Title: Consumer perceptions of foreign fast food restaurants in an emerging market

Authors: Ateeq Abdul Rauf; Irfan Butt

Addresses: School of Business and Economics, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan. ' College of Commerce and Economics, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

Abstract: This study empirically examines Pakistani consumer perceptions of foreign fast food restaurants. The objective of this study was to understand multinational restaurant consumer behaviour in Pakistan and draw managerial implications for international fast food marketers and operators of Pakistani restaurants. The findings were based on a sample of 410 respondents. The attributes of a fast food restaurant, identified through factor analysis, comprised quality, cleanliness and comfort, ambience, childcare, presentation and healthiness, location and price, staff service and staff outlook. Multivariate analysis of variance was performed to understand consumer perceptions by demographics and other variables. Analysis revealed that age, gender, marital status, education, household size, income and occupation and price influence the ratings of attributes for restaurant selection. Results showed size of household, age and occupation were also factors in determining frequency of patronage. The findings were compared with earlier studies conducted in the USA, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and India.

Keywords: consumer perceptions; consumer behaviour; foreign food; foreign restaurants; MANOVA; fast food restaurants; Pakistan; emerging markets; multinational corporations; MNCs; factor analysis; demographics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLTM.2012.046445

International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2012 Vol.3 No.1, pp.40 - 70

Published online: 08 Apr 2012 *

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