A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SPECIAL

REFERENCE TO SERVICE AND PRODUCT QUALITY AT MCDONOLDS

IN GHAZIABAD (U.P.), INDIA

SYNOPSIS
Submitted to Eternal University
in the partial fulfillment for the
degree of

MBA (Master of Business Administration)

by

Purva Maheshwari (BS15MB003)

Department of Management

Akal College of Economics, Commerce and Management

Eternal university, Baru Sahib, Sirmour, (HP)

July, 2016
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Name

: PURVA MAHESHWARI

Registration Number

: BS15MB003

Major Subject

: Finance

Name of Major Advisor

: Mr. Pawan Dubey (Assistant professor)

Name of Department

: Department of Business Administration

Name of College

: Akal College of Economics, Commerce and Business

Administration

1. Title: A STUDY ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

SERVICE AND PRODUCT QUALITY AT MCDONALDS IN GHAZIABAD (U.P.),
INDIA.
2. Introduction: Fast food industry is one of the worlds fastest growing sectors in food industry.
However, over a period of time, with a growth in the number of nuclear families, economic
growth and increasing per capita income as well as globalization, fast food culture gained
prominence in India. Fast food is the food item that can be prepared and served very quickly.
Food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients and served to the
customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away. Because of commercial emphasis on speed,
uniformity and low cost, fast food products are often made with ingredients formulated to
achieve a certain flavour or consistency and to preserve freshness. The emergence of the fast
food industry has, transformed urban food culture in India to some extent. In India, fast food
culture emerged after independence. Eating at home used to be a significant aspect of Indian
culture. However, over a period of time, with a growth in the number of nuclear families,
economic growth and increasing per capita income as well as globalization, fast food culture
gained prominence. Similarly, children also resorted to fast food due to their exposure to global
urban culture and western cuisine which accelerated their desire for cheap and delicious fast
food. Moreover, fast food costs less than traditional meals commencing with appetizer and
concluding with dessert. With the liberalization of the economy in 1992, new multinational fast
food giants targeted India as a huge potential market with their outlets. Burger King, Pizza Hut,
Dominos Pizza, McDonalds and KFC outlets are functioning in shopping malls and other

public areas. Changing consumer behaviour and favourable demographics led India to witness a
tremendous growth in fast food restaurant industry.
Customer Satisfaction
Customer satisfaction is a marketing term that measures how products or services supplied by a
company meet or surpass a customers expectation. The definition of customer satisfaction has
been widely debated as organizations increasingly attempt to measure it. Customer satisfaction
can be experienced in a variety of situations and connected to both goods and services. It is a
highly personal assessment that is greatly affected by customer expectations. Satisfaction also is
based on the customers experience of both contacts with the organization and personal
outcomes. Customer satisfaction is a highly personal assessment that is greatly influenced by
individual expectations.
According to Hansemark and Albinson (2004) satisfaction is an overall customer attitude
towards a service provider, or an emotional reaction to the difference between what customers
anticipate and what they receive, regarding the fulfillment of some needs, goals or desire.
Service Quality
According to Zeithaml & Bitner, "Service quality is a focused evaluation that reflects the
customer's perception of specific dimensions of service: reliability, responsiveness, assurance,
Empathy, tangibles. Satisfaction, on other hand, is more inclusive: it is influenced by perceptions
of service quality, product quality, and price as well as situational factors and personal factors.
McDonalds
McDonald's fast food restaurant is one of the leading franchises in the United States as well as
overseas, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across more than 36,000
outlets. McDonald's aims is to serve good food in a friendly and fun environment, to be a
socially responsible company, to provide good returns to its shareholders, to provide its
customers with food of a high standard, to provide a quick service and value for money. The
company logo is McDonalds with a big yellow M and slogan is Im Lovin It. They
reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. McDonald's
primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks,
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milkshakes, and desserts. In response to changing consumer tastes, the company has expanded its
menu to include salads, fish, wraps, smoothies, fruit, and seasoned fries. In India, McDonald's is
a joint-venture company managed by two Indians. While Amit Jatia, M.D. Hardcastle
Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. owns and spearheads McDonalds in west & south India, McDonalds
restaurants in North & East India are owned and managed by Vikram Bakshis Connaught Plaza
Restaurants Private Limited. Today McDonald's has 235 restaurants in India serving over
5,00,000 customers per day.
Mc Donald Specification
Name of the organization

: McDonalds

Industry

: Restaurant

Founders McDonalds

: Richard and Maurice McDonald

McDonalds Corporation

: Ray Kroc

Headquarters

: Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S.

Number of locations

: 36,000+ worldwide

President and CEO

: Steve Easterbrook

Slogan

: Im Lovin It

Source: www.gjeis.org
Origin of McDonalds
McDonald's Corporation is the world's leading chain of hamburger fast food restaurants and the
recognized global food service retailer. The first McDonalds restaurant was run by brothers Mac
(Maurice) and Dick (Richard) McDonald in San Bernardino, California. In 1937, their father
Patrick McDonald was having a hot dog cottage called as Airdrome restaurant near the Monrovia
Airport in Monrovia, California. The McDonald brothers decided it was time for a change. They
shut down the restaurant for renovations, reopened as simply McDonald's, and served
hamburgers and cheeseburgers, soft drinks, French fries and apple pie. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a 525

year old salesman of milkshake mixing machines, became interested in a cord of seven
restaurants owned by Richard and Maurice McDonald. Kroc started expanding their business by
opening franchises for McDonalds in Des Plaines, Illinois. In 1960 McDonalds advertising
campaign look for the golden arches gave McDonalds sale a big boost. In 2002, Kroc pitched
his vision of creating more than 30,000 McDonalds in 121 places and countries all over the
world, including Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, Central and South America, Australia, Japan,
Korea, Southeast Asia, even Russia and China. It has the fastest growth rate in the restaurant
industry. Its outstanding brand recognition, experienced management, high quality food, site
development expertise, advanced operational systems and unique global infrastructure helps it to
capitalize on global opportunities.
2.1 Scope and significance of the study
The scope of the study is limited to the consumers satisfaction regarding service and product
quality within the limit of Ghaziabad. There are 6 McDonalds franchisees in Ghaziabad. The
study will be able to reveal the preferences, needs, perception of the customers regarding the fast
food products with reference to McDonalds. It will also help the McDonalds to know whether
the existing products are really satisfying the customers needs understand the consumers
perception about fast food and the companies to understand, how a consumer selects, organizes
and interprets the quality of service and product offered by the McDonalds. The deeper the
company understands the consumers needs and perception, the earlier the product is introduced
ahead of competition and the greater will be the expected contribution margin. Hence the study is
very important. Consumer markets and consumer buying behavior can be understood before
sound product and marketing plans are developed. This study will help McDonalds to customize
the service and product, according to the consumers need and understand the experience and
expectations of the existing customers. In spite of Quality, Service, Cleanliness and Value
capabilities for fast food product, an in-depth study of the consumers, their perceptions and
demand for their product is very necessary for setting up an efficient marketing network.
2.2 Objectives of the study
1. To find out the satisfaction level among the customers towards various services and
products offered by McDonalds.
2. To determine the different variables which affect customer satisfaction
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3. To suggest appropriate measures for improving satisfaction among customers

3. Expected new knowledge of the study
1.
2.
3.
4.

It will provide the baseline information about the area.

The findings may be helpful for generating competitive strategy.
This study proves to be beneficial also for employees for their development.
The customers liking McDonalds may be due to various factors like quality of product,

cleanliness, competitive price, freshness of product etc.

5. This type of study will be beneficial in identifying the satisfaction level of people in
McDonalds.
6. The study is expected to provide assistance for conducting study on the similar topic.

4. Review of Literature
A comparative study conducted by M.Mondurailingam, V.Jeyaseelan and A.K.Subramani(2015)
between KFC and McDonalds in Chennai with the sample size 50. Came out with major findings
that 22% customers and 18% of McDonalds customers are not opined either positively or
negatively with respect to the quality of food. 18% of KFC customers and 12% of McDonalds
customers are not satisfied with price of the food. 24% of KFC customers and 18% of
McDonalds customers are satisfied with taste of the food. Both the food giants have given each
other immense competition in terms of customer satisfaction, service quality and promotional
strategies. Assistant professor at Alliance School of Business, Bengaluru Mr. Kshitiz Sharma
(2013) was study on McDonalds supply-chain in India reveals that McDonalds Supply Chain is
quite uniquely handled with least number of employees on McDonalds payroll. The control on
outsourced entities is commendable. With ever growing business of fast food McDonalds has
laid down its systems efficiently and expanding at enormous speed. The model can be replicated
in other sectors as well. A study on consumer purchase intentions in fast food restaurants: An
empirical study on undergraduate students undertaken in Malaysia clearly reveals that
Questionnaires were distributed to 380 undergraduate students in the university where 358
(94.21%) students responded to the survey. Among the five dimensions tested, assurance was
found to be the strongest determinant of customer satisfaction towards fast food restaurants
(FFRs), followed by responsiveness, reliability, tangibility and empathy was found to have the
strongest positive influence on customer satisfaction towards fast food restaurants like
McDonalds, KFC, pizza hut and so on. A study on service quality conducted by N.k. yunus
(2013) in Malaysia reveals that the expectations towards McDonalds is assumed that consumers
consider various dimensions of a service to reach their overall judgment of service quality based
on a survey of bachelor degree students who are studying at University Malaysia Sabah-Labuan
International Campus. The researchers have distributed 200 questionnaires by using simple
random sampling method, but only 180 respondents completed and returned the questionnaires,
which represents about 90 percent response rate. Instrument used in this research is adapted
using the five dimensions in service quality (Tangibility, Assurance, Reliability, Responsiveness
and Empathy) by employing the Likert scale ranging from 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for
strongly agree. The THREE (3) considering determinants are measured by Likert scales ranging
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from 1 for strongly disagree to 5 for strongly agree. This study shows the consumption frequency
for each customer and their familiarity with McDonalds Malaysia. Only 29 from 180 customers
are very rare and some are not even consuming McDonalds. As stated in the table, less than 50%
is very familiar (n=62) and knowledgeable (n=17) in familiarizing McDonalds service quality.
Reliability analysis shows that there are FIVE (5) dimensions can be used to evaluate customers
expectation towards McDonalds. The most reliable dimension is Assurance (.833), followed by
Reliability (.815), Tangibility is at (.805), Empathy (.803) and Responsiveness (.783). Therefore,
the internal consistency reliability of the measures used in this study is considered to be good and
valid. Assistant professor at comsats institute of information technology, Sahiwal Mr. Raja Irfan
Sabir (2014) was study on factors affecting customer satisfaction in restaurants industry in
Pakistan reveals that this study is to investigate, compare and evaluate the determinants of the
customers satisfaction in fast food industry. Quality service, price, environment are used as an
independent variables and customers satisfaction use as dependent variable. The research is
quantitative in nature and random sampling technique has been used for data collection through a
questionnaire survey and the sample size for this study was 100. Data have been analyzed
through correlation and, multiple regressions. The conclusion of this study is to measure the
customer satisfaction different variables are select in the study such like price, quality in service
and the environment of the restaurants and through different analysis it is concluded that there is
positive and significance relationship between these variables and the customers satisfaction. A
study on Consumer Perceptions of Food Franchise of McDonalds and KFC is conducted by
CMA (Dr.) Kinnarry Thakkar and Mrunmayee R.Thatte (2014) reveals that Various factors like
variety of food items, quality, taste, ingredients etc are analyzed to study consumer perception
about food franchise. The study revealed that price of the food items affect the frequency of
visits to food outlets. A study on service quality of McDonalds is conducted by Hilly (2015)
reveals that there exists the gap between the customers expectations and perceptions when it
comes to the analysis of service quality of McDonalds. But these gaps can be overcome by the
organization. According to the overall discussions and statements of issues and concerns
involved in the study of customer expectations and perceptions at McDonalds, we would like to
opine that McDonalds need to focus on the quality, finer customer services and cleanliness in
order to increase the customer satisfaction and to reach at the customers expectations. The
Company focuses on delivering simple and delightful restaurant experiences for customers and
generates superior value for its shareholders. A study on Determinants of customer satisfaction in
fast food industry in Peshawar Pakistan is conducted by shahzad khan (2012) reveals that there is
a positive relationship between the Promotion, Service quality, Customer expectations, Brand,
Physical Environment, Price, and Taste of the product to customer. A study on service quality
and customer satisfaction in chinese fast food sector: a proposal for cffrserv is conducted by
Qingqing TAN (2014) from University of Wolverhampton reveals that that the expenditures in
employee training and improving the food quality should be seen as necessary investments. The
service providers should thus pay more attention to training and empowering their service
employees to look for ways to make the dining experience an impressive one for their customers.
The Chinese fast food operators can use this service quality measurement scale as an evaluation
tool to assess the level of quality they provide to their consumers and to spot those dimensions
and attributes of service where their companies require improvement and measures the service
quality by the help of CFFRSERV scale.
5. Technical programme:
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Strongly
agree
(5)

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Strongly disagree

5.1

(4)

(3)

(2)

(1)

ame of the experiment

A study on Customer satisfaction with special reference to service and product quality at
McDonalds in Ghaziabad, India.
5.2 Location: Field/Lab:
The study will be carried out in Gaur central mall at Ghaziabad, India.
5.3 Methodology:
1. The sampling method used for the research purpose will be Non Probability sampling
also known as Convenience Sampling method will be incorporated for the research
purpose.
2. Near about 800 customers visit at McDonalds per day and 10% of the total population
3.

i.e. (N) 800 will be taken. The sample size for research purpose will be 80.
Furthermore, to achieve the objective of study, both primary and secondary data will be
considered.
a) Primary Sources: The primary data will be collected by using the survey method with
the help of close-ended questionnaire which is attached with this synopsis.
b) Secondary Source: The secondary data will be collected from internet, marketing,
journal, books, magazines and past thesis.

5.4 Observations to be recorded:

1. The influence of demographic variables for example: age, gender, education, occupation,
marital status and monthly income on customer satisfaction will be observed.
2. Factors to be observed related to: Hospitality of staff, Advertisement attractiveness inside the
McDonald, Preparation and delivery time of food, freshness & taste of food, Hygienic, Space
management, Restaurant working hours, Location, Competitive price of different food on
customers satisfaction will be observed and evaluated.
3. The level of customer satisfaction with respect to various factors will be recorded and
measured using five point likert scale as given below.

5.5 Statistical Analysis

Data collected with the help of questionnaire will be coded in the form of numbers. The coded
data will be processed and analyzed using SPSS version 21.0 statistical software. In order to
interpret and test the statistical significance of data, appropriate tools such as percentage, chi
square etc. will be used.

References:
Angelova B and Zekiri J (2011) Measuring customer satisfaction with service quality using
American customer satisfaction model. IJARBS. Vol. 1(3)
Hilly, Raju N, Singh S, and Tariyal M (2015) Service quality of McDonalds. GJEIS. Vol. 7(3)
10

Khan S, Majid S, and Yaqoob F H (2012) Determinants of customer satisfaction in fast food
industry. IJMS. Vol. 3(4)
Mondurailingam M, Jeyaseelan V and Subramani A K (2013) Comparative study on customer
satisfaction towards KFC and McDonalds in Chennai. ZIJMR. Vol. 5(6): 50-62
Prabhavathi Y, Kishore N T K, and Kumar M R (2014) Problems and changing needs of
consumers in fast food industry: The Indian prespective. Vol. 4(2)
Sabir R I, Ghafoor O, Hafeez I, Akhtar N and Rehman A U (2014) Factors affecting customers
satisfaction in restaurants industry in Pakistan. IRMBR. Vol. 3(2)
Sharma K (2013) A case study on McDonalds supply chain in India. APJMMR. Vol. 2(1)
Tan Q, Oriade A, Fallon P (2014) Service quality and customer satisfaction in chinese fast food
sector: a proposal for cffrserv. AIJAUTF. Vol. 2(1): 30-53
Thakkar K and Thatte M R (2014) Consumer perceptions of food franchise: A study of
McDonalds and KFC. ISRP. Vol. 4(3)
Yunus N K Y, Razak M Z A and Ilias A (2013) Expectation towards McDonalds Malaysia: A
study on service quality. IJIRS. Vol. 2:119-129

Signature of the Student

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Name
Mr.Pawan
Dubey
Dr.Kajal
Chaudhary
Er.Deepa
Guleria
Dr.Surjan
Singh

Designation
Assistant
Professor
Assistant
Professor
Lecturer

Department
Management

Assistant
Professor

Signature
Major Advisor

Commerce

Member

Management

Member

Mathematics

Member

11

Forwarded five copies to the Dean, Postgraduate Studies, for approval by the RDC

Head of the Department/ Principal

Dean of the College

Dean, Post Graduate Studies

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING

Name of the Student (Capital letters) PURVA MAHESHWARI Regd No. BS15MB003 Semester
Second.
Major Subject ________
Major Advisor Mr. Pawan Dubey Name of Department Management Name of College Akal
college of Economics, Commerce and Management
12

Venue Seminar Hall Date 9-4-2015Time 11:30

Students Work Load Teaching
S.N Course No
Title of Course
Credit Hrs
o
MBA-501
MANAGERIAL ACCOUNTS
4,1,0
1
MBA-502
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
4,1,0
2
MBA-503
PRODUCTION AND OPERATION MANAGEMENT
4,1,0
3
MBA-504
MARKETING
MANAGEMENT
4,1,0
4
MBA-505
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
4,1,0
5
MBA-101
HUMAN
VALUES
AND
PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS
4,1,0
6
Title of Thesis: A study on customer satisfaction with special reference to service and product
quality at McDonalds in Ghaziabad (U.P.), India
Research Work Carried out in the present Semester
Collecting review of literature

Research Work to be carried out in the next semester

Signature of the Student

Signature of Major Advisor

Committee Members
1. Name _________________________ Signature ________________________
2. Name _________________________ Signature ________________________
3. Name _________________________ Signature ________________________
Three copies to be sent to the Dean PGS

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