Title: Exploring fast food outlets food quality in India - an exploratory study on consumer dining expectations and industry performances

Authors: D.P. Sudhagar

Addresses: Garden City College of Science and Management Studies, 16th KM, Old Madras Road, Bangalore – 560 049, India

Abstract: The trend of the eating out has become a fashion for all the generations depending on various factors. So it is very important for the fast food outlet managers to see and cater the needs and expectations of the customers dining in the restaurant. The present study will aim to see the factors associated with fast food outlets and try to analyse the food quality gaps in fast food outlets particularly in Chennai City, South India. For the purpose of the study, fast food outlets customers from KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, SUBWAY were used for data collection. Convenience sampling was used. Results indicates that fast food customer's holds strong importance towards food taste, healthy food, nutritional value of the food, hygienic food service, reasonable pricing, food safety, and other food services compared to menu varieties, prompt food service, food presentation attractiveness and innovation in fast food. Performance gaps of the fast food quality were also identified.

Keywords: fast food outlets; food quality; performance gaps; fast food customers; eating culture; business performance; India; consumer expectations; dining expectations; food taste; healthy food; nutritional value; food hygiene; reasonable pricing; food safety; menu varieties; prompt service; food presentation; innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBFMI.2017.082546

International Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, 2017 Vol.3 No.1, pp.1 - 12

Received: 06 Jul 2016
Accepted: 09 Aug 2016
Published online: 28 Feb 2017 *

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