Research Proposal on Fast Food

Have you ever woken up at seven-thirty in the morning and youre in a mad rush to be at work on time? You swear that by time you get ready you will have to wait until lunch to eat your first meal of the day. For some people lunch times vary, so by early afternoon youre dying of starvation. Even though it is a known fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, who really has the time in the morning? This makes breakfast to go an amazing option. But breakfast is not the only meal that we seem to be scrounging for time to make. Families are always looking for anyway to save on time in the kitchen and make more time to spend with each other. Fast food is the perfect solution to many peoples needs either for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Because of this growing need of extra time fast food restaurants have blown up. Dine in restaurants existed before fast food joints did. In my opinion, people no longer had the time to sit and wait an hour or more for a meal depending on their schedule. And for this reason, fast food restaurants were born. As each year passes the variety of fast food establishments have improved to satisfy their customers. For example, din in was our only option and then we were given a choice, din in, drive thru, or carry out. These choices have made the fast food businesses extremely popular. The different chains now strive to the one who can fulfill a customers order in a matter of minutes. Another reason why fast food restaurants are so popular is that they are so conveniently located. Whataburger is the most common fast food restaurant in the valley. They are practically on every corner and they have a menu for both adults and children. They list each combo by numbers making the ordering process as simple as possible. Each combo has different types of hamburgers, chicken burgers, salads, breakfast items and desserts all paired up and they include fries and a coke. And now at almost any fast food place you can Whatasize, Supersize, or Biggiesize your meal from small to medium to large. Quality and convenience is what attracts us to these fast food places. The most popular fast food restaurants for children are McDonalds, Burger King, and Sonic. Children love to go to any one of these fast food restaurants because they have a playground area just for the kids and a toy is included in their kids meal. Parents also

love the chains with the jungle gyms for the kids because they can sit and eat in peace while their children are playing in a controlled and safe environment. Fast food restaurants are very reasonably priced. You can get a meal for less than five dollars. Take college students for instance, they dont have a lot of money for food so the ninetynine cent menu is a life saver. we think a remote cause why fast food became so popular is because there was nothing out there like it. All that was available to us was more expensive, crowded restaurants where you needed to be dressed up and sometimes even have a reservation. Once fast food places were invented more and more people loved the idea of eating fast and cheap. Can you imagine if there werent any fast food places? I cant, you can get in out and still save a buck or two. Why are fast food restaurants so popular? There is not a town or city that does not contain a fast food restaurant, so it is pretty hard not to dine in or pick something up at one time or another and depending on where you choose to stop they have something for everyone. They are very convenient, affordable, and open from dusk till dawn. And the service doesnt end at the drive thru window. You can also order food for delivery right to you own house. Take Pizza Hut for example, you can dine in, carry out, or have home delivery. You cant beat a hot meal in a matter of minutes.

Introduction
Fast food restaurants are playing an important role for people who are seeking for great value, cheaper price and within the shortest period of time. However, ingredients for fast food are usually cooked by using cheap industrial oils, usually deep fried or re-heated in a microwave. All these methods keep the overheads down and the preparation costs to a minimum, ensuring that the food can be sold at rock bottom prices, while the outlets still manage to make a hefty profit. This report has indicated the problems that SEAFOOD TAKEAWY store currently facing by using secondary data searches and providing a marketing research process to improve on their quality of the products and service.

SEAFOOD TAKEAWAY Background

SEAFOOD TAKEAWY provides fish & chips, sandwiches, hamburgers, salads and soft drinks which located in Pineland shopping center, Sunnybank Hills, Brisbane. According to the staff MR. Lin says that the store was established in year 2008 and their main customers are always from office workers, blue-collar workers, students and people who live in a size of big families. The range of the food on their menu is variety and the price is reasonable for the customers. The mission for SEAFOOD TAKEAWY is to provide good quality food to the customers with low cost.

Marketing Research Process

Marketing research is defined as the systematic and objective process of generating information to aid in making marketing decisions. This process includes specifying what information is required, designing the method for collecting information, managing and implementing the collection of data, analyzing the results, and communicating the findings and their implications.(Zikmund, Ward, Lowe & Winzar, 2007) As the mission for SEAFOOD TAKEAWAY is to provide good quality food, the store should establish the need for marketing research to find out what the customers want and what they are expecting on the take away. There are way more than 2 ... But these 2 would definitely be in the top ten. 1. Convincing your potential clientele that fast food is not always bad food. 2. Misunderstanding your target consumer and selling items that just don't fit in certain areas. Sort of like opening a wine and cheese store in an industrial section of town. Although you may find a few customers you'd lose out on reaching your target. Two types of marketing problems that a fast food marketer could be faced with 1. Regular promotion - Regular promotion in a fixed interval keeping in view consumer taste and preference is a biggest problem. It not only needs an innovative mind and lot of advertisement money but has become a difficult task to cater the needs of so many different type of consumers like some are health conscious and needs low fat diet or low sodium diet while other prefers combo offers .Most of them also want that half plate and even quarter plate must be

introduce in the menu .So when these promotional offer are launched only the expectations of few consumers are met. 2. Availability of substitute at cheaper price- Another problem is the availability of substitute fast food at cheaper price for instance A fast food shop in a Food court has to compete its competitor who may perhaps has a different food menu to offer but his rates are cheap and people my often switch to buy that cheaper product. For instance a steemed sweet corn corner outlet selles a cup of sweet corn say Rs 20 and it is near by a soup corner outlet and the cost of a soup is less than a cup of sweet corn sy Rs 10.There are chances that most of the people who may have come to have a sweet corn may change their food choice and have a soup in double quantity. In our paper, we want to address the health consequences of eating fast food and how fast food has become a part of American culture. The success of McDonalds has been astounding and has made a huge impact on the American food industry. Fast food has become such a huge part of American life. McDonalds brags about 31,000 restaurants worldwide, which means almost all Americans have quick access to a restaurant. Every day, 43 percent of Americans will eat fast food. Even very young children can recognize the McDonalds logo. But fast food isnt just quick, cheap, and convenient, but also dangerous to ones health. The calorie, fat, and sodium content in one fast food meal can equal that of three meals eaten at home. These extra ingredients can cause serious health problems in the long run. This issue is interesting and thought-provoking because Americans eat fast food daily and seem to not care about its consequences. Fast food has been attributed to be the cause of many diseases and health issues including obesity, high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes, and even cancers. The most publicized of these is obesity. Today, there are more than 300 million adults worldwide that are considered clinically obese, and about 8 million children under the age of five are overweight. A person who is obese has a much higher risk for serious diseases and health conditions than an average-weighing person. We believe this issue is important because everyone should know what they are putting into their bodies and the long-term consequences of unhealthy diets. Just because French fries are made from potatoes doesnt mean that they are a vegetable, or even healthy. And chicken is not

the only ingredient in McDonalds Chicken McNuggets, nor is it one of just a few ingredients. The McDonalds website lists more than 35 ingredients contained in their McNuggets. Most people eat these foods without knowing the exact ingredients or nutrition content, let alone how they are harming their bodies. There are numerous facets surrounding the issue of fast food. First, with the need for quickly prepareable foods in Americas fast-pace lifestyle, the obesity rate in America has grown. For example, many families are very busy with their childrens extracurricular activities and have little time in between school and the time they need to be at those activities. Parents find it easier and less time consuming to run by a drive through for a quick snack or dinner. As the habit builds, the parents may quickly find that they have overweight children. In addition, many families, even in America, find themselves with little money to spend on food. For example, a family might choose a drive-through meal rather than a healthier dine-in meal, or a TV dinner over an organic home-cooked dinner. This issue is relevant because it affects the health and well-being of America, which in turn influences the choices of foreign countries. So many countries look up to America as the prosperous nation of freedom and opportunity. Consequently, they try to copy our examples. For this reason, many overseas countries have allowed McDonalds and other fast food chains build restaurants in their cities. This opens the door for obesity and other ill effects to follow for their people. We have located several sources that support our position. One source, Dont Eat This Book, discusses the experiment of Morgan Spurlock to eat only McDonalds food for one month to see how his health and behavior changes, consequently proving how fast food is effecting America. Another source, Our Overweight Children, talks about how Americans life style of eating fast food is gradually producing obese children and will affect the next generation unless a solution is implemented. A third source, "Fast Food Nation," discusses the history of how fast food came about and how, for many Americans, fast food is just a part of daily life, such as taking a shower or driving a car. This book talks about how the fast food industry has directed their advertising towards children. It also describes the competitiveness of fast food chains and we discover that there are many more ingredients in these foods than the American people are led to believe.

One source that counters our position is the article "Eating Healthy Foods May Be Too Expensive for the Poor," which suggests that eating fruits and vegetables are too expensive for low-income families and it would be better for them to eat affordable fast food than go to bed hungry. Another source, "Fast Food Should Not Be Blamed for Obesity," claims that Americans are getting fatter because they are snacking on sweet and salty foods throughout the day rather than fast food. In addition, the article "Fast-Food Franchises Are Unfairly Targeted for Serving Unhealthy Food" argues that obesity rates in American were on the rise long before fast food came onto the scene and fast food franchises aren't honestly trying to make America fat. They are just wanting to provide good food for a good value. We will structure our argument by clearly stating a thesis, making arguments, and showing opposing views. We will use quotes and refer to our sources and correctly cite our sources. Our essay will be laid out in a logical order including our arguments, counterarguments, concessions and refutations. For this essay, in-field research will be conducted. We plan to conduct and observation at the JCCC cafeteria by observing customers. We will divide the available foods into categories based on the health content and record how many of what food product is purchased by each customer. We will be conducting the research based on our schedules and the due date of the assignment.

Aims and objectives

1. Determine the opportunities in the fast food industry. 2. Know how the fast food industry works. 3. Analyze the fast food industry of South Africa 4. Determine the trends in the fast food industry of South Africa 5. Analyze the opportunities in the fast food industry of South Africa.

Literature review:
Actually people eat out for irrational reasons. The exception may be fast food, which really is convenient and is focused at only one motivational component: physical survival. However, McDonald's has revolutionized the fast food business at the motivational level by shifting the reason for dining out from physical survival to spiritual survival: kids, family fun, family values, love, compassion, concern. One big problem with fast food is that it is positioned at the level of physical survival. Consumers' eating habits are undergoing a revolution. Within the last years the Physical Survival Motive has been strongly emphasized and brought into focus. The fast food industry has shown considerable resistance and reluctance to change or adapt to what is known about physical survival. Too many business travelers have had the unpleasant experience of eating at these places while on the road and then slowly realizing that they have gained unwanted pounds (McCraw 2000). The most powerful form of marketing is marketing to the children, who in turn market to the adults. This is a solid example of targeting at the level of spiritual survival and love. It does not always work, but it is powerful and strong. This is direct marketing to the level of spiritual survival. The other side of the restaurant experience is fine dining, which will survive because of the motives that it serves. Fine dining is more of an experience than a meal. After all, people can eat at home since most homes are well equipped for serving food. They do not really have to eat out. Home-served entrees will have an effect upon fine dining, but not nearly the effect that they will have upon the mid-levels of dining. This is because home served entrees will create an experience also. Showing a couple enjoying a fine dining experience dressed in casual clothing, perhaps in candlelight and in a romantic atmosphere, could easily move the dining experience from the restaurant back to the home again (Talwar 2002).

Methodology Sample collection To determine the number of respondents that will be asked to participate and give information regarding the study convenience sampling will be used. Convenience sampling means to collect or interview individuals who actually experience the phenomenon. Convenience sampling will

focus on individuals that experienced diabetes mellitus or has someone in the family that experienced such disease. Methodology/Data Collection Surveys will the primary method of data collection. Internet surveys would be used. Internet surveys have been both hyped for their capabilities and criticized for the security issues it brings. Internet surveys require less finances since there would be no printing of paper and there would be no need to travel just to gather data. Internet surveys would also require less time for the researchers and the respondents. Data Analysis In analyzing the collected data, the paper will be divided into the demographic profiles of the respondents and the ideas of respondents. The data that will be acquired will be put into graphs and tables.