adopted by these industries to overcome the challenges .

REFERENCESS

[1] Lauterborn, R. (1990). New marketing litany: 4P’s passé; c-words take over. Advertising Age, (October 1), p. 26.

[2] http://extension.umd.edu/agmarketing/marketing- 101/mark

[3] http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/

keyword/marketing-mix

[4] Kotler, Philip. 2009.Philip Kotler Marketing Group. http://www.kotlermarketing.com

[5] http://www.theseus.fi/bitstream.

[6] T.N.Srivatsava, Shailaja Rego (2010). Business Research Methodology. Tata McGraw Hill Education Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

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