FACTORS AFFECTING FAST FOOD RESTURANTS IN PESHAWAR

Introduction
There has been research examining food and restaurant preferences associated with different groups such as origins of nationality (Barta, 2008; Gyimothy, Rassing & Wanhill, 2000), different meal purposes (Cullen, 2004; Koo, Tao & Yeung, 1999), length of stay Gyimothy et al., 2000) and age (Gyimothy et al., 2000; Yamanaka, Almanza, Nelson, & DeVaney, 2003).The restaurant industry has evolved over the past few years from simply a meals providing facility to an increased combination of service associated features. In modern times, efficient and professional catering and restaurant services are must for every event, celebration or party. Whether it is a birthday celebration, wedding catering, anniversary party, social, traditional, corporate or political event quality and delicious food serving is a must to complete the event. Restaurant and catering can be demanding work that will require a lot of stamina and inner strength. Business/ employees should also possess the ability to work under stress. Firm success depends solely on its reputation; it is good to be daringly careful with the jobs it takes up. Strive to provide a high quality, superior service at all times. And giving the best output services to the customer to satisfy their needs and expectations, which is a very challengeable job for any restaurant who can deeply emphasize on these things and make their brand name in the industry to compete with competitors. A successful brand is an identifiable product, service, person or place, augmented in such a way that the buyer or user perceives relevant, unique, sustainable added values which match their needs most closely.(Keller, 2004 ). Over a past few years in Peshawar the restaurant industry has grown very fast and trend towards having lunch and dinner in restaurant is increased and even a breakfast is offered now a days in restaurants, as the industry is growing rapidly due to which the competition between restaurants has been increased. Different restaurants are using different tools and offers to attract more customers towards their restaurants. Some of the restaurants are focusing on time management

some are focusing on ambiance and food quality and so many others, many features are emphasized to satisfy the Differing needs of customers. All of the dimensions have significant impact of varying degrees on customer satisfaction. However, the difference of the population, their cultural values, environment, and emotions play a significant role in evaluating these dimensions. Therefore, this study is conducted to analyze how different factors affect the people choosing restaurants of Peshawar restaurant industry.

Research Aim
The aim of this research is to evaluate and investigate the factors which can affect the choice of restaurants in Peshawar.

Research Objectives
To study and examine the perception of the consumer about the factors that change choices of restaurants To study and evaluate the influence of the factors that change choices of restaurants

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Advertisement
Consumers purchasing decisions begin with contacting the information of the product and they look for the best available information for making a decision where to dine out. Cullen (2004) found that 71 percent of the respondent considered Good reputation as one of the important attributes when selecting restaurant for a social occasion. Reputation of the restaurants can be obtained by external information sources and consumers were influenced by external information sources such as advertisements and reviews in local newspaper (Sparks et al., 2003). Therefore, marketing communication is an important strategy to advertise the restaurant or the food. Pedraja and Yague (2001) found that consumers searched for the information of the restaurant, especially where there were price differences among restaurants. Advertising is a powerful brand building and communicating tool, but the firms have to ensure that their staff delivers the promises consumers are led to expect through the advertising campaigns. (Popcorn, 2000). Advertisement can be simply defined as a form of communication, used to influence an audience towards a certain product or service or towards taking a new action. Advertisements are used in order to promote the product, in order to create general perception about the product or service in the minds of the general public. Its the most convenient way of marketing a product. Advertisement is a best tool to develop the brand, make people aware of your brand, delivering information about your organization, your objectives, your offers are events planning and convincing them to use your products. Through well-conceived and effectively managed brands, firms are able to build favorable reputations, which enhance the confidence of the buyers and consumers about the organization.

The brands we use are making nonverbal statements about the consumer as a person. People choose brands, not just because of their utility, but because consumers perceive that brands are affecting and depicting their personalities. (Marriott, 2002). With the help of advertisement the brand can be build and the people can be aware of the company and the products of the company, the increasing competition of restaurants in Peshawar enforced the owners of restaurants to advertise their restaurants in Peshawar so the restaurant name should not be forgotten and relation with the customer should not be broken. Local restaurants can advertise their products and services in Peshawar through different mediums that are bill boards, vouchers, and local TV channels which can change the mind of people towards them and trust on the restaurant of their choice can be build and people can come to restaurants confidently.

Social image
Brand image deals with the extrinsic properties of the product or service including the ways in which the brand attempts to meet customers psychological and social needs. Brand imagery is how people think about a brand abstractly, rather than what they think the brand actually does. Many kinds of intangibles can be linked to a brand, but four categories can be highlighted: user profiles, purchase and usage situations, personality and values, and history, heritage and experiences. (Keller, 2004). Although not always seeming, the most important assets of a firm are intangible. These assets may include brands, symbols, slogans, processes, people skills and other items, which define the company and its position in the minds of consumers. If the company made their customers satisfy and fulfilled customers expectation of socially good company so the consumers will tell to other friends and family about the restaurant and people will feel exited to come to the restaurant which are famous and socially acceptable and respectable. The brands we use are making non verbal statements about the consumer as a person. People choose brands, not just because of their utility, but because consumers perceive that brands are affecting and depicting their personalities. (Marriott, 2002).

One another way to judge the personality of the person is to know which brand he use and people of the country are so conscious about their social image if the a company can make his restaurant brand worthy so the social image of the brand will increase which will affect their decision positively

Ambiance
Restaurant patrons remember cleanliness issues longer and more likely avoid that restaurant in the future (Wakefield & Blodgett, 1996). A study conducted by Knight et al. (2007) found that people who perceived that a restaurant was not at all committed to food safety were less likely to choose the restaurant when eating out. The environment in which the people sit or like to sit and being in that environment shows their personality and class and it is the human psychology that every person wants the social respect in the society and everyone wants to be the part of the place which environment is good and to being in that environment give them respect in the minds of others therefore it is very necessary for the restaurant owner to make their restaurants environment clean, calm and healthy which could not give the negative feelings or bad response to its consumers. The brands we use are making non verbal statements about the consumer as a person. People choose brands, not just because of their utility, but because consumers perceive that brands are affecting and depicting their personalities. (Marriott, 2002). Soriano (2002) claimed that offering good food and good service is not enough to attract consumers and restaurants should provide meals with good value in a favorable ambience. Previous studies (Barta, 2008; Cullen,2004; Erik & Nir, 2004) showed that attractive dcor and atmosphere influenced consumer choice of where to dine out.

Price
Price is one of tangible attributes that consumers consider when they experience dining out. Services cannot be evaluated before they are consumed unlike food, but price can represent food and service before consumers experience them .Price is an important

variable that defines the companys profit. For having the be nefits and usage of any service or product the customer will pay an amount of money which is known as price. Shahzad Khan (2012). To earn a profit any organization will charge some amount against their product/services and to take any product/services any consumer will pay some amount of money called price. Price is the most common variable that can change the consumers mind at any stage of purchasing. Everything has some acceptable cost on which is consumer normally

willing to pay against of goods or services and the seller is willing to sell but when the desirable price is not right or constant consumer get irritated from the company/organization and he may switch to the competitors products or services soon. A good price is the major contributor for satisfaction. Because the monetary cost is the price and in making customer value monetary aspect play a very vital role Shahzad Khan (2012). Verma and Thompson (1996) studied the factors on the customer satisfaction of Pizza Hut, and included prices, discounts, delivery time, menu change, temperature of food, and refund. For the purpose of attracting more customers and making customers satisfy first of all the company should know that which classes of customers they are targeting/attracting to buy their products/services after analyzing it the company should set the good price for its products/services

Food quality and Taste

Consumers satisfaction toward the restaurants can be examined from the food quality and taste that they are providing to their customers. Liljander and Strandvik (1993) suggested the factors include: flavor and appearance of food, menu set and change, restaurant display and personal service. The resturants must delivet the good quality food to their customers as well as the tasty one. Verma and Thompson (1996) studied the factors on the customer satisfaction of Pizza Hut, and included prices, discounts, delivery time, menu change, temperature of food, and refund. Vavra (1997) suggested that customer satisfaction is a critical index to confirm the quality conveyed to customers. Dorsch, Swanson, and Kelley (1998) indicated that in

high-quality relationship, the satisfaction with the other sides role assumption and performance would be more significant. Thus, satisfaction is the customers emotional state to perceive from good quality and tasty food. In addition, satisfaction from good quality food not only is the reaction to current situations, but also would affect future customer behavior. Johns and Howard (1992) found that consumers have a mental checklist or expectations with which they compare an items quality. Previous research showed that the most important factor determining whether a customer will return to the restaurant was the quality of food; the least considered factors were place and ambiance of restaurant (Brumback, 1998; Soriano, 2002; Sulek & Hensley, 2004).Once the the food quality and taste satisfied the customers so they will come back to eat again but if the experience with the restaurant is not good and the quality of food and taste was not good the customers will never come back to eat food with that restaurant again. Taste is one of the most used attributes to measure consumer preference in selecting a restaurant. Food Consumption is more affected by the consumers psychological rather than physical need which explains how a dining experience with psychological satisfaction leads consumers to return to the restaurant (Wood, 1995).

Health concerns
From the study conducted by Sparks, et al. (2003), almost 55 percent of the respondents chose that eating healthy food was very important. So its is important for the resturants to offer the healthy foods to their counsumers. Increase of ready-to-eat nutritional food and the application of special diets led consumers to stay in their healthy daily lifestyle while they were away from their daily life (Meler & Cerovic, 2003). Many consumers have been interested in eating fresh food, free of chemical additives and high in carbohydrates (Tabacchi, 1987). They are looking for healthy food, not junk food. In 2003, obesity in Americans decreased by 1 percent compared to a 2002 report and a recent survey found that 35 percent of the population nationwide carefully plans meals

to be nutritious; that is up from 32 percent in 2001 (Ruggless, 2003). According toYuksel and Yuksel (2002), among value seekers of vacationers, healthy food had the highest mean score for their selecting restaurants and meals. Health issues such as availability of low fat items, salad bar or nonsmoking section were measured and they impacted restaurant selection among travelers (Gregoire et al., 1995). It is important to offer variety of healthy meals to attract consumers who are looking for various types of healthy meals and to satisfy their need for nutrition and new experience.

Staff Behavior
Customers dont expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix th ings when they go wrong Gronroos, (1984). In the restaurant, it is the job of the staff that they should take the complaints of their customers serious and ensure him/her or remove their complaint but if the staff behavior is not good towards any complaint so customer may leave the restureant. if staff is the visual manifestation of brands, their individual values will be perceived as those of the brand. One of the challenges of brand management is ensuring that staff has values that concur with those of the firms brands. It is difficult to shift someones values. (Marriott 2002) so it is very important for owners of the restaurants to choose the staff very carefully. It is very clear that if the staff behavior with the customer is good and staff has tolerate level to listen and take action against the small and big complaints of the consumers and not to show the mistake next time.

Time Management
The term Time Management is a misnomer. You cannot manage time; you manage the events in your life in relation to time. You may often wish for more time but you only get 24 hours, 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds each day. How you use that time depends on skills learned through self-analysis, planning, evaluation, and self-control. Much like money, time is both valuable and limited.it must be protected, used wisely, and budgeted. People who practice good time management techniques often find that they, are more productive, Have more energy for things they need to accomplish, Feel less

stressed, Are able to do the things they want, Get more things done, Relate more positively to others, and Feel better about themselves (Dodd and Sundheim, 2005). In the restaurant industry, time management is one of the key factors that may determine the success or failure of the business. This because a restaurant is only busy during certain pick hours. As everyone knows when people are scheduled to eat for instance breakfast, lunch and dinner, a good restaurant tends to be filed to the brim. On the other hand, during in the hours in between you will find the staff taking long breaks due to lack of clients. Be regular and orderly in your life so that you may be vi olent and original in your work.Gustave Flaubert. In the restaurants if the time management is an issue so consumer will get bore of waiting for unnecessary time. Sometimes consumer have less time and if the order take much time to deliver from the normal time it will make a consumer tense and he may not visit to the restaurant again

Traditional food items

Traditional foods are often measured healthy and wholesome and, as public interest in nutrition and healthy eating has increased, there has also been an increase in demand for traditional foods. Traditional foods include foods that have been consumed locally or regionally for many generations. The methods for preparation of these local specialties have been passed down from generation to generation and have become part of the fabric of life in many communities. In some cases, they are not formally documented recipes, but are often associated with positive health benets and always with local history.it has been observed that people of every culture, tradition, and country loves their local things, as in the study of hervieu (1996) on French people that yes, what we love in French is its land, peasants, its being wild and natural, the land of pleasure and memory. Within a country there could be many cultures and every culture have their own belive, norms, values, traditional foods and dishes and every society like to eat their special traditional foods item so it is necessary for the restaurants to offer a traditional food items in their restaurants.

Advertisement Time Management

National/international Items

Staff Behavior

Social Image

Unique Offers Traditional items

Choice of restaurants

Health Concerns

Food Offers Quality/ on Traditional Taste events

Price

Ambiance

Noiseless Place

Advertisement Social image Ambiance Price Food quality and Taste Health concerns

Staff Behavior Time Management

Traditional food items

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