INVESTIAGTING THE CUSTOMER PERCEPTION

TOWARDS THE MCDONALDS CUSTOMER

SATISFACTION AND SERVICE QUALITY IN UK

Supervised by: GEORGIO GORGEDIAS

Department of Marketing
College Of Technology London

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY

Solomon, 2006 defined the consumer behaviour as the study which included processes
related to individual or the group of individuals when making decision regarding buying,
disposing or usage of a particular product. It also includes the study of how the customers
make decision on their spending on consumer goods, using a service or sometimes to
experience. The decisions include what items to buy, when and where from should they
buy, how long will they use a particular product, when to dispose it and many more. It also
forms a base to plan their future purchases and frequency of purchases in a particular span
of time (Schiffman and Kanuk 2004, p.8). Ajzen (1998) points out that the behaviour is
driven by the attitude of a customer. Thus in context of the behaviour, the attitude plays an

important role and thus a customer either acts favorably or unfavorably towards liking of a
particular product. It is generally agreed by learned that attitude is something which is
learnt.Attitudes are always formed by experiencing a particular product and sometimes due
to hand to mouth information or promotions through media or internet websites etc
(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004, p.253). Thus attitude is predispositions which make
consumers behave in a particular manner either in favor or away of a product (Schiffman
and Kanuk, 2004, p.253).
Hanan & Farp (1989) stated that the general criterion on which the marketing strategy is
based for most of the companies is customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their
products. For every company their customer is the focal point of any strategy made. Thus
for any company its success or failure is directly dependent on the satisfaction or
dissatisfaction of customers from the services or products they offer. Bolton & Drew (1991)
suggested that this satisfaction is based on the expectations of customers and how much
they are satisfied by the transaction of customer with a company for specific product. If for
any particular transaction done, the product meets the expectation of the customer then the
satisfaction is said to be achieved. While Jillian (1991) explained dissatisfaction as the
transaction wherein the outcomes is less than that is expected by the customers for a
specific product. The customer satisfaction and the service quality has a significant effect
on the perceptions of the consumer towards the product and plays a major role in the fast
food industry.

Fast food is a term used for food items like pizza, hamburgers, or chicken delicacies like
nuggets, fish filets etc. These items do have a standard method and thus can be made very
fast for customers to have it when visiting restaurants or to take away. While junk food is
tagged to items like fries, chips, sweets and doughnuts etc which have relatively low
nutrients (dictionary.com, 2006). But many a times fast food is mistaken or taken as junk
food. There are debates going on as to whether junk food term is justified or not. Junk food
is a term used prominently in the urbane parts and in the restaurants located in the urban
part of world and not in the rural parts. The term is now a days being used to just
disapprove a particular item (ONeill, 2006). Recent study and research show that in UK it

has become so very normal of finding a man or woman who would be suffering from
obesity. The figures revealed by government in UK show that almost 25% or men and 60%
of women in country are obese and heavy from obesity (Boseley, 2006). UK has the highest
obesity in Europe according the research done (Data monitor, 2006). In one research carried
out by the Department of Health it forecasts that in coming four year almost one third of
total adult population of UK (almost 13 million people) will be suffer from obesity as well
as 1 million of children will be obese in coming three years (Marrin, 2006).Hence forth it is
important that serving quality food has become a prime objective of companies like
McDonalds.
1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

McDonalds became the leading company over its competitors KFC and Burger King in the
year 2004 with market share value of 18.3% (Euromonitor, 2006b). It is considered as the
pioneer brand and company of fast food industry and operates with over 31000 restaurants
and in 120 countries across the world (Market Line, 2006). It mainly operates in UK and
USA with over 1300 restaurants in UK itself. The company has its headquarter in Oak
Brook, Illinois USA and employs over 447000 staff across the world (Datamonitor, 2006).
By end of year 2004, McDonalds had grown its profits by 55% which was huge
(Euromonitor, 2006b). However in year 2003, company started facing loss because of the
increasing obesity problems in its customers who were unhappy with the fatty food it
served. Looking at the problems the customers faced, the company started much healthier
food items and by year 2006 it regained its hold over market with its sales reaching six year
high record and was also declared as the biggest improver in terms of performance in
(Clark, 2006). Thus in this study, various behaviors and perception of customers are studied
and how they respond to a particular product or type of products and service or quality of
any organization which is very important for devising market strategy of any organization.
The profitability of any organization is to some extent is based on the consumer behaviour
and what are the factors affecting their decisions and are they in context to products or
services or quality etc. This helps an organization to take right steps and decisions as it is
directly related to its profitability. It has been stated that [C]ustomer perception is the

process through which the ultimate buyer makes purchase decisions... (Kurtz, 2008,
p.135). As a result, it can be said the study of costumer perception is the study of human
perception.
McDonalds, the pioneer company in fast food industry has been in the industry from the
year 1955 and today is the leading company in the fast food restaurant sector (McDonalds,
2011). It is one of the most successful groups of chains of fast food restaurant with its
business growing year on year and spreading all across the world. However the company
started facing loss in year 2003 due to the fact that the food it served was tagged greasy and
hence it increased the epidemic of obesity in the western world. The customers were not
happy with the food served (The Corporation, 2003). This was further supported by the
release of books like super size me and fast food nation at the same time which fuelled
the customer behaviour to keep them far from going to the fast food restaurants. It also
faced legal problems for making the customers obese (Wald, 2003). Hence in this study
we investigate the customers perception towards McDonalds and factors affecting its
service quality.
1.3 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
McDonalds topped the chart of fast food companies in year of 2010 in UK with its share
value of 18.3% making it clear winner over its closest rival group, KFC owned by YUM
burgers and Burger King (Euromonitor, 2010b).

Figure 1.1: Market share in UK (2010)

Market share (%)
Name of the company
McDonald's Corp

18.3

Yum! Brands Inc

8.4

Burger King Corp

8.3

Pret a Manger Europe Ltd

1.4

Compass Group Plc

1.2

Nando's Group Holdings Ltd 0.8

Source: Euromonitor, 2010b
In 2003 it happened so for the first time that the company was in loss in its history of over
five decades. This was the result of serving food which was greasy in nature and as a result
fuelled obesity problems in the customers. The loss of the company was also to some extent
due to the books written like Fast Food Nation and at the same time due to release of a
short documentary film named Super size me. But very soon the company management
figured out the reasons and as a result started serving options which were healthier than
before. Due to this rectification, again the sale of McDonalds products has again reached
the apex. It was then announced in year 2006 that the McDonalds achieved its sale to 6 year
high record and was declared the most improved performance wise organization in the year
singling out the other British restaurants (Clark, 2006). This was achieved by the group due
to continuous satisfactory customer services and the quality maintained while making
changes in the food they served.
Hence in this study we investigate the perceptions of the customers towards the service
quality of McDonalds and also focus on the behavior of customers and how they make
decisions while they spend on food or consumer items. It has been observed that these
decisions are on what to buy, why and when to buy and what would be the frequency of
buying those items and what would be the usage of the item. The study intervenes on all
these aspects which customer decides when they make a purchase and how they analyze the
usage of particular item and how it helps them for future purchases. With this study we will
be able to make out how much a customer is satisfied by the services provided by the
McDonalds and also if it is the sole reason for its increase in sale and success in market or
not. One of the personal rationales for the study is that the researcher is a fast food loving
person and this study on the basis of McDonalds will help the researcher to explore the
service quality aspect related to fast food in UK.
1.4AIMS AND RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The main research objective of this study is to be able to investigate customer perception
towards service quality in the fast food sector with respect to McDonalds. To evaluate the
factors that are responsible for influencing customer buying perception in McDonalds

To establish the extent to which customer perception is affected by customer

satisfaction and service quality in McDonalds

To recommend appropriate solutions to improve customer buying perception with

respect to McDonalds

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions that have been posed in this study will help in achieving the primary
objective of the study which is the proposed research title. The research questions are as
follows:

To what extent is the customer perception of McDonalds affected by customer

satisfaction?

What is the relationship between consumer perceptions and the service quality
aspect of the McDonalds?

What are the factors that can adversely affect the customer buying perception
towards McDonalds?

1.6 DISSERTATION OUTLINE

The outline of the dissertation helps the readers to understand what all aspects are explained
and covered in each of the chapter of the research. This research was about the McDonald
service quality and the customer satisfaction aspect and the research was discussed in five
chapters starting from the introduction to the conclusion and recommendations. The first

chapter of the research covers the research introduction. The idea about the research topic
and the justification for choosing the research topic are explained in this chapter. The aims
and the objectives of the research are covered with the research questions as well. The
chapter of the research covers the literature concerned with the research topic. The
customer satisfaction aspect and the service quality aspect are discussed by referring to past
research articles. The theoretical framework has been made in this section of the research.
The next chapter contains the methodological aspects of the research. The research methods
and the steps used for conducting the research have been explained with the help of
explaining each method. The data collection sources and the tools used and the sampling
techniques also have been stated in this chapter. The analysis of the data has been done in
the chapter four of the research. The primary data collected through the questionnaires and
the focus group has been analyzed with the help of the graphs and the charts. The
conclusion of the research was made in the last chapter of the research and the proper
recommendations were also made on the basis of the research findings. The references used
for the research were stated in the bibliography section and in the appendix the
questionnaire and the supporting documents has been attached.

SUMMARY
In this chapter the introduction of the study has been explained. The introduction to the
customer perception and the McDonald can provide detailed back ground information to
the readers about the research nature. The research aims and the objective has been clearly
explained by the researcher in the introduction chapter. The researcher has also included the
dissertation outline which will interpret the contents contained in each of the chapters of the
research.

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

In the second chapter of literature review we will analyze the topic and study the theories
which are related to the same. The initial part of this reviews focuses on the issues related
to the customer behaviour and therefore it points out the various factors which impact the
customer decision making process and their attitude. The author refers to various
literatures, some written specifically on the food industry and food safety to review on the
topic while some articles on the attitude and buying behaviour of the customers. This
review and information would to a great extent help in research question of the following

dissertation. The literature review also uses the aspect of service quality as well as
consumer satisfaction to build the base of this dissertation.
Regarding the second part of the review, it mainly investigates the marketing issues and the
impact of marketing communication on the strategy and marketing mix. It also discusses
the issues of quality of services and the customer satisfaction along with it. Further the
literature review will also contribute in reviewing the important factors for building a
marketing strategy and recommendation that McDonalds can possibly take to improve its
position in market.
There are number of theories outlined which relates with the consumer behaviour and
marketing of a company based on it. These theories are as follows:
1

Consumer decision-making process

1. Consumer attitude formation and change

2. Customer Satisfaction
3. Service quality
In the fast food industry the service quality is one of the factors which directly affect the
satisfaction and the success of the organisation. Now a days most of the restaurants in the
fast food industry are trying to increase the service quality aspect to increase the purchase
intentions of the customers and to increase their perceptions towards the quality of their
service (Qin & Prybutok, 2008; Gillbert, Veloutsou, Goode, & Moutinho, 2004; Kara,
Kaynak, & Kucukemiroglu, 1995). When the restaurant fulfils the expectation of the
customers then the customers will be satisfied. For example the McDonald and the KFC are
trying their best efforts to increase the quality of the service they offer. Therefore the
service quality measurement has to be done to know the level of the quality provided by the
organisation in order to increase the perceptions of the customer towards the service quality
as well as the satisfaction of the customers (Gilbert et al., 2004). Customer satisfaction is
the individuals perception of the performance of the product or service in relation to his or
her expectations.

The customer satisfaction depends upon the expectations of the customer. A customer will
be satisfied if the expectations are exceeded by the service they receive (For example a
quality food with a good designed interior facility at the McDonald) and when the
customers expectations are not achieved by the service then they will be dissatisfied. The
organisation success will depend upon the number of the loyal customers other than the
service quality and the satisfaction aspect (Leon & Leslie, 2006). For every industry
regardless of the nature of the service the service quality is one of the main factors
determining the organisation to gain the competitive advantage. The service quality aspect
and the high expectation of the customers helped the fast food industry to focus on the
customer centric approach towards the business. For example in the country like Malaysia
the fast food industries like the McDonalds and the KFC are focusing on the customers and
they are reaping good benefits (Yap & Kew, 2007).
The way in which a customer perceives a brand always has an influence on the satisfaction
and the intention of the purchase of the customers (Schiffman & Kanuk, 1998). The
perceptions of the customers depend on how the customers see the world around them. The
customer perception will be the result of an action based on the cognitive processes. With
regard to the behaviour of the customers the customer perception is regarded as the phase in
which the customers are aware of the product quality and other aspects of the product. The
customer will be evaluating the product service and his expectation and this is one of the
yard stick for measuring the customer satisfaction aspect (Schiffman 1998).the average and
the poor quality of the product will influence the organisation in many ways. The
organisation will lose the recognition and the reputation and will also cause less profit
(Iwarere 2010).

2.1 Consumer decision-making process

The buying decision of the customers is a very important aspect for any marketing team of
a company Based on the decision whether the consumers buy the product or not, it can be
analyzed whether the marketing strategy is successful, effective or was not planned well

(Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004, p.581). Verbeke (2005) recognized that the decisions and the
judgements and choice of the customer are affected and impacted greatly by various factors
present in the external environment and the whole process of decision making is based
sometimes on external environment as well as internal decisions and the characteristic of a
person. Three factors which influence the decision making and choice of consumer have
been categorized into person related factors, properties of the product/ food and thirdly, the
environmental factors (Shepherd, 1990, Steenkamp, 1997, cited by Verbeke, 2005)
Jobbers (1995) was of the view that other than the above mentioned factors, the buying
decision of a customer is also influenced by the level of his involvement in making the
purchase. Kim (2005) made a research on the product interaction with the consumer and
how values of product interact with the involvement of consumer with the product.in his
research Kim found out that the product values are influencing the perceptions of the
product. Based on the same research, more recently it was found that different level of
involvement of different customers triggered different kind of behaviors. In another
research made my Schroeder and McEachern, 2005, it was analyzed that the corporate
social responsibilities of companies like McDonalds and Burger King also made an impact
of certain amount on the purchasing decision of the consumer but it was to a very small
extend that it made difference as the authors say that the decision of buying a fast food is
totally an impulsive process. The findings of the Schroeder and McEachem is one of the
significant research in the field of the fast food industry as the McDonalds and other firms
are facing most of the ethical issues surrounding the food quality. The key finding of the
research was that the organizations corporate responsibilities influence the customers.
Brown, McIlveen and Struggnel (2000) also observed the awareness of nutritional food
influences the preference of the young buyers. According to them, the decisions of this
group of consumer were greatly influenced by their knowledge and awareness of nutritional
foods. The authors also mentioned that for young buyers the education was also an
important influencing factor on the consumers buying decisions. Lye et al. (2005) stated
that the decision making is becoming very complex every day. They stated that the models
and the methods we have to predict the outcomes on the decision making of consumers are
proving to be inadequate to predict the changing trends.However the models of predicting

decision making process of the consumer will enable the author as well as the readers with
the generalized concept and understanding of the various factors like attitude, quality,
consumer involvement, CSR of a company etc which impact the decision making process
and the behaviour of any consumer. The author will also focus on how the communication
impacts the same, as well as mass media and its influence on the behaviour of consumer.

2.2 Consumer attitude formation and change

According to Nielsen, Jongen and Meulenberg 1998 (cited by Verbeke 2005), it is very
important for a marketing team of an organization as well as for making suitable changes to
the product of a particular company to understand these factors and perception of
consumers towards the existing products. It also helps an organization to gain that
competitive edge over its competitors. Ajzen, 1988, stated that primary factor related to the
behavior of a consumer is his attitude. Thus according to him, a consumer behaves either
favourably or unfavourably in reference to the attitude he carries for an object. According
to many researchers there are three attributes of an attitude viz: Behavior, affection and
cognition. Affection is related to the emotions of a consumer, behavior is something which
is related to the doing something while cognition relates to the belief for an attitude object.
(Solomon et al., 2006, p.140).
As described in the previous part of the literature review chapter, a cognitive component of
an attitude in a consumer itself plays an important factor in formation of attitude of
consumer. Baltas (2001) stated that the consumers in modern times are very much
interested and keen to have knowledge of the process/ method of making of fast food items.
Also, Harper and Makatouni (2002) noted that the consumers also gave importance to
ethics such as welfare of animals and human beings as well as environment so as to analyse
the companys ethics and companys image was very much dependent on this factor. It also
influenced the selling of product of a company and image in eyes of consumer. Further
Verbeke, 2005, recognized there was also rise importance given by customers to the
properties like organoleptic and sensory properties of food along with the quality which are

important parameters of food and health safety. These all criteria will make an attitude of
customer towards the liking or disliking and selling of fast food.
Thus as we can learn from the different observations and research work done on the attitude
of a consumer, it is clear that attitude and hence the buying behaviour is influenced by
number of things. According to Schiffman and Kanuk, it is personal experiences and the
experiences and information from family and friends while, according to some other author
it is parameters like professional ethics and importance of environment safety, food safety
and health of customers which is gaining importance as a parameter to judge a particular
product of a company. Goldsmith, Freiden and Henderson (1997) recognized that
marketing team and policy makers of successful companies study the social and personal
values which consumers which help them in identifying the product and interests of
consumer and their behaviour and liking towards a particular products and attributes of
products. Thus according to them, the values created by product in their personal and social
life also influence the behaviour of customers. This may include their status, or basic
needs, or the values which drive their lifestyle and motive of their life. Thus it can be of
relative importance not only for products which are highly used but also in products like
fast food which have less involvement in peoples personal and social life styles.
Schiffman and Kanuk, (2004, p26) was of an opinion that personal experiences of a
consumer also influences the development of a kind of attitude and hence his behaviour
towards the object. Influence of members of family and friends and their experience with a
particular product or situation, information through mass media and marketing promotions
also forms an attitude of a consumer. In the forth coming chapters the author will try and
analyze the relation of growing health problems like obesity with the formation attitudes in
consumers towards the product. The other important factor is the risk perception factor.
Risk perception as investigated by Verdume and Viaene, 2003 is related to the genetically
modified food, which is in inverse relation with the risks associated with food items. Thus
when the risk is more the influence is negative and hence the consumer acts unfavorably
while when the food is low risk food, the influence is positive and the purchase of such
item increases. Thus it is called the risk perception factor. Thus it can be the factor

governing the consumers behaviour for fast food items. (Grunet, 2001, cited by Verdume
and Viaene, 2003).
2 Customer satisfaction/ dissatisfaction
Hanan & Farp, 1989, p179, stated that the general criterion on which the marketing strategy
is based for most of the companies is customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their
products. For every company their customer is the focal point of any strategy made. Thus
for any company its success or failure is directly dependent on the satisfaction or
dissatisfaction of customers from the services or products they offer. Bolton & Drew (1991)
suggested that this satisfaction is based on the expectations of customers and how much
they are satisfied by the transaction of customer with a company for specific product. If for
any particular transaction done, the product meets the expectation of the customer then the
satisfaction is said to be achieved. While Jillian (1991) explained dissatisfaction as the
transaction wherein the outcomes is less than that is expected by the customers for a
specific product. He explained that when a customer is satisfied he tends to buy it
repeatedly while in case the customer is unhappy with the product of services, he is likely
to discontinue with the product. In reference to this observation by Jillian, Bearden & Teal
(1983) stated that a company can really benefit if the customers are satisfied because they
will increase the selling of product by spreading the information and when unsatisfied, may
hamper the sale of the product similarly. There have been many attempts by scholars and
many models have come up in relation to these aspects.
Bolton & Drew (1991) proposed approach is called the Discrepancy approach which is
popular in which the expectation of customers is counted and calculated in relation to the
actual performance which needs to be achieved. Thus based on the discrepancy, the
customers attitude can be either satisfactory or the other way around. Also many authors the
level of satisfaction is more measured on the basis on the extent to which the customer is
dissatisfied rather than the satisfaction level by the product or service of organization and
its performance. Thus satisfaction is a result of conformity or disconformities of
expectations in positive manner while the dissatisfaction is the result of the disconformities
of expectations in negatively.

Pascoe (1983) suggested a method to evaluate the satisfaction of customer by using two
components in which one aspect was benchmark of level of satisfaction against expectation
through which the service rendered and its performance can be analyzed while secondly he
suggested to fix a level of orbit of consumption and the domain of level of satisfaction like
micro and macro level. Aiello et al (1977) figured out that the customer satisfaction level
can be in either of the domain and can be identified. Hence it was very important to
indentify the domain to analyze the satisfaction or dissatisfaction level of customers and
hence measuring the output of the company.
2.3 Service and Service quality
2.3.1 Service definition and Characteristics

Zeithaml & Bitner, 1996, were of the opinion that service of any organization is made up of
three basic components viz: process, actions or deeds and performance. Further from the
above study and definitions we can say that service is intangible component and is largely
dependent on the how much they are used by the customers though the attributes like
inseparability and perish ability are not mentioned herewith as given by Kotler (2003).
Pride & Ferell (2003) also stated that two aspects which were further needed to evaluate
and improve the customer services clearly are customer relationship with company and
keeping in touch with the customers. Thus different authors have discussed different
attributes to understand the term service in a better way however the critical and important
which can be considered to be the base of understanding the service as agreed by most of
the authors are: intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity and perish ability. Each of these
attributes is discussed below.

2.3.2 Intangibility
Ervardsson et al, 2005, states that the attribute of intangibility of service is very vital and
this term in marketing models, separates goods from services very cleanly. Jobber (2005)
thus argued that when a word intangible is used, it means that service is something which
cannot be physically touched or can be smelled but it can only be felt when it is bought by
the customer. In addition Bateson (1979) stated that intangibility had double meaning and
thus he referred to it as double intangibility According to this, the first meaning was in
reference to physical intangibility while secondly this was also mentally intangible which
was not understood psychologically.

Bielen & Semples (2003) from their research concluded that the services are aspect which
cannot be measured unless it is bought, purchased or used, due to its attribute of
intangibility. According to Kotler and Solomon & Stuart, (2003) it is difficult though to
evaluate and define the characteristic of service clearly on the basis of physical intangibility
because it is an event prior to purchasing the services.
However, Shostack (1997) argued that although it differentiates between the goods and
services, there is range of tangibility as well as intangibility in goods and services both.
This is also agreed by many other authors, adding that there are many goods which do have
a combination of tangible as well as intangible attributes or the range of these attributes
apart from the pure goods and pure service. Zeithaml, 1990, came up along with his co
researchers that different aspects of tangible attributes like, communication tools, visual
aspects, as well as facilities provided by the organization and the equipments used to offer
the services. This led to other such researchers and authors to come up with different
aspects of tangibility and define the quality of services.

2.3.4 Inseparability
Czepiel (1985) explained that the attribute of inseparability of services is dependent on the
contact between the company and its customers as well as on the type and amount of
services bought by the customers. This is different where in goods are used and produced.

Moreover, transaction and interaction in case of service is done at the same time when they
are produced or rendered by the company as in case of services of banks. Although as
Edvardsson et al, 2005, suggested, this attribute will not increase the opportunity of
providing more services to the customers and rather would prove to be a hurdle for the
companies providing services. Thus it is always very important that a marketing manager
also keeps in mind the attribute of separability and not always the inseparability attribute of
service to improve the service quality and devise proper marketing strategy for the
company.

2.3.5 Heterogeneity/ Variability

Heterogeneity or variability is an attribute of service quality which explains that there is
always some amount of difficulty faced in consistently providing services of similar quality.
Thus it is variable in nature. For e.g it is difficult to provide each time similar service in
case of service provided to human factor by the vital part associated with it and thus to
measure the level of service quality. Berry (1980) stated that it is always difficult to attain
the same result and level in services each time it is rendered.

2.3.6 Perishability
Bateson & Hoffman (1999) argued that perishability is a service characteristic which means
that the services are not preservable in nature for future use or it cannot be transferred like
other goods which can be physically given to other person or transferred to other place.
Therefore it makes things difficult for service provider to maintain the balance of supply
against the demands of customer as it includes both customers as well as suppliers for
improving service quality. Also this attribute of service helps an researcher to work on
finding formulation to measure the quality of services.

2.5 Service quality

Another concept which is in discussion widely in marketing studies is that of service
quality. Parasuraman et al, 1985, devised three theories to clearly understand the concept of
service quality. These theories were as follows:
1

According to first theory, the measurement of quality of service was difficult as

compared to product quality measurement

1. According to second theory, it was dependent on the difference between the

expectations of customers and the actual output achieved
2. The third theory explains that the final output of performance is not the only factor
which decides the quality of services but it is also dependent on the process as to
how the services are rendered.

2.5.1 The developments of the service quality construct and measurement methods

Gonroos (1982) and many authors have been over the years tried to develop the concept
and parameters to measure the quality of the service. Gonroos derived one such concept
wherein he stated that that the service quality is measured by the relationship of
expectations that the customers have towards company for its service performance and the
actual scenario. Thus as per his theory there should be a benchmark set for the level of
expectations from customers for a company and thus the services offered can be measured
according to it. He devised his model which was on the basis of two characteristics of
service quality namely technical quality services and the functional quality service.
According to this model, technical service quality was the one which was expected by the
customers on the service part of organization whereas the functional quality service was
related to the quality of services rendered by the company. Further this model explains us
that in case where the service are variable in nature, both this characters are interlinked and

that to get an idea of functional service quality, one must have clear understanding of the
technical attribute.

Additionally Lehtinen & Lehtinen (1982) also found the key factors to the service quality.
They recognized it to be the manner in which the services were provided/ offered to the
customers and secondly the actual outcome of the services rendered. Similar to Gonroos,
they also divided the service quality into different attributes. These attributes were physical
quality, corporate quality and the interactive quality. The physical attribute referred to the
quality of physical things and machines, structures etc and the services rendered using
them. Secondly the corporate quality was in reference to accountability of the company
providing the services and thirdly, the interactive quality referred to the interaction and
communication which the company does with its existing as well as prospect potential
customers.
Parsuraman (1985) writes that there has been lot of investigations and derivations of
models on the study of service quality and customer satisfaction but still there is lot of
aspects which need to be studied and it is a very wide concept with abundance of
information to be revealed and studied. Thus he came up later with a model which was for
measuring and evaluating the quality of service rendered. These were determined on the
basis of five attributes of service quality. This was selected attributes and formulated by
him to understand the concept of service quality.
Parasuraman et al, 1988, defined the five determinants as tangible, assurance, empathy
responsiveness and the reliability. The tangible determinant included the facilities and
features offered to the staff within the organization, other equipments and physical features
while the assurance consisted the components like communication, motivation, confidence
and intellect of staff members, trustworthiness etc. The empathy was made up of
characteristics like care taken by employees of the company and understanding towards its
customers. The reliability is the amount of accuracy shown in rendering the service to the
customer, meeting the expectation of customers etc. There has been lot of effort after this
model to change it by scholars. One such effort was done when Brady and Cronin (2001)

put forward three determinants to measure of service quality performance. These were
quality of environment, secondly the interaction or communication and the outcome of
actual services. The five tools given by Parasuraman et al, 1988, were based on his highly
famous tool called SERVQUAL which is used popularly to measure the service quality
concept and understanding the concept of perception of customers towards service quality.

2.6 Antecedents of service quality and customer satisfaction:

According to Taylor & Baker (1994) there has been lot of debates regarding what the root
cause of service quality and customer satisfaction can be. While Parasuraman et al., 1988,
argue that although both of them are interrelated, service quality is a wide aspect than the
customer satisfaction. Many scholars derived to conclusions that it was customers
perception for a service quality that led to their satisfaction and when the service quality is
better, the customer satisfaction is of highest level. Crolin & Taylor (1992) stated that the
order of perception towards the customer satisfaction is higher than that of quality of
service because quality service is just one of the factors which impact the customer
satisfaction. While it was Rust & Oliver (1994, p 179,) who argued that, service quality
goes hand in hand with the customers satisfaction and they described the relation between
the two aspects as follows:
Service quality is affecting the satisfaction aspect of the customers by influencing the
perceptions of the customers
Furthermore the service quality and the satisfaction of the customer is counted on
altogether different levels. For evaluating customer satisfaction it could be on a specific
transaction whereas the service quality would be evaluated on global transactions basis
(Parasuraman et al., 1994). And to evaluate anything on global basis, it should be first
evaluated on root level thus we can say that for evaluation of global transaction evaluation
of specific transaction is first necessary. Therefore, the base to the assessment of service
quality is the customer satisfaction assessment. Although there are some models as given by

Woodside et al. (1989) and Reindenbach & Sandifer Smallwood (1990) which do not agree
on the same.
Transaction-Specific Model
Teas (1993) proposed this model and it was further developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml
and Berry (1994) PZB onwards. This model considers a customers overall approval with
a business deal (Transaction) which is based upon his or her evaluation of service quality,
product quality and price .Transaction-specific satisfaction considerably impacts the overall
satisfaction of the customer .Specific aspects of the transaction such as product features
(e.g. food quality and restaurant ambience), service features (e.g. responsiveness of the
server), as well a suitable price are prone to be measured by the customers .The full model
was reported to be significant .In accordance with the study outcomes, it was also suggested
that the model suitably explains customer satisfaction and that full service restaurant
owners ought to centre on three most important elements, which are service quality
(responsiveness), price and food quality (reliability).

Models Used to Evaluate Service Quality

Bartlett and Han (2007) adapted a parallel theory in relation to the customer satisfaction
and a similar SERVQUAL model was applied by Parasuraman, Zeithaml & Berry (1991).
According to this model there are five dimensions used in estimating customer service
quality. The dimensions include tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, empathy and
assurance. The tangibles incorporate the physical appearance of the facilities, equipment,
personnel and materials used for communicating with clients. Elements such as cleanliness,
space, atmosphere, appearance of server and location etc could be included in the tangibles
dimension.
Responsibility and reliability can be estimated by considering variables such as speed,
willingness to respond, accuracy and dependability. The dimension of assurance and
empathy may be calculated by employing elements of knowledge, trained professional,
communications and caring.

Other models have also been exploited to assess service

quality e.g. DINESERVE by Stevens et al (1995),Two-Way model by Schvaneveldt,

Enkawa and Miyakawa (1991), SERVPERF by Corin and Taylor (1992), Normed Quality
by Teas (1994) and QUALITOMETRO by Franceschini and Rossetto (1997).According to
the hypothetical backdrop, the Two-Way model utilizes latent estimation factors and to
assess the services quality, answers given by customers to questions about objective
(quality attributes) and subjective (satisfaction levels) are taken into consideration. The
SERVPERF model assesses the service quality by merely considering perceptions while
parameters such as expectations and importance weights are ignored. While the Normed
Quality model includes the factors affecting the expectations and it also differentiates
between ideal expectation and feasible expectation. The QUALITOMETRO model
estimates customer expectations and perceptions individually.
At last, the DINESERVE model heavily relies on the assessment of expectations.
According to this model, quality evaluation is performed by comparing quality expectation
and perception profiles using MCDA. In spite of the fact that these listed models exercise
different response scales but basically all of them constitute the five dimensions which are
tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy as the basis.
Perceived Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction
The satisfaction of the customer and the service quality has been related each other as the
customer perceptions towards the service quality will influence in their satisfaction aspect
too (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000). According to Gotlieb 1994 the service quality is one of the
broader concepts of the customer satisfaction aspect. The satisfaction is one of the
mediators between the service quality aspect and the customer loyalty (Caruana, 2002;
Fullerton and Taylor 2002).The customer satisfaction is the perception of the customers
evaluation of the service after the purchases of the product. If the customer gets the service
more that his expectation the customer will be satisfied otherwise dissatisfied (Oliver, 1997;
Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000).
According to the Baker and Crompton 2000 the satisfaction is a personal experience of the
customer originated from the personal expectation and the actual service received from the
product. The customer satisfaction reflects the purchase the customer made. When the

customer gets the service more than the expectations then there will be enhanced customer
loyalty. The customer satisfaction has a great importance in the business sector as it
determines the stability of the organization (Ostrom & Iacobuci, 1995; Hou & Yao, 1995;
McAlexander et al., 2003). For increasing the revenue of the business and to increase the
market growth one of the potential ways is to improve the satisfaction aspect of the
organisation (FonVielle 1997).In the marketing literature and the studies the customer
satisfaction and the service quality aspects and their relation plays a significant role (Brady
et al., 2001; Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Meuter et al., 2000; Oliva et al., 1992; Olorunniwo et
al., 2006; Zeithaml et al., 1996).
In the research conducted by the Andaleeb and Conway there has result that shows the
positive relationship between the service quality and the satisfaction of the customers
(Andaleeb and Conway, 2006) .The European customer satisfaction models describe the
service quality as a part, component determining the satisfaction (Fornell et al., 1996) .
Firms that provide superior service quality also have a more satisfied customer base
(Gilbert et al., 2004; Gilbert and Veloutsou, 2006).
Customers behavioural intention in service quality

Many experts have conducted research studies in order to understand the interrelation of
customer satisfaction, quality of service as well as behavioural intention. It was apparent
from various literature reviews that there are several aspects on which intention of customer
is broadly classified namely repetitive buying, switching the supplier, complaining about
bad service or providing suggestions to service provider. However, the researcher have not
considered the factors such as switching the supplier, complaining about bad service or
providing suggestions to service provider as it is not required as per the research objectives.
There are mainly two types of customers, wherein the first type is called Switchers which
refers to customers who considers changing the regular service provider when the service
quality is deteriorating or unethical instances as well as discomfort caused to customers by
the regular service provider (Keaveney, 1995). Whereas, the second type is called Stayers
which refers to customers who stays with the same service provider even if the service

quality is not up to the mark, moreover, according to Shah & Schafer (2005), such
customers also recommend this service provider to other potential customers. As stated by
Colgate & Lang (2001), substitution cost is one of the major reason why a customer opts
staying with same supplier. The other reason as mentioned by Patterson (1993), is the
emphasis that the service holds in the personal life of customers.
Keaveney (1995) made an important contribution to grounded theory in pretext to the
aspect of customers switching the service provider. She particularly focused on the
customers which falls under the type of Switchers. In order to understand the factors that
leads to customer change their current service provider an exploratory research study was
conducted by her. She observed that there are several other function of the supplier which
are linked with the factor of provided service. On the basis of Keaveneys contribution,
Bansal & Shirley, along with the study of behavioural intention and switching behaviour,
came up with the first model to assume the factors that leads to customer switch the service
provider known as Service Provider Switching Model

As per this model, the switching behaviour and buying intentions are extremely interlinked
variants. This model also considers Service Satisfaction which is also an independent
variant. With the help of SPSM the service provider can concentrate on these variants
which will enable him to encourage the customers to continue with them instead of
changing to a new service provider. However, the level of satisfaction as perceived by
customers is considered as a vital aspect which affects the customers decision of changing
to new firm or not, wherein, higher the perceived service quality, lower are the switching
chances and vice a versa.

.
SERVICE QUALITY
In any form of the industry the service quality aspect plays a significant role in the
business. For the business the service quality and the influence of this aspect on the

satisfaction of the customers will help them to frame the strategies for the market
(lacobucci 1994).in fact in the case of the service quality to the customer perceptions and
the expectations plays a major role and this will acts as a standard on the basis of which
service quality is judged by the customers (Zrithaml et al., 1993).In other words the service
quality is the result of the difference between the customer expectations and the customer
perceptions about the service received.
On the basis of the service quality theory if the customers are not getting the expected
service they will judge the service as of poor quality nature and if the service is more than
their expectations they will judge it as high service quality (Oliver 1980).For reducing the
gap exist in the service quality aspect the organisation has to reduce the customer
expectations or have to increase the customer perception of service received by them
(Parasuraman 1985).The service quality will be a result of the customer evaluation as the
customer evaluates the service they receive with their expectations and they will make
comparison(Gronroos 1982).
According to Gronroos 1982 the service quality aspect is dependent upon the variables like
the expected service and the perceived quality. The customers buying behaviour and the
intentions of the buying are influenced by the service quality aspect (Bitner, 1990; Cronin
and Taylor, 1992, 1994; Choi et al., 2004).Generally due to the presence of the concepts
like the intangibility, heterogeneity and the inseperability the term service quality is an
elusive construct (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1985).According to the Zeithaml 1987
the perceived quality is the customers overall judgement about the performance of the
organisation. The customers perceived service quality will depend upon three variables like
the normative and predictive expectations and the actual quality of the service (Stevens
1995).The customers lower expectations of the service will lead to the higher perception of
the actual service. If the customers expectations are very higher then the perceptions of the
actual service will be lower.Accoding to (Oliver 1981, p.27)," it is the summary
psychological state resulting when the emotion surrounding disconfirmed expectations are
coupled with the consumer's prior feelings about the consumption experience".
The study of service quality brought much into the attention of researchers about two
decades ago, when Valarie, Zeithaml, et al (1988), introduced Servqual. It is an empirically

derived method that could be used by any service organization to improve service quality
(Cronin & Stephen, 1992). It is a multi-item scale developed to assess customer perceptions
of service quality in service and retail organizations. The scale addresses the notion of
service quality in response to the different features of above said dimensions.
SUMMARY
The literature review section has been framed on the basis of the past research and the
articles. The service quality aspect and the customer satisfaction aspect has been clearly
discussed by the researcher in the literature section. The relationship between the service
quality and the customer satisfaction and the models to measure the service quality are also
discussed in the section. There was no too much literature available about the customer
perceptions and the factors affecting them. This was one of the gap in the literature review
section of the study.

CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1Research philosophy

The research philosophy adopted by the researcher will contain his assumptions about how
he views the world. The general two research philosophies used by the researcher are
interpretivism and the positivism. The positivism is generally used by the researcher when
there is the involvement of the hypothesis in the research. In positivist the researcher will
be independent and neither affected by the subject of the research (Remenyi 1998).In
positivism the methodology will be highly structured in order to facilitate replication (gill
and Johnson 2002).In positivism the more focus will be on the quantifiable
observations.Interepretivism advocates that it is very necessary for the researcher to have
an understanding of the difference between the humans in our role as the social actors. In
Interpretivism the research will be done on the people rather than the objects.
Justification
To conduct this research study the author adopted interpretivism as it enables the researcher
to analyze the disparity between roles of human in his social setting, wherein more
emphasis is given on people rather than on objects. Social actors role is considered to be
the important role in this study. Interpretivism philosophy was chosen against positivism as
the behaviour pattern of customers is different in different countries, and also it enables the
researcher to find answers about why a particular customer behaves in a certain pattern.
3.2 Research approach

The research approach deals with the research and the use of the theory in the study. Based
on this aspect the two types of the research approach are the inductive and the deductive
approach.

Deductive approach:
It uses traditional method to develop a research design and pattern, as soon as the
framework is completed, the literatures are reviewed and then hypothesis is tested for
further generalized results. The information in this research are collected through inductive
approach and it is derived from the social behaviour of the companies and the success is
evaluated for the acquisition behaviour of the two companies. The deductive approach or
testing theory approach is the research approach in which the researcher will develop
theory and the hypothesis and the hypothesis will be tested by using the research strategy.
The deductive approach is the most largely used approach in the natural sciences (Collis
and hussy 2003).The deduction of the hypothesis is the most important part in the deductive
approach. By using the research strategies the hypothesis is tested at the end of the research
and if necessary modifications are made on the theory.
Inductive approach:
The theory development is the second stage in this approach where the information is
collected first, and then the researcher get assistance in solving the queries related to the
research. The criticism is very much subjective because of generalization. Inductive
approach or building theory deals with the collection of the data and the theory is
developed at the end of the research using the data. The inductive approach is used when
the interpretivism is used by the researcher. The inductive approach is used when the
research is very interesting and there is only little literature framework is available. In
inductive approach the questionnaires and the other data collection techniques are used to
collect the data and to frame a theory based on that.
JUSTIFICATION

To conduct this research study the researcher will gather the data first and then on the basis
of results generated from data analysis, theories will be formulated. The main interest of the
researcher is to find the reason for particular happenings rather than justifying what is
happening (Saunders et al., 2007). Thus the researcher adopted an inductive approach
towards this research study rather than deductive approach as deductive approaches is
widely incorporated in scientific studies and theories are formulated after accurate testing.

3.3The purpose of the research

The purpose of the research deals with the way in which the research will ask the research
questions. Depending on that the researcher can decide whether the research will be
exploratory, explanatory or descriptive.
Exploratory research
The exploratory research is a means of finding what is happening and finding a new
insights to the research to assess the research in a new way (Robson 2002:59).The
exploratory research is used when the researcher needs clear understanding of a research
problem and to know the clear nature of the problem. The exploratory research is very
flexible and the researcher can change the direction of the research on the basis of the new
insights.
Descriptive research
The descriptive research is to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations
(Robson 2002:59).The descriptive research is commonly known as the statistical research.
The descriptive research is used to describe the characteristics and the data about the
population of the research. The descriptive research cannot be used to study the relationship
between the variables.by the descriptive research the researcher can gain a clear
phenomenon of the research problem.
Explanatory studies

The explanatory research which deals with the relationship between the variables. The
research nature will be to investigate a research problem where there is relationship
between the variables.in the explanatory research the relationship between the variables are
used to describe the research problem.
JUSTIFICATION
Exploratory study enables the researcher to find what is happening, to look for new
observations as well as to ask questions and to check the phenomena in new light (Saunders
et al., 2007). It concentrates more on analyzing the correlation between variables. As the
primary objective of this research is to know attitudes of customer and understand which
aspects affects their decision making process in the industry of fast food, the purpose of the
study will be exploratory as well as explanatory in the initial segment of this research study.
The main objective of the second segment of this research study is to interpret the
responses of McDonalds with respect to changing behaviour of customer and market
environment. The researcher, in order to come up with constructive recommendation for the
business of McDonalds, will be able to employ models like marketing mix from analysing
the market environment and behaviour of consumers.
3.4 The research strategy
While writing thesis there are different strategies in which one is chosen. The choice of the
strategy entirely depends on the research question to be answered. There are several
situations where these strategies are applied and the situation as per Yin (2003) is
experiment, survey, archival analysis, history and case study. In general all the strategies
has their own advantage and disadvantage, hence the choice made by the researcher
depends on the current situation that the researcher is facing (ibid). In making the choice
easier Yin (2003) extended the conditions for distinguishing different strategies and they are
form of the research question, control of an investigator over actual behavioral events, and
the degree of focus on contemporary historical events.
Survey There are only two researches where survey can be used and the two researches
are marketing research and management research and the choice of approaches are many to
carry the research survey forward. Few of the approaches are telecom conversation,

personal communication or face to face interview etc. For experimental research surveys
can also be used and at the same time it can be used for exploratory research and
descriptive research, and in general strategies are the key for getting desired research
results.
Case study
According to Robson (2002:178) the case study is a strategy for doing the research which
involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its
real life context using multiple source of evidence. The case study strategy will be adopted
by the researcher if he wants to gain deep understanding of the research topic. The case
study will be widely used in the explanatory and exploratory research. In the case study
analysis the combination of the data collection techniques are used by the researcher. By
using the case study the triangulation of the data can be done in the research. Triangulation
is possible in the research due to the use of the multiple data collection methods in the case
study.
Justification
In this study the researcher used research strategy that includes empirical analysis of a
particular current phenomenon in real life surrounding using various evidence sources.
Case study strategy will be adopted to understand the research context and executed
process. According to Saunders et al., 2007), case study enables the researcher to know the
answer to Why question considering the objectives of this research. By using the case
study the researcher can get deep understanding about the research topic like the service
quality and the satisfaction aspect of the McDonalds. In this research the researcher is uing
multiple data collection techniques and the case study will be the best strategy available for
the research.

3.5 Data collection techniques and analysis procedures

In this study the researcher used a mixture of qualitative and quantitative data in order to
attain the research objectives. This enables the researcher to have an in depth analyses and
understanding of consumer behaviour (Saunders et al., 2007).

Moreover it helps the

researcher in forming triangulation. For example the data gathered through focus groups
can be more effective technique of triangulating as compared to other means of data
collection such as questionnaires. Such interactive qualitative approach assists the
researcher to find out specific issues pertaining to fast food and to understand the root cause
for changing behaviour and attitudes of customers (Baker and Goodyear, 1998). However
data gathered through qualitative approaches lacks validity and thus the results cannot be
generalized to a mass population. As stated by Nancarrow et al. (2000), through qualitative
surveys the researcher aims at knowing if the focus group respondents response represents
the views of larger population. Thus considering the above fact the researcher collected
qualitative data through focus groups and on the basis of its results questions were
formulated for questionnaire survey.
3.7 Data collection
Data were collected using both the source i.e. primary and secondary to conduct this
research study. Secondary sources like past literatures were studied to get background
knowledge about the factors affecting decision of consumers as well as qualitative focus
groups as well as questionnaire survey was conducted to gather primary data. The
secondary sources such as books, periodicals, company website (McDonalds.com) as well
as several other sources from internet were used for this study. The past research and the
articles have been used by the researcher to frame the literature framework. The past
research articles and the research works has been accessed by signing into the Emerald and
the Athens account. For gaining the valuable result to the research questions and the
objection fresh valuable information have to be collected. The primary data are the one
which deals with the collection of the first hand fresh information about the research
objectives. For doing the study on the service quality and the customer satisfaction aspect
fresh and reliable data is needed. The tool used for the primary data collection in this
research has been discussed below.

3.6 Sample selection

Sampling means studying a part of the population to collect the data. For some of the
research it will not be possible to study the entire population and for this purpose a small
portion of the population termed as samples are used for the investigation. The sampling
techniques used for the research are of two types like the probability sampling and the nonprobability sampling. The probability sampling means that it is possible to answer research
questions and to achieve objectives that require the researcher to estimate statistically the
characteristics of the population form the sample (Saunders 2010; p.213).In probability
sampling there is an equal chance of each element to be selected and in nonprobability
sampling the chance of selecting each element is not known. The method of the selection of
the sample will depend upon the probability or non-probability technique used by the
researcher.
Justification
The researcher used non probabilistic sampling as the probability of every case chosen
from total population is unidentified (Saunders et al., 2007). It is also referred to as
judgemental sampling. However, the results can still be generalised but not on quantitative
grounds. Thus while conducting a case study strategy, non-probability sampling is
favourable. As stated by Saunders et al (2007), non-probability sampling methods enable
the researcher to select sample as per his purpose and bias.
The focus group samples were selected from undergraduate students studying in European
Business School London located in the UK, wherein from the seven respondents, three
were citizen of Britain whereas the rest four were students from all across the globe.
Nevertheless, the international students have been residing in UK since 3-4 years. The
homogeneous nature is beneficial as all the respondents are students and it enables the
researcher to gain results which are not varied irrelevantly (Kraus, 1995).
A convenience sample of students was selected for this exploratory study as the fast food
sector in the UK has the target customers which fall under the age of 17-25 years. However,

the students of EBS for focus group might not be similar as a consumer of fast food as there
exists a socio-economic of students. Nevertheless, all the respondents are appropriate for
this research study as they eat at fast food restaurants. The questionnaire were distributed
using email of students as it is difficult to circulate more than 100 questionnaire in person
as there is a limitation of time. One of the respondents who stays in London provided with
nearly 140 British email addresses and the questionnaire were circulated to respondents
across the UK through these email addresses.

Group interviews- focus groups

For in-depth study of the aspect of consumer behaviour data were collected using
qualitative technique. Focus groups were used in order to allow the respondents to express
their views freely rather than using individual interviews. Focus groups involve interaction
and responses amongst all the members of focus group and are thoroughly controlled in
order to maintain the focus (Saunders et al., 2007). The homogeneity of respondents
(students in this study) and the characteristics are related to the issues that are discussed in
this study, hence this similar characteristics was the reason for these selecting these
samples. These samples were encouraged to share their ideas and discuss without any
intervention in order to reach to a final conclusion (Kruger and Casey, 2000, cited by
Saunders, 2007, p.340). In order to encourage a healthy discussion the comfort level as well
as independence in expressing thoughts were the main objectives (gwbweb.wustl.edu,
2006, unattributed)
Investigating attitudes of consumers towards fast food and the influence of service quality
on customers decision making process with respect to fast food are the two main aspects
which were considered while forming questions for focus group. The researcher will
examine knowledge and perception of consumers pertaining to fast food, along with the
experience and beliefs that participants carry about fast food and fast food restaurants.
Moreover, consumers emotions and feelings for fast food will be investigated.

Furthermore, effects of campaigns such as anti-obesity on respondents decision were also

explored.
Questionnaire
Generalisation of the result is not easy as the sample were selected randomly for focus
group. Thus the questionnaire content will be informed from the qualitative information
gathered from focus group which will then be tested on larger group of population.
Moreover, focus groups along with questionnaire can assist the researcher to discover as
well as understand the consumer attitude. Self-administrative questionnaires were used by
the researcher to carry out this study. Moreover, considering the time limit and
convenience, survey was conducted online (www.freeonlinesurveys.com). As stated by
Saunders et al. (2007), a good covering note explaining the research purpose enables the
researcher to gain higher rate of responses. Thus the researcher explained the main aim of
this study in the initial section of the questionnaire.

From the focus groups, several key elements were sorted out, and they were used to
formulate close ended questions. The respondents were asked to select an answer out of the
choices provided, wherein category, ranking as well as list type questions were mainly
used. Moreover, in several questions tricomponent attitude model was used in order to
study the attitudes of consumer towards fast food products. Qualitative information
gathered from focus groups were used to form categories in the questionnaire (Shiffman &
Kanuk, 2004). Key elements that were selected from the data gathered from focus groups in
order to form questionnaire were fast food quality, service quality, customer satisfaction,
ethical issues, trust of consumers to wards McDonalds as well as effect of media and
government on the behaviour pattern of consumers. These questionnaires were further
analysed and tested on larger population. The researcher conducted a pilot study to find the
reliability and validity by distributing questionnaire to smaller group of respondents prior to
distributing to larger population.
3.8 Reliability:

The data collection is successfully completed by implementing the research strategy which
is screened and analysis is conducted. Reliability of the data collected from the primary
source is highly reliable, but those from secondary process needs a cleaning and
transformation, and then only the data is used for reaching the conclusion and also the
decision making. The results obtained are very much authentic and reliable. The
questionnaire data are collected and checked correctly and stored in a data base so that the
researcher can recheck the opinions. The questionnaire was attached with a covering letter
so that every respondent can clearly know the purpose of the research. The focus group was
recorded using a tape recorder and the researcher can recheck the discussion carried out in
the research and this increases the reliability factor.

Research Ethics:
The ethics have to be followed by the researcher throughout the research. In this research
the researcher has followed a proper code of conduct and the access to the organisation is
not required in this research as the sample involved in the study are only customers of the
orgnaisation.Proper consent of the customers was collected before conducting the focus
group and the questionnaires surveys. The respondents were free to withdraw from the
research at any time and the confidentiality was fully ensured to the respondents. The
information collected is very much confidential, the code of conduct should be followed
and the information must be protected at any cost. The personal information of the
respondents will be kept secret. The results should be honest and also it should be unbiased.
No competitive firms should be open to the information that is collected by the researcher
of that particular organisation.
SUMMARY
In the methodology section the methods used for conducting this research was clearly
stated and was explained by the researcher. The research approach used for the study and
the research strategy has been clearly explained with the help of providing the justification
for each research method used in this research. The sample technique adopted for this
research and the sampling size was also given in this section of the research. The data
collection techniques used by the researcher like the focus group and the survey
questionnaires are clearly explained by the researcher.

CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

The data analysis was done in this section of the research. The primary data are collected
through the survey questionnaire and the focus group. The data about the service quality
aspect and the customer satisfaction are gathered to find out the findings of the research.
The data are analyzed with the help of the tables and the charts. The focus group consists of
15 participants who are the customers of the McDonald.

1. Sex
o Male
o Female

GENDER
60
50
40

GENDER

30
20
10
0
Male

Female

The research was conducted to find out the customer perception on the service quality and
the customer satisfaction of the McDonalds. This analysis was done to find out the gender
category of the respondents in the research. From the analysis it was clear that sixty percent
of the respondents in the research were male and the forty percent belongs to the female
category.

2. Age
o Under 18
o 18-28

o 28-38
o 38-45
o over 46

AGE
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

AGE

Under 18

18-28

38-45

Over 46

The age category of the respondents is explored in the second question of the research. The
age category plays a vital role in the research as the customer perceptions are influenced by
the age too. From the analysis it was very clear that most of the respondents belong to the
age category of below eighteen. Twenty five percent of the respondents belong to the age
category of eighteen to twenty eight and other respondents are over the age category of the
thirty eight. So the majority of the respondents were under the age of the eighteen.

3. How often do you eat fast food (i.e. McDonalds)?

o Every day

o Four times a week

o Once in week
o Once in a month
o I dont

FREQUENCY
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0

FREQUENCY

The customers frequency of the visit to the McDonalds influences the perceptions of the
customer towards the McDonald. This question was intended to find out the respondents
frequency of visit to the McDonald store. From the analysis it was very clear that the most
of the respondents visit the McDonalds everyday and they consume the food. Almost thirty
percent of the respondents visit the McDonald more than four times in a week and some of
the respondents visit the McDonalds in a month. Some of the respondents do not visit the
McDonald store. So from the analysis it was very clear that the most of the respondents are
regular visitors of the McDonalds.

4. Reason for going to McDonalds?

o No other option is available

o McDonald is the most convenient option
o Saves money
o I like the taste
o I never refer the McDonald

REASON
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
No other option is avilable

REASON

Saves money

Dont Like

The main reason for the preference of the McDonalds was the next reason to analyse in the
questionnaire. The customer perception of the customer depends upon the customer reasons
for going to the McDonald. From the analysis it was very clear that the convenience aspect
is the most reason for most of the customers to prefer the McDonald food. Some of the
respondents prefer the McDonald because there was no option available to them than the
McDonalds. Twenty percent of the respondents want to save the time and thats why they
are visiting the McDonald. Some of the respondents do not like the McDonalds.

5. Are u satisfied with the service quality of the McDonalds?

o Satisfied
o Dissatisfied
o No opinion

Satisfaction
60
50
40

Satisfaction

30
20
10
0
Satisfied

Dissatisfied

No opinion

The satisfaction aspect plays a vital role in the success of the organization. The service
quality aspect with the McDonalds has been explored in the fifth question of the
questionnaire. The satisfaction of the customers with the service quality and the customer
perception has been analyzed in the questionnaire. From the analysis it was very clear that
the most of the customers are satisfied with the service quality aspect of the McDonalds.
But forty five percent of the respondents do not satisfied with the service quality of the
McDonalds. Some of the respondents do not express their views towards this statement. So
from the analysis it was obvious that the satisfaction aspect with the service quality is
mixed type.

6. Do the McDonalds staffs of the attitude and behaviour influences your purchase
decision?
o Yes
o No
o May be

OPINION
70
60
50

OPINION

40
30
20
10
0
Yes

No

The employees of the organization and their behaviour influence the service quality aspect
of the organization. The attitudes of the employees towards the customers influence the
purchase decision. From the above analysis using the graphs shows that most of the
customers opinioned that the attitude and the behaviour of the McDonald staffs influences
their decision of buying the food items. Almost thirty percent of the respondents are not
agreeing with this opinion. So from the analysis it was very clear to the researcher that
almost all customers buying behaviour was influenced by the attitudes and the behaviour of
the McDonald employees.

7. The customer satisfaction towards the McDonalds depends on the service quality
aspect
o Yes
o No
o May be

FREQUENCY
70
60
50

FREQUENCY

40
30
20
10
0
Yes

No

may be

The service quality and the satisfaction aspect relationship is one of the main aspects
determining the perceptions of the customer. In this questionnaire the relationship of the
quality of service of the McDonald with the satisfaction aspect of the customer has been
analyzed. Almost seventy percent of the customer thinks that the service quality of the
McDonalds influences their satisfaction aspect. But twenty five of the respondents
opinioned that there is no relationship with the service quality of the McDonalds in their
satisfaction aspect of the McDonalds. Five percent of the respondents think that may be it
will affect their satisfaction aspect. So from the opinion of the most of the respondents it
has been very clear that there is a relationship between the service quality and the
satisfaction aspect.

8. The McDonalds staffs attitude and their service are excellent

Opinion
50
40
Opinion

30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The attitudes and the services of the employees to the customers will determine the level of
the service quality aspect. If the attitude and the services are excellent then the customers
will be satisfied with the service quality aspect. From the analysis it was very clear that
forty percent of the respondents agree that the McDonalds staffs attitude and the service
are excellent and it influences the perception of the customers. But fifty percent of the
customers disagree with the statement and they dont think that the services of the
employees are excellent. So from the analysis it was clear that the customers are not so
satisfied with the attitudes and the service of the customers.

9. The McDonalds service is fast and the customer can saves time

Opinion
50
40
Opinion

30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The service efficiency and the service fastness will influence the customers buying
perception. If the customer is getting fast service with better efficiency it will saves time to
the customer. This question was asked to find out the customer responses towards the
McDonalds service aspect and their fastness. From the analysis it was very clear that fifty
percent of the customers of the McDonalds are not so satisfied with the fast service of the
McDonald staffs. But forty percent of the respondents are satisfied with the fast service of
the McDonald staffs and they opinioned that the customers can saves time. So from the
above analysis it was clear that most of the respondents does not satisfied with the service
quality aspect.

10. The staff does not make any errors and performs and serves in right time

Opinion
50
40
Opinion

30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The customer service and the service efficiency will influence on the customer perceptions
of the customer and if the employees perform any errors or mistake it will affect the service
efficiency to the customers. From the above analysis it was very clear that the most of the
respondents opinioned that the employees often mistake and errors in their service. But
forty percent of the respondents opinioned that the employees of the McDonald does not
make any errors or mistakes in the McDonald transaction.

11. The physical features and the store facility influences your purchase decision with
respect to the Mc Donalds

Opinion
50
40
Opinion

30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The physical characteristics of the stores and the facilities in the store influence the buying
decision of the customer with respect to the McDonalds. If the store facilities and the layout
are good then the customer has good perceptions towards the McDonald. From the above
analysis it has been obvious that the most of the customers think that the physical features
of the McDonald does not influence the buying behaviour of the customers. But some
respondents think that there buying perception has been influenced by the store features and
the facilities.

13. The McDonalds food is quality oriented and there is no involvement of any ethical
issues

Opinion
50
40
Opinion

30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The quality of the food always influences the buying perception of the customers. If the
quality of the fast food products is good then the customers buying perception will be
positive. In UK fast food industry there is always a presence of the ethical issues and it
influences the customers perception. From the analysis it was very clear that most of the
respondents does not think that the ethical issues is connected with the McDonald quality
and the perception has not been influenced. But most of the customers like fifty percent of

the respondents think that the ethical issue is concerned with the quality of the food and
influences the perception of the customers.

14. Do your buying behaviour is influenced by the quality of the service given?

Opinion
50
40
Opinion

30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The buying behaviour of the customers will influenced by the service quality of the
organization. The service aspects always influence the buying behaviour of the McDonald
customers. This question was intended to find out whether the buying behaviour is

influenced by the service quality of the McDonalds or not. Almost forty percent of the
respondents agree that the service quality influences their buying behaviour. But fifty
percent of the respondents opinioned that the service quality aspect does not so often
influence their buying behaviour. So from the analysis it was clear that other than service
quality there are some more features which influences the customer buying behaviour.

15. The McDonald operating time is convenient

Opinion
70
60
50

Opinion

40
30
20
10
0
Agree

Disagree

No view

The shop operating time and the convenience of the customers plays a very important role
in the satisfaction of the customers and it will influence the perceptions of the customers.
From the analysis it has been clear that almost seventy percent of the customers think that
the operating time of the McDonald is convenient. But twenty percent of the customers

think that the operating time of the McDonald is not so convenient in their timings. From
the analysis it was seen that the operating time of the McDonald has an influence on the
perceptions of the customer.

16. Are you familiar with the current obesity issues and do it influences your buying
behaviour?
o Yes
o No

Opinion
60
50
40

Opinion

30
20
10
0
Yes

No

May be

The obesity issues in the fast food sector in the UK are influencing the customer attitude in
the fast food sector. This question was intended to find out whether the obesity issues
associated with the UK fast food sector influences the buying perceptions of the customer.
Almost sixty percent of the respondents agree that the obesity issues are influencing their
perceptions towards the McDonalds where as some of the respondents dont agree with this
aspect.

4.2 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE DISCUSSION

The customers frequency of the visit to the McDonalds influences the perceptions of the
customer towards the McDonald. This question was intended to find out the respondents
frequency of visit to the McDonald store. From the analysis it was very clear that the most
of the respondents visit the McDonalds everyday and they consume the food. So from the
analysis it was very clear that the most of the respondents are regular visitors of the
McDonalds. The main reason for the preference of the McDonalds was the next reason to
analyse in the questionnaire. The customer perception of the customer depends upon the
customer reasons for going to the McDonald. From the analysis it was very clear that the
convenience aspect is the most reason for most of the customers to prefer the McDonald
food. According to Andaleeb 1998 the convenience aspect and the time factor plays a mjor
role in the buying behaviour of the customers as most of them are convenience oriented

The satisfaction aspect plays a vital role in the success of the organisation. The service
quality aspect with the McDonalds has been explored in the fifth question of the
questionnaire. The satisfaction of the customers with the service quality and the customer
perception has been analyzed in the questionnaire. From the analysis it was very clear that
the most of the customers are satisfied with the service quality aspect of the McDonalds.
From the analysis it was obvious that the satisfaction aspect with the service quality is

mixed type. The service quality will be a result of the customer evaluation as the customer
evaluates the service they receive with their expectations and they will make
comparison(Gronroos 1982).According to Gronroos (1982) the service quality aspect is
dependent upon the variables like the expected service and the perceived quality.

The employees of the organization and their behaviour influence the service quality aspect
of the organization. The attitudes of the employees towards the customers influence the
purchase decision. From the analysis it was very clear to the researcher that almost all
customers buying behaviour was influenced by the attitudes and the behaviour of the
McDonald employees. Lehtinen & Lehtinen 1982, found the key factors to the service
quality. They recognized it to be the manner in which the services were provided/ offered to
the customers by the employees and secondly the actual outcome of the services rendered
will influence the perceptions regarding the service quality
The service quality and the satisfaction aspect relationship is one of the main aspects
determining the perceptions of the customer. In this questionnaire the relationship of the
quality of service of the McDonald with the satisfaction aspect of the customer has been
analyzed. So from the opinion of the most of the respondents it has been very clear that
there is a relationship between the service quality and the satisfaction aspect. The
satisfaction of the customer and the service quality has been related each other as the
customer perceptions towards the service quality will influence in their satisfaction aspect
too (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2000). According to Gotlieb 1994 the service quality is one of the
broader concepts of the customer satisfaction aspect. In this research also the researcher
findings are similar to the previous research studies explained above.
The attitudes and the services of the employees to the customers will determine the level of
the service quality aspect. If the attitude and the services are excellent then the customers
will be satisfied with the service quality aspect. So from the analysis it was clear that the
customers are not so satisfied with the attitudes and the service of the customers. The
service efficiency and the service fastness will influence the customers buying perception.
If the customer is getting fast service with better efficiency it will saves time to the

customer. This question was asked to find out the customer responses towards the
McDonalds service aspect and their fastness. So from the above analysis it was clear that
most of the respondents does not satisfied with the service quality aspect. The customer
service and the service efficiency will influence on the customer perceptions of the
customer and if the employees perform any errors or mistake it will affect the service
efficiency to the customers. From the above analysis it was very clear that the most of the
respondents opinioned that the employees often mistake and errors in their service. Czepiel,
1985, explained that the attribute of inseparability of services is dependent on the contact
between the company and its customers as well as on the type and amount of services
bought by the customers and the customer service plays a major role in this aspect. The
physical characteristics of the stores and the facilities in the store influence the buying
decision of the customer with respect to the McDonalds. If the store facilities and the layout
are good then the customer has good perceptions towards the McDonald. From the above
analysis it has been obvious that the most of the customers think that the physical features
of the McDonald does not influence the buying behaviour of the customers. But some
respondents think that there buying perception has been influenced by the store features and
the facilities. According to Parasuraman 1985 the physical features does not plays a major
role in the evaluation of the service quality as it is of short term nature.

The quality of the food always influences the buying perception of the customers. If the
quality of the fast food products is good then the customers buying perception will be
positive. In UK fast food industry there is always a presence of the ethical issues and it
influences the customers perception. From the analysis it was very clear that most of the
respondents does not think that the ethical issues is connected with the McDonald quality
and the perception has not been influenced. But most of the customers like fifty percent of
the respondents think that the ethical issue is concerned with the quality of the food and
influences the perception of the customers. The buying behaviour of the customers will
influenced by the service quality of the organization. The service aspects always influence
the buying behaviour of the McDonald customers. This question was intended to find out
whether the buying behaviour is influenced by the service quality of the McDonalds or not.

So from the analysis it was clear that other than service quality there are some more
features which influences the customer buying behaviour. The shop operating time and the
convenience of the customers plays a very important role in the satisfaction of the
customers and it will influence the perceptions of the customers.. From the analysis it was
seen that the operating time of the McDonald has an influence on the perceptions of the
customer. The obesity issues in the fast food sector in the UK are influencing the customer
attitude in the fast food sector. This question was intended to find out whether the obesity
issues associated with the UK fast food sector influences the buying perceptions of the
customer. Most of the respondents agree that the obesity issues are influencing their
perceptions towards the McDonalds where as some of the respondents dont agree with this
aspect.

4.3 FOCUS GROUP

The focus group was also conducted by the researcher to get the desired results. The focus
group was divided on the basis of the research objectives. The first part of the focus group
was done to achieve the first objective to know the customer perception towards the
McDonald and the effect of the customer satisfaction and service quality on the customers.
The discussion was based on the perceptions of the customers towards the McDonald
service quality and satisfaction. The second part of the focus group deals with the
appropriate solutions and recommendation of the research. The detailed information about
the focus group was refered in the Appendix A.
Part A-The Customer perception towards the service quality and the customer
satisfaction towards the McDonalds
The focus group consists of 20 customers of the McDonalds.For this aspect the respondents
are very much interested and a lengthy debate has been taken place regarding the customer
perception towards the McDonalds. Most of the respondents in the focus group have
discussed the fast food as a poor quality nutritious food. One of the focus group participants
opinioned that In the case of the fast food there is no aspect of the quality related with the

fast food restaurants. The discussion in the focus group continued about the McDonalds
product and their quality of the food. Almost ten of the participants in the focus group were
not so satisfied with the quality of the food. The focus group participants opinioned that the
beef burger quality is very bad as they think that the McDonalds will put all sort of the
animal parts in the burger. One of the focus group participant said that The quality of the
beef burger compared with other fast food restauarants, the McDonalds provide quality
one. The vegetables that are an ingredient of the burgers contain sometime yellow lettuce
and it is very hard to keep the vegetables fresh and how they can keep it fresh?
Regrading the discussion on the quality of the ingredients someone replied that I heard
from some staff of the McDonalds that the apple pie they used are not made from the apples
but made from some artificial things. The McDonald adds some cinnamon to get the taste
of the real apple pie. From the discussion it was very clear that the customers are not
satisfied with the quality aspect of the McDonalds due to the mixing of the chemical
ingredients and it is affecting the customer perception towards the McDonald and this
statement from one of the respondents clearly indicates that I dont love the taste of the
McDonald due to the adding up of the chemical ingredients and there is no nutritional
aspects in the food. But five of the respondents are hugely loyal to the McDonalds and
they are satisfied with the quality of the food as well. One of the customer replied to the
discussion about the quality that I am personally like the quality of the burgers and the
sauce and the pies in the store. The foods are very good and the nutritional aspects are
present in the food as well. This type of the respondents perception is influenced
positively and they will be loyal to the McDonalds in fact they are influencing the other
customers too. I like the McDonalds food and I always prefer and advice my friends and
relatives to consume McDonalds food. This statement clearly shows the customers
perception towards the McDoanlds.The debate continued on the quality of the food with
regard to the ethical issues concerning the fast food. Iam really concerned about the ethical
issues regarding the fast food and the chicken and other meat are fed with the steroids. The
customers are opinioned that the organizations are not respecting the moral issues
concerning the welfare of the animals.

By analyzing the discussion about the focus group it was very clear that some opinions of
the focus group participants are considered as bias. By analyzing and reefing the website of
the McDonalds the organization is strictly following the quality in their food standards.
McDonald is following the high quality in the food quality, hygiene, safety and traceability.
The ingredients used for the food products are carefully monitored and the storage,
transportation and other steps are double checked before reaching the store. McDonalds
demanded that they use 100 percent quality food acquired from nationally recognized
farmers. The meat used by the McDonald is audited by the European Food and Safety
service. The chickens they use in their products are collected from the approved suppliers.
This shows that the McDonalds are providing quality aspects in their food quality. Despite
the quality provided by the McDonalds and their quality aspects most of the respondents in
the focus group are not satisfied with their quality. This shows that the customers are not
aware of this aspect or they dont want to believe this. The main truth is that the
participants are not having enough knowledge about the quality of the McDonalds and their
perceptions were negative towards the quality of the food.
The focus group continued their discussion on the basis of the service quality and the
McDonalds. Almost fifteen participants considered the service quality as an important
aspect in the fast food industry. Iam very much care about the quality of the service of the
restaurants and my decision will be based on that too. One of the respondents opinioned
that I care about the quality of the food rather than the service. The participants carried
their discussion on the quality of the service and the effect on their satisfaction aspect. My
attitude towards the restaurant and their product and the quality has been influenced by the
service quality. Ten participants are not so satisfied with the service quality of the
McDonalds and their perceptions towards the McDonald have been affected negatively.
The staffs do not know how to serve and treat the customers. One of the respondent replied
on the basis of the discussion that Most of the employees in the McDonalds are overseas
students and they dont know English well and dont know the art of the hospitality. This
shows that the staffs behaviors are influencing the customers perception towards the
service quality and the overall aspects. One of the respondent replied that Iam personally
very much satisfied with the quality of the service provided. I like the staffs way of dealing
with me and I get my orders in correct time with nice service. Almost five of

the

participants in the focus group are satisfied with the quality of the McDonald service and
their perceptions towards the McDonalds have been affected positively.
One of the loyal customer in the focus group said that I like the way of service of the staffs
but I dont like the physical facilities of some of the stores. I really enjoyed the service in
the Oxford stores but I hate the service in the east ham and other areas. This shows that the
physical appearance of the stores also play a vital part in the customers service quality
aspect and will influence the customers perception too. So the discussion was also made on
this aspect that whether the physical appearance and the facilities influences the customers
service quality aspect. One of the customers of the McDonald said that I dont care about
the design of the stores and the number of seats if I get the quality food and service. Some
other customer said that I personally consider the facilities of the store and the design and
it influences my decision to buy the product or not. The McDonald store with good design
and the facilities will attract my perceptions towards the service quality and my satisfaction
aspect. So from the above discussion it has been clear that the physical features and their
impact on the customer attitudes and their behavior depends upon the customer types and
their preferences.
From the discussion about the service quality related with the McDonald it was found that
some of the customers are satisfied with the service quality and some are not so satisfied
with the service quality. The statement made my one of the respondent during the
discussion clearly clarifies this aspect. He opinioned that the If I get good service quality
from the McDonald or any other restaurant I will prefer that. My perceptions towards the
McDonald I influenced by the quality of the service and I experience it as not so bad or
good. This shows that the customer perceptions towards the McDonald have been
influenced by the service quality. The overall customer perception towards the McDonald
service quality is not too bad.
The customer satisfaction aspects and their influence on the customer perception towards
the McDonald have been discussed in the focus group. The discussion was made on the
aspects that influence the satisfaction aspects of the customers towards the McDonalds.
From the above discussion it was almost clear that the quality of the McDonald food and
their service quality influence the satisfaction of the customers. One of the participant

replied that iam satisfied with the McDonald service and the quality and the service of the
McDonald influences my satisfaction. The perceptions of the customer towards the
McDonald will be positive due to the satisfaction of the customer. One other customer of
the McDonald replied that I personally as a customer value the price quality relationship
and sometimes the price aspect of the McDonald influences my satisfaction aspect. One of
the other customers of the McDonald replied that I will pay better if I get the quality food
and I prefer discounts and offers in the McDonald meals.
The discussion reached the final part when the discussion was made to know whether the
satisfaction of the customers influences the perceptions of the customer or not. One of the
customer based on the discussion said that The satisfaction aspects related with the
McDonald mould their perceptions towards the McDonald. If I satisfied with the McDonald
I will again visit the McDonalds and the perceptions towards with the McDonald will be
good. So from the discussion it was clear that the customer satisfaction towards the
McDonald will influence the customer perceptions. The Customers perceptions towards the
McDonald will depend upon the customer specific need and the wants. In the discussion
one customer replied that Iam very much satisfied with the service quality of the
McDonald while other customer replied that Iam not so satisfied with the service quality
but iam satisfied with the Foods and the meals. The overall customer satisfaction
perception towards the McDonald is good. Four of the participants in the discussion raised
the issue of the Obesity and the relation with the fast food. One said that the obesity issue
and the link with the fast food have influenced my satisfaction criteria as McDonald was
linked with it.

PART B- To recommend appropriate solutions to improve customer buying

perception with respect to McDonalds
The second part of the focus group discussion was to achieve the second objective of the
research. The participants through the discussion put forward a lot of solutions by which
the McDonald can increase the customer buying perceptions. One of the respondents said
that My buying behaviour is influenced by the food items and their quality and if the

McDonald provides me good food quality food I will be satisfied with the McDonald and I
will recommend the service to my friends too. From the discussion it was very clear that
the buying perceptions of the customers differ according to the quality of food, service
quality and satisfaction. So the recommendations made by the participants are based on
their personal satisfaction aspects. Most of the participants in the focus group asked to
improve the service quality and the food quality of the McDonald to have an effect on the
perceptions of the customers towards the McDoanld.But one of the respondent said that
My perceptions are influenced by the price aspect and f the McDonald provide less price
to th food menus then I will be preferring the McDonald fast food. So this shows that the
customers want price aspect to be reduced with the McDonald food. The detailed
recommendations made by the customers and the researcher have been covered in the next
chapter.

CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 CONCLUSION

Customer behaviour is driven by the attitude of a customer. Thus in context of the

behaviour, the attitude and the perceptions plays an important role and thus a customer
either acts favourably or unfavourably towards liking of a particular product. It is generally
agreed by learned that attitude is something which is learnt. Thus attitudes are always
formed by experiencing a particular product. The general criterion on which the marketing
strategy is based for most of the companies is customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction with
their products. For every company their customer is the focal point of any strategy made.
Thus for any company its success or failure is directly dependent on the satisfaction or
dissatisfaction of customers from the services or products they offer. The customer
satisfaction and the service quality have a significant effect on the perceptions of the
consumer towards the product and play a major role in the fast food industry. Hence in this
study the research topic investigated were the perceptions of the customers towards the
service quality of McDonalds and also focus on the behavior of customers and how they
make decisions while they spend on food or consumer items. It has been observed that
these decisions are on what to buy, why and when to buy and what would be the frequency
of buying those items and what would be the usage of the item. The study intervenes on all
these aspects which customer decides when they make a purchase and how they analyze the
usage of particular item and how it helps them for future purchases. With this study we will
be able to make out how much a customer is satisfied by the services provided by the
McDonalds and also if it is the sole reason for its increase in sale and success in market or
not.
To establish the extent to which customer perception is affected by customer
satisfaction and service quality in McDonalds: The decisions and the judgements and
choice of the customer are affected and impacted greatly by various factors present in the
external environment and the whole process of decision making is based sometimes on

external environment as well as internal decisions and the characteristic of a person. The
fast food sector has been greatly influenced by the customer satisfaction and the service
quality. McDonalds, the pioneer company in fast food industry has been in the industry
from the year 1955 and today is the leading company in the fast food restaurant sector. It is
one of the most successful groups of chains of fast food restaurant with its business
growing year on year and spreading all across the world. Due to the obesity issue in the UK
the McDonalds service quality aspect was affected badly and the customers were not so
satisfied. The customers had a negative perception towards the service quality of the
Mcdonalds.Inorder to know the current perceptions of the customer towards the service
quality and the satisfaction aspect this research had been done.
From the different observations and research work done on the attitude of a consumer and
their perceptions towards the McDonald, it is clear that attitude and hence the buying
behaviour is influenced by number of things. It is personal experiences and the experiences
and information from family and friends and can include the parameters like professional
ethics and importance of environment safety, food safety and health of customers which is
gaining importance as a parameter to judge a particular product of a company. From the
analysis conducted on the basis of the primary data it has been conclusive that the
McDonald customers are not so satisfied with the organization. The service quality of the
McDonalds plays an important role in determining the customer satisfaction of the
McDonalds. The customers perception has been widely influenced by the average service
quality of the McDonalds. In the analysis part was it was very clear that the customers had
a mixed response towards the service quality aspect. Due to the service quality aspect of the
McDonald the customers perception had been influenced and the customers perceptions
towards the McDonald is on an average scale now.Infact the obesity issues and the ethical
issues connected with the McDonalds does not had a large effect on the satisfaction aspect
of the customers. The customers are largely not so satisfied with the service aspects of the
mcdonalds.The employees attitude towards the customers, the service quality in taking
orders and the service efficiency had an effect on the customers perceived quality as they
compared it with their expected quality and the customers was not satisfied. The product
quality aspect had an influence on the satisfaction aspect as most of the customers consider
the McDonald meals an unhealthy food without any nutritional aspects. Despite the quality

provided by the McDonalds and their quality aspects most of the customers are not satisfied
with their quality. This shows that the customers are not aware of this aspect or they dont
want to believe this. The main truth is that the customers are not having enough knowledge
about the quality of the McDonalds and their perceptions were negative towards the quality
of the food. The shop operating time and the convenience of the customers plays a very
important role in the satisfaction of the customers and it will influence the perceptions of
the customers. It has been found out from the analysis that the customers are not so
satisfied with the operating times of the McDonalds. The physical characteristic of the store
and the facilities does not had any significant effect on judging the service quality and in
influencing the satisfaction aspect. The service efficiency and the price had an effect on the
customers satisfaction aspect. The high price of the McDonalds made the customers
perception towards the brand as a good quality brand but the average quality food of the
McDonald influenced their customer perceptions. So by concluding the research it has been
clear that the customer perception towards the McDonalds has been largely influenced by
the customer satisfaction and the service quality aspect.

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS

In the above research the customer perceptions towards the service quality and the
customer satisfaction of the McDonald has been analyzed. From the research findings the
following recommendations are made to the McDonalds for increasing their effectiveness
and to improve the service quality and the satisfaction aspect. The McDonald image in the
mind of the customers is very average these days after the obesity issue. So first the
McDonald have to increase the image in the mind of the customers. The awareness have to
be created in the customers mind that the McDonald is still a quality brand that offers
quality food. The customer perceptions towards the McDonald have to be made positive in
order to attract the customers and to make the customers feel that the McDonald is a quality
food brand.

The McDonald quality of food has been affected due to the serious ethical and the obesity
issues occurred. So the McDonald have to increase the food quality in order to gain the
trust from the customers and to gain back the reputation back as a quality brand. The
McDonald have to introduce new healthier menus with more nutritional aspects so that it
can increase the customer perceptions towards the quality of the food. The McDonald have
to increase the customer knowledge towards the McDonald food nutritional aspects as most
of the customers are dissatisfied with the food quality due to the poor knowledge about the
quality aspects as explained in the focus group. By providing a nutritional chart and the
value and the other aspects of the ingredients at the McDonald stores can increase the
knowledge about the customers. The information about the food quality and the nutritional
aspects and the healthier values the food provides to the customers have to be provided in
the McDonald website also to increase the customer perceptions towards the quality. The
McDonalds can slo give flyers and leaflets to the customers in which the McDonald menus
and the quality of the ingredients like the meat and the vegetables used in it are covered. By
increasing this quality aspect and the customer perceptions towards the food the McDonald
can increase the satisfaction of the customers.

The customer satisfaction of the McDonald can be largely increase if the McDonald
increases the service quality aspect. The service quality perception of the customers was
negative due to the poor service quality. So by providing and increasing the service aspect
with in the stores will help the McDonald to make the customer perceptions positive
towards the quality of the service. The staffs attitude and the quality of the service have to
be effectively increased so that customers will be satisfied with the quality of the service.
The McDonald have to provide training to the staffs and better training on the customer
service aspects and improving their skills will help the McDonald to increase the quality of
the service. The McDonald have to adopt rigorous recruitment steps in the selection of the
staffs as better staffs will provide better service. The staffs have to provide effective and
fast service to the customers as most of the customers are convenience and time oriented.
The staffs have to reduce the que in the counters and they have to serve the customers with
pleasant smile.

Most of the customers want new innovation in the service as there are a lot of alternatives
fast food restaurants available to them. The McDonald have to adopt and implement new
innovative strategies for maintain the customer satisfaction of the customers. One of the
innovative ways by which McDonald can attract the customers is by providing door to door
delivery service. This will increase the service aspect of the McDonalds and the customers
will be attracted as most of the customers find it easy to consume food at home. The
McDonald can also introduce loyalty cards to the frequent customers by giving them a
specific code which can be accessed by showing the identity card.
The stores physical features have to be modified and to be made attractive to the customers.
By adopting the soft brown colour which emphasizes the nature than the current red yellow
colour will be very helpful for the McDonald to increase the store attractiveness. The
McDonald can also provide computers at their stores for the customers to access it and will
increase the perceptions of the customer towards the service quality. The interior design of
the McDonald can be made effective by providing colorful ads and images about the
McDonald. The McDonald have to provide the food at cheap price to make the customers
satisfied with the brand and by providing discounts meal and offers they can effectively
increase the satisfaction aspect.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Every researcher will experience some problems and the limitation while doing the
research. In this research the researcher main limitation was the time factor. For doing a
study on the concepts like the customer satisfaction and the service quality a large amount
of time is needed. So the time was not so sufficient to carry out this research. The second
limitation was due to the generalizability issue. This study was done on the McDonald
customer satisfaction and the service quality and the results cannot be generalizable to all
the fast food restaurants in the UK. The reason is that the customer perceptions will differ
from one organization to another. The sample selected for this study is also very small due
to the limited time availability. For doing a research on the aspects like the customer

satisfaction and service quality a large sample size is needed. The research was based on
the London area only because due to the time and the cost factor.

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APPENDIX 1

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE TO THE CUSTOMERS OF THE

MCDONALD

TRINITY SAINT DAVID UNIVERSITY

1. Sex
o Male
o Female
2. Age

o Under 18
o 18-28
o 28-38
o 38-45
o over 46
3. How often do you eat fast food (i.e. McDonalds)?
o Every day
o Four times a week
o Once in week
o Once in a month
o I dont
4. Reason for going to McDonalds?
o No other option is available
o McDonald is the most convenient option
o Saves money
o I like the taste
o I never refer the McDonald

5. Are u satisfied with the service quality of the McDonalds?

o Satisfied
o Dissatisfied
o No opinion
6. Do the McDonalds staffs of the attitude and behaviour influences your purchase
decision?
o Yes
o No

o May be

7. The customer satisfaction towards the McDonalds depends on the service quality
aspect
o Yes
o No
o May be
8. The McDonalds staffs attitude and their service are excellent
o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
9. The McDonalds service is fast and the customer can saves time
o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
10. The staff does not make any errors and performs and serves in right time
o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
11. The physical features and the store facility influences your purchase decision with
respect to the Mc Donalds
o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
13. The McDonalds food is quality oriented and there is no involvement of any ethical
issues
o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
14. Do your buying behaviour is influenced by the quality of the service given?

o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
15. The McDonald operating time is convenient
o Agree
o Disagree
o No opinion
16. Are you familiar with the current obesity issues and do it influences your buying
behaviour?
o Yes
o No

Iam very much grateful for spending your precious time in filling this survey. I will keep all
the personal information safe and the confidentiality is fully ensured

Thanking you
ANUSANKAR

APPENDIX 2

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
YSGOL BUSNES

Dissertation, or Project, Ethical Considerations Form

For all research involving other people as participants or accessing personal data, the
following must be completed:

Who are the Participants? (please describe the types of people that will be
involved in your research)

The participants involved in the study are the customers of the McDonald in the UK.

Please tick/give further details as appropriate:

Y/N/further details
Children under 18

Yes

Children in care

no

Individuals with a learning disability

no

Individuals suffering from dementia

no

Prisoners

no

Young offenders (16-21 years old)

no

Individuals in Care Homes

no

Elderly persons

yes

Individuals without legal capacity to consent

No

O
Specific Ethnic Groups

No

Students

yes

Staff

yes

2. Approximately how many participants are to be recruited, how will they be selected,
and how will they be invited to participate in the study?

The sample selected for the study is 50 respondents and they are selected on the basis of the
convenience of the researcher. The respondents are invited through the email notifications.

3. Is there any link with the investigator (client, friend, etc.)? If there is a link, detail what
safeguards to preserve objectivity and to prevent conflicts of interest are in place?

There is no link with the investigator.

4. Please describe briefly what will happen to the participants (e.g., interviews,
questionnaires, the anticipated nature or duration of each). For interviews please
outline any proposed topics that might be covered, if devising questionnaire survey,
please attach the questionnaire, which maybe in draft form at this stage.

The questionnaires are used to collect the primary data about the service quality and the
satisfaction concept. Focus group are also used by the researcher in this study

5. What risks, potential hazards, stress, discomfort or inconvenience to participants may be

present? What steps will be taken to minimize any adverse impact of the research on
participants?

All the details that I get will be kept confidential.

6. Will written consent be obtained? This is the normal expectation, therefore if your
response is that you do not intend to obtain written consent, please explain in detail.

There is no written consent needed in this research as only customers are included in the
study for conducting research.

7. Will you provide written information to participants indicating the nature and purpose
of the research, that their participation is voluntary, that they may withdraw at any time,
and providing contact details for further information about the study? Please provide a
copy of any written information to be used.

Yes, all these will be mentioned in the questionnaire given to the customers.

8. Please indicate what steps will be taken to safeguard the anonymity and confidentiality
of the participants records [whether the records are of paper, tape recordings, video
recordings...], and confirm that the requirements of the Data Protection Acts will be
complied with.

Personal details like name of the participant etc which is not pertinent will not be collected.
Only details like their gender and age group will be asked for. All such data collected on
paper will only be used for making interpretation and analysis and will be kept highly
confidential.