Chapter 1: Introduction and Background

Background of the study

Fast-food business is one the most common business mostly in developed countries that depicts a process of

delivering foods more quickly than other any other restaurant system and it takes less time to prepare the foods

as well as ready for eating and/or delivering to the customers (Khan, 2012). Khan (2012) has mentioned that

customers are the most important part of any business and they are the people who have significant influence and

impact on the business, including fast-food business. Customer satisfaction is the personal feelings about foods

and services in the fast-food business that has been considering as one the most important aspects within the

business.

Customer satisfaction is one of the most common and important aspect in recent globalized and competitive

business environment throughout the international markets. Customer satisfaction is a behavioural approach of the

customers that can be defined as the level of satisfaction by the customers after buying and/or consuming a

particular product/service from a business. The level of customer satisfaction has been playing significant roles to

develop organizational policies and objectives as well as business strategies to increase customer satisfaction

through providing quality products and/or services to the customer. For example, Hill et al. (2007) have mentioned

that customer satisfaction is regarding one of the most important aspects within a business to focus profits of the

business through customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction by virtue of customer satisfaction, returns to

shareholder by customer satisfaction, impacts of customer satisfaction on macro-environment and so on.

In today’s ever-increasing globalization of services and brands, service-oriented businesses, such as fast-food

industry need to attend to the satisfaction of their customers (Gilbert et al., 2004). Customer satisfaction with

limited-service restaurants reached a score of 80, a new peak. Just 2 years ago, the index score stood at 75. Papa

John’s performed best in the category, with a score of 83, up 5% from 79 last year. Little Caesar and Subway

followed with a score of 82, tied with the aggregate of all other limited-service restaurants, at 82. Pizza Hut saw a

3.7% decline to 79, while Starbucks also fell, by 5%, to a score of 76 (Marketing Charts Staff, 2012).

Customer satisfaction is becoming key issue and concern for a business, particularly for fast food business.

Customer satisfaction has been considered as one of the most important index for the measuring of organizational

performance of a business. For example, Michman and Mazze (1998) have mentioned that customer satisfaction

is considering as vital issue for a business, like fast food business because product quality and diversification of

business is essential to influence customers’ buying patterns and thus to satisfy them. As an example, they have

mentioned that McDonald’s has distinguished itself with superior customer service and product consistency while

offering low prices and high value to customers. On the other hand, Burger King has not developed a clear strategy,
like McDonald’s; however, Burger King appears to have followed a strategy of being second best, as a close market

follower of McDonald’s (Michman and Mazze, 1998). So, it can be said that both companies have been focusing

on customer services with quality products in relation to increase customer satisfaction.

Khan (2012) has noted that the success and failure of fast food industry depends on several key aspects, price of

the products, quality of products, services to the customers, promotions, customer expectations, brand, physical

distribution and location of the store, and taste of the product and other related things. This research project is

based on the comparative analysis of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King, leading fast-food

chains in the UK as well as in the international markets. McDonald’s is one of the world’s leading and largest fast-

food businesses throughout the international markets. Burger King is another world’s leading fast-food business

throughout the international markets. Thus, the researcher would like to say that customer satisfaction is becoming

an important issue and concern for an organization, particularly for fast-food businesses, such as McDonald’s and

Burger King. So, the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King in the UK can be

considered as time worthy and most effective research project.

The researcher is self-motivated to carry out such type of research project. The selection of research topic is based

on the importance of academic, organizational and personal point of views. Customer satisfaction within fast food

industry is becoming key issue for the success of the business through creating brand loyalty and customer loyalty.

The researcher will explore and analyse existing theories and practices on customer satisfaction through review of

literatures and primary research findings.

So, the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King has academic importance. The

researcher will develop valid recommendations to the case studied organization in accordance with identified

issues and concerns from review of literatures and primary research. So, this research project has significance

from organizational perspective. The research project is designated in such a way that will improve knowledge and

understanding of the business management through analysing customer satisfaction. So, this research project has

importance from personal view.

Organizational background

The researcher has selected two major leading fast-food businesses, such as McDonald’s and Burger King in the

UK. McDonald’s is the world’s most famous fast-food restaurant and Burger King is one of the main competitors of

McDonald’s. The researcher would like to discuss and explain organizational background, i.e. organizational

information of McDonald’s and Burger King as follows-

McDonald’s: McDonald’s is a famous fast food restaurant known in 119 nations around the world because of

products and services. The most recognizable brand is the Golden Arches closely followed by the clown character
called Ronald McDonald. The company is well known throughout the world because of its products, such as

hamburgers and strong branding (Hassan, 2010). The entry of Ray Kroc was one of the historical events for

McDonald’s success because of his significant changes and development within the business. For example, Ray

Kroc had brought the business outside of California and Arizona and more than 100 restaurants were in operation

by 1959 (Hassan, 2010).

McDonald’s is the world’s leading fast food business. Innovation and environmentally sustainability approach of

the business is one of the prime aspects at McDonald’s in relation to provide foods and services to the customers

throughout the world, including in the UK (Love, 2008). McDonald’s is the world’s largest and biggest fast food

chain. McDonald’s was opened by two brothers named Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1937 in California, some

scholars have mentioned that McDonald’s first opened in 1940 in California (Gaspar, 2005). And so it was, on 12

December, 1948, that the new revamped McDonald’s Restaurant opened, and Richard McDonald cooked the first

McDonald’s hamburger (Gaspar, 2005). Since then the company has been providing fast food items in United

States (U.S.) and other international markets.

The values of McDonald’s reflect the approach and practices of customer satisfaction. For example, McDonald’s

is committed to doing the right thing from the beginning of the business. The company has been developing and

implementing several policies, programs and practices in place that allow the business to use its size and scope to

help make a difference because McDonald’s believes what’s good for the business, is good for all of us

(McDonald’s, 2012). The author has revealed information from McDonald’s (2012) that shows that customers are

the first in the business of McDonald’s. The information also shows that McDonald’s has been adopting most

effective and appropriate strategies to offer high-quality products, quicker services in a clean and friendly

environment as well as commitment towards the value for money for the customers.

Mckinney (2012) has noted that according to American Consumer Satisfaction Index, McDonald’s has the worst

level of customer satisfaction and also noted that all McDonald’s customers are not agreed with the business vision,

i.e. I’m lovin it’ of McDonald’s. Mckinney (2012) has mentioned that it is worth noting that the company has made

significant improvements since 2004. On the other hand, McDonald’s issued a statement in response: “At

McDonald’s, customer satisfaction has, and continues to be, a top priority. We take all customer feedback seriously.

Through restaurant evaluations and customer and employee feedback, we are continually evaluating our

performance. Our internal and third-party research shows that we continue to make progress in satisfying our

customers (McDonald’s, 2012). The company has been carrying out customer satisfaction survey for the purpose

of hearing from customer because customer satisfaction is important to the business. The company has been

carrying out customer satisfaction survey and the feedback of the customer shared directly with all restaurants to

help to make next purchase an excellence experience (McDonald’s, 2012).

Thus, based on the customer satisfaction approach and practice at McDonald’s, it is clear that McDonald’s is one

of the most relevant organizations to carry out customer satisfaction in fast food business.

Burger King: Burger King is second leading fast food business in the world. Burger King is depending on repeat

purchases from satisfied customers. The company has been focusing on high-quality food, good value and

dependable service (Pride and Ferrell, 2012). They have mentioned that the company has been providing different

services with quality foods to increase number of customers through satisfying their needs and demands in

accordance with current trends and demand within the fast-food industry.

According to the Associates Press (2012), Burger King was opened in 1954 in Miami by David Edgerton. Three

months later, Jim McLamore matches Edgerton’s capital and the co-founders form a corporation called Burger King

of Miami Inc. In 2002, Burger King goes publicly. In 2010, Burger King is taken by private business, known as 3G

Capital and the new owners begin yearlong processes to revive the business through new menu items and

remodelled stores. From the beginning the business is trying to provide quality products and excellent services to

the customers for the purpose of creating brand loyalty among other competitors in fast food industry (The

Associates Press, 2012).

Burger King, the second largest fast food chain is launching a nationwide customer experience programme called

Guest Track in the UK (United Kingdom), in partnership with customer insight agency SMG. Burger King says that

in an increasingly challenging market, the customer experience is a vital driver for retaining existing customers and

attracting new customers. The company is committed to pass information within entire system of the

business in real time and particularly for the company’s operational activities in relation to food quality,

cleanliness and speed of service (Sales Promotion Publishing Ltd, 2012). Thus, the approach of customer

experience programme at Burger King can be considered as appropriate initiatives to increase customer

satisfaction within Burger King.

The researcher has revealed information from Burger King Empire (2012) that shows the mission statement of

Burger King that reflects commitment to customers. The business mission and vision reflects the commitment

towards the customers. For example, Burger King has been providing first priority on the quality foods at simpler

and quicker ways to its customers. The second priority of the business is cleaner environment in compare to other

competitors in the fast-food industry. Finally, the business is committed to create better organizational culture that

will help to create more customers through word-of-mouth marketing approach. So, the issue of customer

satisfaction is prime concern of the mission statement of Burger King.

According to American Consumer Satisfaction Index (2012), Burger King has improved its level of customer

satisfaction compare to last year and compare to other bigger competitors, like McDonald’s. The key success factor
at Burger King that mainly concern with the customer satisfaction is the commitment towards improved services to

its customers. The company has been conducting different customer satisfaction program and based on the

feedback and suggestions, the business has been developing and implementing different strategies to increase

customer satisfaction through reducing number of customers’ complaints (Kelso, 2012).

According to a recent report from the National Customer Satisfaction Index, Burger King has shown the most

improvement in customer satisfaction among guests in the United Kingdom market. Even though McDonald’s

scores also improved during the measured period, Burger King’s jump surpassed the Golden Arches for the first

time (Kelso, 2012). In accordance with the discussion and explanation of the overall business activities of both

McDonald’s and Burger King, it is clear that both businesses are committed to provide quality products and

excellence services to their customers. Thus, the researcher would like to opine that the comparative study of

customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King is most time effective and appropriate research project in

respect to organizational point of views.

Research aim and objectives

The primary research aim is to analyse customer satisfaction at fast food industry through comparative study of

McDonald’s and Burger King. The objectives of this research project as follows-

 To explore and analyse existing theories and practices on customer satisfaction within fast food industry,

case of McDonald’s and Burger King through review of literatures;

 To identify and evaluate key factors influencing customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King

through primary and secondary research findings;

 To collect primary and secondary data and information in relation to current approaches and practices on

customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King;

 To represent data and information in such a way that will reflect overall description and explanation on

customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King; and

 To develop valid conclusions and recommendations in accordance with key themes obtained from the

primary and secondary data and information both in terms of academic and organizational perspective.

Research qestions

The primary research question is what are the common factors that affect customer satisfaction at

McDonald’s and Burger King? The other research questions include-

 What are the current business practices to satisfy customers at McDonald’s and Burger King?

 How the case studied organizations, such as McDonald’s and Burger King have been satisfying their

customers?
  What are the common features within case studied organizations, such as McDonald’s and Burger King

leading customer satisfaction?

 What are the levels of customer satisfaction towards McDonald’s and Burger King, UK? and

 What are the future plans and policies to improve current customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger

King?

Overall limitations of the study

There were limitations involved in this research project-

1. Shortage of time and financial resources were the most common limitations. Due to limited time to

there was limited review of literature. And this research project was based on self-financed, so due to

lack money the researcher has conducted limited interviews and surveys to collect primary data from

the case studied organizations, such as McDonald’s and Burger King. So, the limited time and lack of

available financial resources was one the most vital limitations for this research project.

2. The concern for ethical issues and access to the case studied organizations, such as McDonald’s and

Burger King were another limitation of this research project. The researcher has limited access to the

data and information on current practices and policies of customer services and approach of customer

satisfaction because of confidentiality of the case studied organizations.

3. The limited number of samples during the interview and survey may have negative impact on the

primary research findings and thus the preparation of final research report. There was limited number

of interviews and surveys because of shortage of time and money of the researcher. There were few

samples both in interview and survey to collect primary data from the case studied organizations, such

as McDonald’s and Burger King.

4. The lack of interview and survey skills of the researcher may affect the collection of primary data from

the case studied organizations, such as McDonald’s and Burger King.

Brief outline of the study

In this research project, there are six chapters. All of those chapters can be briefly discuss as follows-

Chapter 1- Introduction and Background: Under this chapter, the researcher has to discuss and explain some

of the most common and major issues of a research project. In this chapter, several issues and concerns, such as

background of the study, background of the case studied organizations, research aim and objectives, research

questions and overall limitations of the research study etc. have discussed and explained by the researcher.
Chapter 2- Review of Literature: In this chapter, the researcher has discussed and explained existing theories

and practices of customer satisfaction, factors influencing customer satisfaction, aspects of customer satisfaction

at McDonald’s, aspects of customer satisfaction at Burger King and theoretical background of the research project.

Chapter 3- Research Methodology: This chapter has been designated to cover all relevant concepts of research

methodology. Some of the most common aspects of this chapter include- research philosophies, research

approaches, research methods, advantages and disadvantages of used research methods, data collection

methods and techniques, sampling strategy and sample size, data analysis tools and techniques, data presentation

techniques, consideration of ethical issues and overall limitations of the research methodology etc.

Chapter 4- Research Findings and Analysis: In this chapter, the researcher has presented both primary and

secondary research findings with their analysis. The researcher has presented research findings through findings

from review of literature and their analysis and findings from primary data and their analysis.

Chapter 5- Discussions: In this chapter, the researcher has provided critical discussion of the research findings,

both of primary and secondary. Based on the critical discussions of the research findings, the researcher has draw

conclusions and recommendations in accordance with research aims and objectives.

Chapter 6- Conclusions and recommendations: This is the final chapter of this research project. Under this

chapter, the researcher has provided conclusive remarks and cost-effective and constructive recommendations

both to academic and organizational point of views.

Chapter 2: Review of Literature

Introduction

Review of literature is one the most common and important chapter in any research. This chapter has crucial

influence on the overall research activities and thus to develop standard research report with identifying and

analysing key issues, concerns, theories and practices etc. in accordance with research topic. In this chapter, the

researcher has to discuss and explain all relevant previous research works, including all related concepts,

arguments, key debates and criticism on the research areas. So, this chapter has been playing significant roles to

build framework and background of the research project. For example, according to Saunders et al. (2009), there

are following key benefits of review of literature in any research project-

 It builds the framework and provide background to complete a research project with identifying key issues

and concerns as well as criticism relating to research topic;

  It helps the researcher to synthesize and evaluate research topic through identifying gaps in the previous

research works;

 It helps the researcher to develop research questions, hypothesis or propositions in relation to collect

primary data;

 It helps the research to develop valid conclusions and recommendations within final research report.

Thus, from the above discussion, it can be noted that the critical literature review has been playing significant roles

to explore and analyse key issues and concerns of the proposed research subject. Based on the discussion and

explanation of those issues and concerns, the researcher may develop conclusions and recommendations through

evaluating existing issues and concerns relating to the research topic. Under this chapter, the author has presented

all of the relevant previous research works for the purpose of comparative study of customer satisfaction at

McDonald’s and Burger King, leading fast chains in the world, including in the UK.

Key elemts from review of literature

This research project is based on the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King,

world’s leading fast-food chain.

Burger King was founded in 1954 by its propellers McLamore and Edgerton. In the present situation, the business

is operating 7,800 restaurants and contributed 21.9% of fast-food market share (Burger King, 2012). Meanwhile,

McDonalds’ was introduced a year after, 1955. Founded by Ray Kroc and presently operating in 13,000 restaurants

while contributing a 44% of market share in fast food industry (McDonald’s, 2012).

The researcher has discussed and explained all of the relevant issues and concerns of customer satisfaction at

McDonald’s and Burger King under following three sub-heading-

1. Definition and explanation of customer satisfaction;

2. Customer satisfaction at McDonald’s;

3. Customer satisfaction at Burger King; and

4. Tools and techniques to measure customer satisfaction.

A. Definition and explanation of customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction, a business term is defined as a measure of how products and services supplied by a

business meet or surpass customer expectation. It is seen as a key performance indicator within a business (Khare,

2012). He has also described that in a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers;

customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business

strategy.
Over the past few decades, the concept of customer satisfaction has attracted the attention of practitioners and

academic researchers. Although widely used as a business performance indicator (Luo and Homburg, 2007) and

consumer choice assessor, there is still lack of consensus as to what this multidimensional concept mean. Some

researchers have conceptualize this concept as an emotional response to an evaluative process (Oliver,

1997).Others like (Woodruff, et al., 1987; Halstead, et al., 1994; Westbrook and Reilly, 1983) also share a different

view by claiming this concept to be an effective response process which in itself is cognitive in scope (Bolton and

Drew, 1991; Howard and Sheth, 1969; Tse and Wilton, 1988).

The success of a business depends on the level of satisfaction by its customers. The level of customer satisfaction

reflects the positive attitude and feelings towards the business. The research shows that most of the satisfied

customers recommend to others about the products and services of that business and thus the business may gain

more competitive edge in the market through increasing customers’ satisfaction. For the purpose of gaining and/or

achieving business success, there should more focus on the needs and demands as well as expectations of the

customers and thus need to develop policy to provide right products and/or services to meet those needs, demands

and expectations of the customers.

Customer satisfaction is becoming one the key issue in recent competitive business environment because of much

awareness and consciousness of customers throughout the local and international business markets. A business

has to perform several activities to satisfy its customers through providing quality products as well as quality

services along with other commitment towards customers and the community in which it has been operating and

managing its business. For example, Xue et al. (2008) have mentioned that customer satisfaction (CS) has

becomes one of the cores of modern service competition. They have also mentioned that there are some major

aspects, such as infrastructure and the appearance of physical facilities; dependability and accuracy; betimes

character of service; the reliability of the trusted staffs; customer care; price diversity; and food quality etc. are have

significant influence on customer satisfaction in fast food industry.

The definition and explanation of customer satisfaction may vary depending on the type of business and the demo-

, socio-, and economic characteristics of the customers and the markets of the business. For example, Oliver

(1997) has defined customer satisfaction as satisfaction is the consumer’s fulfilment response. It is a judgement

that a product or service feature, or the product or service itself, provided (or providing) pleasurable level of

consumption-related fulfilment, including under- or over- fulfilment. Khan (2012) has mentioned that customers are

the vital part of any business, including fast food industry, such as McDonald’s and Burger King and satisfaction is

the individual feeling of pleasure or disappointment after purchasing a product/service from a business. So,

customer satisfaction is the level of pleasure or disappointment of an individual while purchasing or consuming a

particular product and/or service from a business.

Khan (2012) has concluded that customer satisfaction is very important for a business; however, a business can

not satisfy all of its customers because of multiple customers and different choices and views of them. According

to Riel (2005), customer satisfaction is considered as key driver for the success of an organization, like fast food

industry. He has mentioned that the success of the business depends on the approach of customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction is defined as the expressions or approach of satisfaction on products and services perceived

from a business. Due to ever-increasing of globalization of services and brands, customer satisfaction is becoming

vital concern for fast food business (Gilbert et al., 2004). The approach of satisfying customers through quality

products and services is playing crucial roles on the success and prospers of fast food businesses, like McDonald’s

and Burger King (Gilbert et al., 2004).

The feeling of pleasure and expectation fulfilment of a customer by a business is known customer satisfaction

(Zairi, 2000). He has also mentioned that if the products/services satisfy the customers, they will become loyal to

the products/services and towards the brand and on the other hand, if the customers become dissatisfied with the

products/services, the customer may switch to other business or may not purchase again from that business. So,

customer satisfaction is important part for a business for the purpose of competing in the markets and thus achieves

organizational goals and objectives.

In their study of customer satisfaction, Veloutsou et al. (2005) have mentioned that customer satisfaction is the

perceived values and level of satisfaction between tangible and intangible products and services provided by a

business. He has noted the difference between physical and non-physical products and services that are

considered as the most vital factor in satisfying customers by the business. In similar views, Churcill and Surprenant

(1982) have stated that the overall feelings and emotional feedback towards particular products and/or services of

a business by a customer after being using of that products and/or services in terms of expectation, ability to meet

demands and needs as well as some sorts of physiological expressions about the products and/or

services. Kurniawan (2010) has described that customer satisfaction is a dynamic process that can change over

period of time. The reasons include- the changes in consumer behaviour, the changes in price of similar or same

products and services in other business, and the concern of quality of products and services and so on. So,

customer satisfaction is diverse and complex issue within a business.

Based on the review of previous research works, the researcher has found that several authors and scholars have

identified some determinants in relation to describe and explain customer satisfaction. The researcher would like

to mention following major examples of the determinants of customer satisfaction-

 Promotion: According to Huang (2011) promotion is a form of marketing activities of a business that set

out in relation to create more customers through catching their attention in different ways. All of these

activities have vital roles to increase customer satisfaction. For example, Kurniawan (2010) has noted
 that promotion of a product and/or service helps a business to build strong relationships with customers

and thus help to increase customer satisfaction.

 Quality: Quality is one of the most common factors in customer satisfaction that can be measure through

categorizing or providing some sorts of standardization to the products and/or services of a business

(Takeuchi, 1983). For example, service quality is most effective determinant in customer satisfaction

that is evaluated when a customer compare his or her perception and expectation of service delivery

(Gronroos, 1984). Zeithaml (1985) has noted that many researchers often use service quality to

determine and measure customer satisfaction. Zeithaml (1985) have developed a model known as

SERVQUAL model that is designated to measure service quality of a business and it is a scale with

multiple items that can be used to understand and find out the service expectation and customer’s

perception. Based on the results derived from SERVQUAL model, it is can be said that the more

customer expectation the more customer satisfaction and vice versa. However, there is criticism of

SERVQUAL model to measure customer satisfaction in fast food industry. A number of researchers

have criticized the SERVQUAL approach. Two criticisms are notable. One, charged by Peter et al.

(1993) and Brown et al. (1993), relates to the indirect difference score approach. Brown et al. (1993)

observed that difference scores produced theoretically poorer reliabilities than their component scores.

 Branding: Kurniawan (2010) has identified that branding is one of the most vital factors which have been

identified repeatedly customer choice in the selected product/service from a particular business.

Branding has been playing crucial roles within customers’ purchase decisions and the more brand is

succeeded the more value for its brand can be generated and thus to increase customer satisfaction

(Khan, 2011). For instance, Boukili (2008) has noted that the process by which a business can build

positive image about products and/or services through adding some unique features with those

products and/or services and completely different from other products/services of the existing

competitors in the market. Thus, branding helps the customers to make decisions whether to purchase

a product/service from that brand or not.

 Physical environment: Physical surroundings or environment has significant influence to chose or

purchase a product/service from a business. As an example, Lim (2010) mentioned that the settings

and decoration of the restaurant that cane termed as physical environment helps to create positive

image about the business among the customers and thus help to influence their behaviour during the

purchase. Lim (2010) also mentioned that there is significant influence of physical environment within

restaurants whereas lightening, furnishing, sent, music and different other environmental factors

among them influence on customer satisfaction.

 Price: Price of a product and/or service is the foremost factor in customer satisfaction. Price is set out in

accordance with the value of the product/service of a business. For instance, Khan (2011) has
 mentioned that majority of the customers express their level of satisfaction of particular products and

services based on the price of those products and services compare to other businesses. So, price is

one the most important determinant to measure the level of customer satisfaction of a product/service

of a business.

 Taste of products: Lim (2010) has stated that there is significant correlation between taste and customer

satisfaction within restaurants or fast food business. Lim (2010) has noted that many researchers have

concluded and suggested restaurant business has to focus on the taste of the foods in relation increase

customer satisfaction, as the taste of foods provides positive attitude towards products and thus

increase their level of satisfaction for the next purchase.

Leon and Leslie (2006) have described that customer satisfaction is one of the most vital aspects of a restaurant

business, while the degree of customer satisfaction provided by the goods and/or services as measured by the

number of repeated customers. They have also mentioned that intense competition and high quality expectation

from customer have forced fast food industry to transform from a product-centric approach to a customer-centric

approach.

Grigoroudis and Siskos (2010) have mentioned following aspects in relation to customer satisfaction within fast

food industry, including McDonald’s and Burger King-

1. Customer satisfaction provides most reliable and appropriate market information and thus based on

the market information, the organizations can develop and implement strategies to satisfy their

customers;

2. Customer satisfaction is vital to explore market opportunities for a business;

3. Customer satisfaction can be used to understand customers’ behaviours as well as to identify and

analyse customers’ expectations, needs and desires toward the business; and

4. Customer satisfaction helps an organization to reveal potential differences in the service quality

perceptions between the customers and the management of the business organization.

Hall and Mitchell (2000) have emphasized that despite rapid globalization of the food market in many destinations,

homogenization of production or consumption is not a certainty. In fast-food industry, customer satisfaction is one

of the most important strategic tools used for building a company’s brand image. Further, the phenomenon of

customer satisfactions in this industry is of critical importance for organizational success especially due to the

heterogeneity of the product and the service involved as well as also due to the fast changing customers’

requirements. In many researches customer satisfaction has been probed as most important factor on overall firm’s

performance as it directly affect the flow and enormity of customer traffic of the fast food restaurants. Thus, from
the above discussion and explanation, it is clear that customer satisfaction is becoming key issue and concern to

achieve competitive advantage by a business, like fast food industry.

B. Customer satisfaction at McDonald’s

McDonald’s is the world’s largest food service retailer with more than 30,000 restaurants in over 119 countries.

The company is recognized a growing trend in the quick service restaurant industry toward timely and accurate

customer service. The company has been following innovations and using different technologies for the purpose

providing quality products and services to the customers (Astute Solutions, 2012). McDonald’s is the largest fast

food chains in the world. The company has been performing different activities to satisfy its customers. However,

in accordance with data collected by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) reveals that McDonald’s

ranks in last place in customer satisfaction, despite being the top fast food company in terms of revenue (The

HuffingtonPost.Com, Inc., 2012). The data from ACSI shows that the company was highest in customer satisfaction

in 1995.

ACSI is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services. The ACSI

uses data from interviews with roughly 70,000 customers annually for measuring customer satisfaction. Since 1995,

McDonald’s has consistently ranked last, according to the ACSI. However, there is good news: The restaurant,

which serves tens of millions of customers a day, had a rating of only 59 back on 2000. This year’s ranking is the

best ever for McDonald’s (CBS Local Media, 2012). Based on the survey carried by ACSI (2012), it is clear that

McDonald’s has the lowest score in customer satisfaction compare to other fast-food industry around the USA and

other international countries.

In all fairness to the food and service at McDonald’s, even though they rank last, they have been showing some

improvements, such as reducing price, introducing new menu, facilities to customers at stores, ensuring cleanliness

and tidiness within stores etc. They have ranked dismally last since 1995 and at one point in 2000 their level of

satisfaction was only 59%, in 2012 it is 73% which is an increase from 2012. McDonald’s executives take these

findings seriously and have been trying to give the customers what they want (Esteves, 2012). On the other hand,

McDonald’s vice president of operations, Jim McCabe has said that the company has been performing better and

continuously making progress in satisfying customers. He also noted that in fact, the producers of the ACSI said

that McDonald’s customer satisfaction is at an all-time high (Farberov, 2012). Farberov (2012) has represent

following figure to shows that how McDonald’s has been ranking below average on customer satisfaction-

The researcher has derived information from ACSI (2012) that shows the position of McDonald’s in customer

satisfaction compare to other competitors in the U.S. and other international markets. The results can be shown in

a table as follows-
Table: 2.1. Results on customer satisfaction at fast-food businesses

Name of 2009 2010 2011 2012 Previous year First year %

restaurant % change change

Papa John’s 75 80 79 80 1.3 15.9

Wendy’s 76 77 77 78 1.3 8.3

Pizza Hut 74 78 81 78 -3.7 13.0

KFC 69 75 75 75 0.0 11.9

Burger King 69 74 75 75 0.0 13.6

McDonald’s 70 67 72 73 1.4 15.9

Source: ACSI, 2012

From the above table, it is clear that McDonald’s has been ranking lower since 2007 to 2012 among major and top

ten fast-food chains both in the U.S. and in the international markets. McDonald’s is one of the best known brands

in the world. The business has been building its brand through continuous listening and responding to its customers

about their choices and preferences towards the business (McDonald’s, 2012). Having identifying its key

audiences, such as customers and target market, McDonald’s has been developing and implementing marketing

mixes for the purpose of satisfying customers and increasing their loyalty to the business. For example, in the UK

due to changes in technological aspects, the business has introduced new food production techniques, free Wi-Fi

services, services while driving etc. All of these efforts have been taken in relation to increase customer satisfaction

(McDonald’s, 2012).

Another example shows that through marketing, McDonald’s establishes a prominent position in the minds of

customers that is known as branding of McDonald’s (McDonald’s, 2012). To support this argument at McDonald’s

customer satisfaction, Dhavale (2012) has mentioned that McDonald’s focuses not only delivering on sales for the

immediate present, but also protecting its long term brand reputation. He has also mentioned that the business has

been developing a sophisticated networked operation and distribution system in relation to achieve consistent

product taste and quality across the nations in the world. As concluding remarks, Dhavale (2012) has stated that

McDonald’s thinks according to the customers’ tastes, value systems, lifestyles, language and perception that

reflect the commitment of the business to increase and improve customer satisfaction.

Fitzgerald and Moon (1996) have mentioned that the employees of the McDonald’s have been focusing on the

particular demands and expectations of the customers to increase their level of satisfaction on the products and

services at the business. They have also mentioned that most of the employees at McDonald’s are talking

constantly with the customers to get their feedback and suggestions and thus develop business policy to reduce
customers’ complaints in relation to increase customer satisfaction at the business compare to other competitors

in the fast-food industry. At the end, based on the information revealed from ivythesis.typepad.com, 2011, the

author would like to concluded that McDonald’s employees, such as general employees, like crew members and

managers are responsible to communicate and interact with the customers to get their feedback and suggestions

about the products and services and thus take initiatives and decisions to overcome major drawbacks in providing

products and services in more convenient ways to increase customer satisfaction.

The commitment of McDonald’s to employees also reflects the practices and policies of increasing and improving

customer satisfaction in the UK and other international markets. McDonald’s has been recruiting or hiring people

to ensure quality products and services to the customers. Based on the information obtained from City and Guilds

(2012), the researcher would like to mention that McDonald’s has been providing training to staff while seeing

immediate improvements in customer satisfaction. The information shows that McDonald’s aims to develop

employees’ knowledge and skills so that they improve their performance meet the highest quality standards and

deliver customer satisfaction. It is all about the effective day-to-day running of each restaurant and how every

apprentice can contribute to improve and increase customer satisfaction (City and Guilds, 2012).

So, it is clear that analysis of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s in comparison with Burger King is relevant and

appropriate research project.

C. Customer satisfaction at Burger King

Burger King Corporation is a fast food restaurant chain which opened its doors in 1954, specialising in flame broiled

hamburger sandwiches known as Whoppers. The company became famous for their marketing of those

hamburgers to customers through the “Have It Your Way” advertising campaign during the 1970s. Continuing this

customer satisfaction pursuit, Burger King makes it easy for dining patrons with customer service related issues to

contact them directly by telephone, through a written letter or in person at any restaurant location (Kimberling,

2012).

Burger King and its franchises operated over 11,000 restaurants in the U.S. and 57 countries and international

territories around the world, producing 2000 system wide sales of $11 billion in 2004 (Trustees of Dartmouth

College, 2004). According to Hasanali et al. (2005) in response, Burger King undertook extensive research to better

understand the key drivers of customer satisfaction in fast food. Through statistical analysis, Burger King

determined that the four most critical drivers are quality, service, cleanliness, and value. However, Bruton (2010)

has mentioned that Burger King is losing customers because of four main reasons- marketing approach is not

appropriate and effective compare to other competitors; the slow process in making food; less focus on kids; and

changes in product recipe etc.

A new report from the National Customer Satisfaction Index indicates that customer satisfaction with restaurants

in the United Kingdom is on an upswing. Specifically, limited-service restaurants achieved an all-time high score

for customer satisfaction, with 76 points out of 100. Within the restaurant category, Burger King showed the most

improvement in British customer satisfaction, jumping to 71 from 66 point, and passing McDonald’s. Nevertheless,

McDonald’s improves from 68 to 69, its highest customer satisfaction score to date (Kelso, 2012).

Burger King has been developing and implementing several policies and activities to improve and increase

customer satisfaction. For example, Sidhu (2010) has mentioned that Burger King has recently released a new

method, known as monitoring customer flow within store through cameras of customer service. The purpose of

developing this method is to monitor and assess the movement and behaviour of customers within the store. Based

on the customers behaviour, Burger King has been improving and modifying service approaches and practices to

ensure quality services to them (Sidhu, 2010).

Burger King says that, in an increasingly challenging market, the customer experience is a vital driver for retaining

existing customers and attracting new business. In this case, the business has introduced a program known as

GUEST TRAC in the UK. The information collected is fed back to the entire Burger King system in real time and is

specifically targeted to the company’s operational focus on food quality, cleanliness and speed of service

(Promotional Marketing, 2012). The researcher has revealed information from Customer Service Scoreboard.Com

(2012) that shows that customer service at Burger King is ranked 176 out of the 576 companies with an overall

score of 45.65 out of a possible 200 based upon 288 ratings. However, this score reflects that customer service

and customer support at Burger King is disappointing.

Pride and Ferrell (2011) have mentioned that Burger King, a leading fast-food chain depend on repeated purchases

from satisfied customers, whereas customer expectations revolve around high-quality food, good value and

dependable service. The business has been focusing on all of these issues to satisfy customers and thus to

increase brand image and loyalty in fast-food business. So, the analysis of customer satisfaction at Burger King in

comparison with McDonald’s is relevant and appropriate research project.

The researcher has obtained information from Ivythesis.typepad.com (2012) that shows that both McDonald’s and

Burger King has been offering same or similar products and services to compete in the fast-food markets, however,

each business has its own approach to deliver quality products and services to its customers to satisfy them and

thus to increase customer loyalty. For example, as for the products, both McDonalds and Burger King are the

largest consumers of beef/meat products, and sometimes producing the mind ongoing McDonalds-Burger King

conflict (Hruby, 2004).

Another example shows that both McDonald’s and Burger King has been providing better working environment for

their employees to offer best services to the customers. For instance, however, the industrial experts quoted that

working in Burger King is more advisable because of the dining quality and therefore, it also leaves a positive image

on the customers in the areas of maintenance and cleanliness. This fact is also considered as an advantage and

has the implication as being the most desirable working place (Highhouse, et al., 1999). According to Kennedy

(2012), McDonald’s and directs rivals Burger King consistently score very similarly on the ACSI survey, with Burger

King stores generally outperforming by a small margin. This was the story again this year, with Burger King

commercial properties sitting on 75 per cent satisfaction to McDonald’s 73 per cent.

D. Tools and techniques to measure customer satisfaction

A business may obtain more success and profits from satisfied customer and thus in this case, customer

satisfaction can be considered as most important aspects of that business. Customer satisfaction measurement

can be viewed as the process of measuring behavioural approach of the customers. There are several tools and

techniques that have been using for the purpose of measuring customer satisfaction in service-based business,

including fast food business, such as McDonald’s and Burger King. The researcher has reviewed some of the

following major tools and techniques in relation to measure customer satisfaction in fast food business-

i. SERVQUAL model: Service quality model, known as SERVQUAL model is widely used tool to measure

customer satisfaction. This model has been developed by Zeithaml in 1985. The model is based on some specific

items, such as tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy etc. against which the level of

satisfaction of a customer is measured and assesses for a particular business. SERVQUAL model is defined as

the difference between the customer’s expectations for the service being offered and his perceptions of the service

actually received (Zeithaml, 1985).

ii. Expectancy-disconfirmation model: Oliver (1981) has developed Expectancy-disconfirmation model in

relation to measure customer satisfaction. Expectancy-disconfirmation theory posits that customers form their

satisfaction with a target product or service as a result of subjective (or direct) comparisons between their

expectations and perceptions. Customers are directly asked to provide their perceptions or evaluations of the

comparisons, using a `worse than/better than expected’ scale. The expectancy-disconfirmation model asserts that

customer satisfaction is a direct function of subjective disconfirmation. Churchill and Surprenant (1982) have noted

that the level of expectation by a customer and the perception of that customer about a product/service can be

regarding as important factor that influencing customer satisfaction. So, the expectancy-disconfirmation model can

be used to measure the level of customer satisfaction at any business, including fast-food business, like

McDonald’s and Burger King.

iii. Means-end-model: Zeithaml (1988) has developed means-end model in respect to determine perceived value

of a customer that has significant influence on customer satisfaction. Based on this model, it is clear that perceived

value is a direct antecedent of a purchase decision and a direct consequence of perceived service quality that

ultimately affect the customer’s satisfaction. As an example, Parasuraman (1997) has mentioned that the role of

customers’ perceived value in understanding consumer behaviour is remarkable and thus it can be noted that

means-end model of perceived value is important tool and technique to measure customer satisfaction.

iv. Behavioural intentions model: Brady and Cronin (2000) have mentioned that the measurement and

determination of behavioural intentions of customers can be used to measure the level of satisfaction of a customer

on particular product/service of a business. As an example, Anwar and Gulzar (2011) have described that the

behavioural intentions, such as word of mouth of a customer has been playing vital roles to increase number of

customers as well as customer satisfaction on particular product/service from a business.

The researcher will apply above mentioned models during the primary data collection to explore and analyse overall

policies and practices of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Theoretical framework of research

The researcher would like to provide brief description of each issue that lead to customer satisfaction as follows-

i. Product/service feature: Oliver (1997) has defined customer satisfaction as the process of judgment that a

product or service feature, or the product/service itself. So, the overall features of the product or service is prime

concern in customer satisfaction. For example, West (2012) has mentioned that the quality of a product and/or

service builds positive image among the customers and thus they make purchase decisions as they become

satisfied with that quality in product and/or service. Thus, it can be predict that the overall features and description

has vital influence on customer satisfaction (Hypothesis-1).

ii. Customer’s expectation: Customers’ expectations are key determinants of their consumption experiences,

satisfaction, and loyalty (Ofir and Simonson, 2001). It is now widely accepted that exceeding customer expectations

is key to customer satisfaction, delight, and loyalty. So, it can be assume that customer’s expectation positively

affecting customer satisfaction (Hypothesis-2).

iii. Customer’s perception: Customer’s perception is defined as the perceived value against expected value of a

particular product/service of a business (Oliver, 1997). As an example, Ho and Zheng (2003) have mentioned that

customers will be satisfied if their perceived delivery times are shorter than their expectations in service delivery

business. Thus, it can be said that customer’s perception is interrelated and interconnected with customer

satisfaction (Hypothesis-3).
iv. Customer’s decision making process: A series of activities involved in customer’s decision making process

for purchase a product and/or service from a business. The steps of customer’s decision making process include

information search, finding and evaluating alternatives, best value of product/service and simplest means to get

the product/service and finally post-purchase behaviour of the customers etc. (Ferrell and Hartline, 2010). It can

be assume customer’s purchase decision making process is positively related with customer satisfaction

(Hypothesis-4).

v. Customer’s post-purchase behaviour: The positive or negative feedback on a particular product and/or

service of a business after buying or consuming of that product and/or service can be considered as customer’s

post-purchase behaviour (Ferrell and Hartline, 2010). So, it can be noted that customer’s post-purchase behaviour

has significant influence on customer satisfaction (Hypothesis-5).

Conclusion

The review of literature shows that customer satisfaction is becoming key concern for a business, particularly for

fast-food business. Due to recent market competition and increased demands and expectations of customer, a

business has to develop and implement several policies and practices to satisfy its customers. The researcher has

identified some of the great contributions from several authors and scholars on customer satisfaction at McDonald’s

and Burger King. The researcher has also identified some gaps in knowledge and understanding of customer

satisfaction. At the end, the researcher would like to opine that this chapter was most important and vital to make

standard research report with valid conclusions and recommendations in accordance with issues and concerns in

the field of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King that identified from the review of literature.

Chapter 3: Research methodology

Introduction

Research methodology is one the most vital chapter/part within a research project. According to Saunders et al.

(2009), research methodology helps the researcher to develop effective and appropriate methods to collect relevant

data from different sources, such as primary, secondary and tertiary etc. The research methodology helps the

researcher to establish research instrument, i.e. the development and implementation of interview, survey,

observation etc. for the purpose of collecting primary data. Thus, it can be noted that this chapter will be able to

provide overall description of the research methodology in relation to collect all relevant data and information in

accordance with the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Research philosophy
Research philosophy depicts the development and nature of knowledge involved in research project. It is the

approach that denotes what are doing by the researcher during the research activities (Collins, 2010). He has

mentioned that there are three core approaches that reflect research philosophy and these include-

 Epistemology- is the study of the theory of knowledge, including the nature, scope and limitations on it;

 Ontology- is the philosophical study of the nature of being or existence; and

 Axiology- is the study of quality or value, and is often concerned with ethics and values.

The most common research philosophies include- positivism, realism, interpretivism and post-positivism (Saunders

et al., 2009). Based on the positivism research philosophy, the researcher believes that the reality is stable and

can be observed and described from an objective viewpoint, i.e. without interfering with the phenomenon being

studied. This research philosophy is involves in the manipulation of reality with variations in only a single

independent variable in relation to form relationships between variables (Saunders et al., 2009). Realism research

philosophy describe that knowledge is socially created. According to realism research philosophy, the researcher

may view of the research topic from different views and hence the researcher may follow theory building approach

to provide general descriptions of the research topic (Chia, 2002). The interpretivist research philosophy describes

that only through the subjective interpretation of and intervention in reality as well as the study of phenomenon in

their natural environment helps the researcher to fully understand the reality of under research project. Post-

positivism asserts the value of the values, passion and politics in research in considering with the viewing the whole

picture and taking a distanced view or an overview of the subjects under research project (Saunders et al., 2009).

The researcher has explored and analysed customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King through

measuring customer satisfaction towards the organizations and in this case positivist research philosophy was

most appropriate to collect all relevant data and information from primary and secondary sources.

Research approach

The validity of a research project may depend on the approach taken by the researcher to collect data. Depending

on the research approach, the researcher has to use most effective and appropriate research methods in relation

to collect qualitative or quantitative or both from primary source(s). According to Cresswell (2007), there are mainly

two research approaches, such as qualitative and quantitative. In qualitative research approach, data comes in the

form of description and narration and the main sources of data include- physical observation, interviews etc. In

quantitative research approach, data comes in the form of number and the main sources of data include- survey,

document review and analysis etc. (Cresswell, 2007).

The other two most common research approaches include- inductive and deductive research approaches

(Saunders et al., 2009). The inductive research approach moves from specific observations to broader
generalizations and theories, while the deductive research approach moves from more general to the more specific

theories.

In this research project, deductive research approach has been followed for the purpose of developing a specific

theory on customer satisfaction from general observations on it at McDonald’s and Burger King. The researcher

has collected data from primary and secondary sources through conducting interview, survey and document

analysis etc. So, it can be said that both qualitative and quantitative research approach have been applied to collect

all relevant data to explore and analyse the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger

King.

Data collection methods

It is very important to identify and use most appropriate method(s) in relation to collect all relevant data and

information from different sources. According to Saunders et al. (2009), there are several methods that can be

used for data collection and the researcher has to identify the most appropriate ones. The researcher has used

two most effective research methods, such as semi-structured interview and questionnaire survey for the purpose

of collecting primary data on the customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Semi-structured interview is widely used and open framework that allows the researcher to develop focused,

conversational and two-way communication approach to collect data. The researcher has used semi-structured

interview with management personnel of McDonald’s and Burger King to collect primary data. Questionnaire survey

is another effective and appropriate research method to collect data from mass population on particular issue or

subject and thus helps the researcher to develop specific theory based on broad and general perceptions of the

mass population. The researcher has also used questionnaire survey with customers at four different restaurants

of McDonald’s and Burger King.

The researcher would like to mention some the advantages and possible disadvantages of the used methods, such

as interview and survey in a table as follows-

Table: 3.1. Data collection methods and their advantages and possible disadvantages

Data collection Advantages Possible disadvantages

methods

Semi-structured To collect most appropriate and relevant data from It is one the most time consuming

interview key personnel of case studied organization(s); research method to collect data;
To explore and analyse key existing theories and It requires skill and experience of the
practices within the case studied organization(s); interviewer to conduct interview in
 To develop two-way communication system, i.e. effectively to collect all relevant data
between the interviewer and the interviewee in from the case studied organization(s).
relation to create flexibility in data collection.

Questionnaire To collect large number of data from mass It may have lack of validity of

survey population; findings;

To get general perceptions and opinions on
research topic from mass population; and
It is one the most effective practical research
methods that helps the researcher to create new
theory(s) based on collected quantitative data.
It is difficult to analyse large volume
of data to develop specific theory(s)
on research subject; and
It is lack of truthfulness and honesty
in some cases.

Source: Author’s analysis

Sampling strategy and sample size

Sampling is one the most vital part to collect data from the case studied organization(s). Bryman and Bell (2007)

have defined sampling is a process of segmenting of a group of people from mass population for the research

investigation. They have mentioned that sampling can be of probability sampling and non-probability sampling. In

probability sampling, there is equal chance of each sample to be select during the interview and/or survey and this

method is one the most common and effective to ensure minimum error during the data collection from mass

population. On the other hand, in non-probability sampling, there is no equal chance of being selected each unit or

person during the collection of data from them and in most cases, the unit and/or person is pre-selected for the

data collection (Bryman and Bell, 2007). It is one the most effective sampling strategy to collect data from pre-

defined group of people about certain issues.

The researcher has followed simple random sampling in relation to select respondents at four different restaurants

of McDonald’s and Burger King (i.e. two restaurants of McDonald’s and two restaurants of Burger King). The

interview conducted with two management personnel of each restaurant of McDonald’s and Burger King. The

survey carried out among fifty respondents of each restaurant of McDonald’s and Burger King.

Data analysis tools and techniques

Data analysis is an effective and efficient method of analysing large sets of data collected from different sources

(Gupta, 2007). Data analysis is very important task for the researcher to prepare standard research report. The

researcher has to use different tools and techniques to analyse collected data and some the most common ones

include- Microsoft excel, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) etc. (Gupta, 2007). Data analysis

techniques include univariate analysis, bivariate analysis and multivariate analysis etc. Univariate analysis depicts

single-variable distributions and their analysis, while bivariate analysis depicts two-variable distributions and their

analysis. On the other hand, multivariate analysis refers to all statistical methods that simultaneously analyse
multiple measurements on each individual or object under investigation (Hair et al., 1995). Thus, it is clear that data

analysis tools and techniques can take the form of simple descriptive statistics or more sophisticated statistical

inference. The researcher has used some statistical tools and techniques for the purpose of analysing quantitative

data and some descriptive methods to analyse qualitative data, which has been collected from interview and

survey. The researcher has used different Microsoft office packages to analyse data collected from primary data

secondary sources of both McDonald’s and Burger King.

Data presentation techniques

Data presentation is one the most common and important part within research report that helps the researcher to

represent all of the collected data in an easy-to-understand way (Alabi, 1999). He has mentioned that data can be

summarized and presented in various forms and some of the major common ones include-

 Tabulation- data present in tabular form, a table is an array of data in rows and columns that represent

large mass of data that provides distinct pattern of the data; and

 Diagrammatic representation- data present in various forms, such as pictogram, pie chart, bar chart,

histogram and line graph etc. for the purpose of better visual presentation of the data (Alabi, 1999).

The researcher has used different data presentation techniques, including tabulation, pictogram, and other

techniques to present both qualitative and quantitative data collected from primary and secondary sources of both

McDonald’s and Burger King.

Validity, reliability and generalization

Validity is one the main concerns with research. Validity is an indication of how the research is valid and more

specifically, validity applies to both the design and the methods followed and used in the research project. Thus,

validity refers to the soundness of the interpretation of scores from a test, the most important consideration in

measurement (Thomas et al., 2011). They have mentioned that there are four basic types of validity and these

include- logical, content, criterion and construct validity. Logical validity refers degree to which a measure obviously

involves the performance being measured. Content validity refers degree to which a test adequately samples what

was covered in the subject. Criterion validity refers degree to which scores on a test are related to some recognized

standard or criterion. Construct validity refers degree to which a test measures a hypothetical construct, usually

established by relating the test results to some behaviour (Thomas et al., 2011). The researcher has ensured the

validity of the research through developing research design in such a way to collect all of the relevant issues and

concerns of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King. Pilot study has been done in relation to ensure

validity of the research questions as well as in relation to modify and improve research questions to collect most

effective and appropriate data on the customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.
Reliability is defined as the extent to which a questionnaire, test, observation or any measurement procedure

produces the same results on repeated trials. In short, it is the stability or consistency of scores over time or across

raters (Miller, 1998). As an example, Miller (1998) has mentioned that the degree to which an individual’s response

on a survey would stay the same over time is one the common sign of reliability. There are three aspects of reliability

that include- equivalence, stability and internal consistency. The researcher has maintained of all these aspects

in relation to ensure reliability of data and in fact, research report itself. The researcher has represented data in

appropriate format that has been ensured that the findings were reliable. The researcher has also presented data

in such a way that reflects the general perceptions and opinions of customers are reliable through comparing results

from interview. Generalization refers to the approach of generalisation of research findings. In simply,

generalization denotes the general aspects of the research findings to similar or different research issue. The

researcher has presented data in standard format and with appropriate analysis that can be applicable for same or

other sectors in terms of comparative study of customer satisfaction.

Consideration of ethical issues

There was key focus on the maintenance of ethical issues in this research project. For example, the author has

cited and acknowledged appropriately both in text and bibliography of all previous research works that have been

used to explore existing theories and practices on customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King. The

researcher has maintained confidentiality, integrity, honesty, objectivity and so on while collecting both primary and

secondary data from McDonald’s and Burger King. So, the author want to say there was great effort to ensure the

maintenance of all relevant aspects of ethics involved in the completion of a research project from review of

literature to data collection as well as during the preparation of final research report on the comparative study of

customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Conclusion

Research methodology has crucial influence and importance on the completion of research activities. Research

methodology helps the researcher to develop effective and appropriate research design and framework for the

purpose of collecting primary and secondary data from the case studied organization(s). Under this chapter, the

author has covered all of the things involved in research methodology for the purpose of collecting maximum

response from the respondents both in semi-structured interviews and questionnaire survey. Thus, the researcher

would like to opine that this chapter has covered all of the relevant issues and concerns of research methodology

to develop standard research report in the field of comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and

Burger King.

Chapter 4: Data Presentation

Introduction

Data presentation is one the most common and important chapter within a research report. The researcher has to

present collected data in an appropriate format in relation to provide clear explanation of the primary research

findings. In this chapter, the researcher has provided data presentation that was collected through semi-structured

interview and questionnaire survey through two major parts, such as presentation of interview data and

presentation of survey data. The researcher has used most effective and appropriate format(s) and method(s) to

present both qualitative and quantitative data. For example, to present qualitative data, the researcher has used

descriptive statistics methods, such as description of interview results and to present quantitative data, the

researcher has used inferential statistics methods, such as percentage. At the end, it can be noted that under this

chapter the researcher has presented all of the data collected from semi-structured interview and questionnaire

survey from McDonald’s and Burger King.

Presentation of interview data

The researcher has conducted four semi-structured interviews with the management personnel of both McDonald’s

and Burger King. Each interview has containing more than 20 questions and the duration of each interview was at

least 30 minutes. The researcher has tried to developed more interactive and communicative approach during the

conducting semi-structured.

The researcher would like to present the primary research findings from semi-structured interview as follows-

i. Demographics of the interviewees: The researcher has conducted interviews with two management personnel

of McDonald’s and two management personnel of Burger King. The demographics of the interviewees can be

shown in a table as follows-

Table: 4.1. Demographics of the interviewees at McDonald’s and Burger King

Demographic characteristic McDonald’s, UK Burger King, UK

Position and Age of the interviewee Store Manager was 35 years old. Assistant Store Manager was 32

Team leader was 30 years old. years old. Team Leader was 29

years old.

Gender of the interviewee Both Store Manager and Team The Assistant Store Manager was

Leader were male. female and Team Leader was male.

Duration of working at position The Store Manager has been The Assistant Store Manager has

working for more than 2 years at this been working for more than 4 years.

position. Previously he worked at

 different position at McDonald’s. The The Team Leader has been working

Team Leader has been working for for more than 2 years.

more than 3 years.

Source: Interview data

ii. Defining customer satisfaction at fast-food industry: The definition of customer satisfaction is very subjective

and varies person to person. For the purpose of identifying most appropriate definition of customer satisfaction at

fast-food industry, the researcher has asked the interviewees to define customer satisfaction. Based on the

interview results, the definition of customer satisfaction at fast-food industry can be represent as follows-

 Store Manager at McDonald’s has defined customer satisfaction as the level of satisfaction by a customer

after purchasing and consuming foods from a business.

 Team Leader at McDonald’s has defined customer satisfaction is the positive approach and feedback of

customer after buying and eating foods from a restaurant.

 Assistant Store Manager at Burger King has defined customer satisfaction is the overall satisfaction of a

customer during the purchase and consuming products/foods from a company, like Burger King.

 Team Leader at Burger King has defined customer satisfaction as a process of assessing positive attitude

and likeness of particular products and/or foods from a particular business.

iii. What are the common factors affecting customer satisfaction at fast-food industry: The interview results

show that there are some major and common factors that have been affecting customer satisfaction within fast-

food industry. The researcher would like to summarize the interview results on factors affecting customer

satisfaction as follows-

 The quality of the foods is prime concern that affects customer satisfaction greatly at any fast-food

business, stated by Team Leader of Burger King.

 The price of the foods is another most common and important factor that affect customer satisfaction of a

fast-food business, mentioned by Assistant Store Manager of Burger King.

 The location and the physical setting of the restaurant have been playing vital roles to attract customers

and thus help to build positive image about the restaurant and its foods. So, it can be noted that the

location and physical setting of the restaurant have influence on customer satisfaction, described by

Team Leader of McDonald’s.

 Finally, the brand name and brand image of the business is considered as vital factor to build strong

branding among the customers and thus helps to increase overall satisfaction of a customer, noted by

Store Manager of McDonald’s.

iv. What are the key competitive edges of the company that has been increasing customer satisfaction:

The key competitive edge is the most unique feature of a business that has vital influence on the overall satisfaction

of a customer. The researcher has obtained most relevant and effective data in relation to the key competitive

edges of the McDonald’s and Burger King during the semi-structured interview. The interview results can be shown

in a table as below-

Table: 4.2. Key competitive edge of McDonald’s and Burger King

Store Manager/Assistant Store Manager Team Leader

McDonald’s One the key competitive edge of the company is The number of restaurants and the

brand name and brand image. The quality of the location as well as the decoration of the

foods and commitment to provide quickest restaurant can be considered as most

services are another competitive edge of the unique feature or competitive edge of the

company. company.

Burger King The enhanced menu and quality of foods as well The focus on the customers feedback and

as the price of the foods is the prime aspect of the suggestions as well as the overall

company that increasing customer satisfaction. approach of handling customers’

Moreover, the commitment of the company to build complaints is one the most effective and

strong relationships with customers can be termed appropriate feature or competitive edge of

as key competitive edge of the company. the company.

Source: Interview data

v. How the company has been measuring customer satisfaction and taking actions to increase customer

satisfaction: A company can adopt many different ways to identify the level of satisfaction and thus measures the

overall approach of customer satisfaction. For example, McDonald’s has been using customer satisfaction survey

to hear from the customers as well as recent experience of them at any restaurants of the company. The Store

Manager of McDonald’s has mentioned that the feedback from the customers has been directing passing to the

restaurants and based on the feedback the business has been developing and implementing different actions to

increase customer satisfaction for the next time. In case of Burger King, the company has been using customer

satisfaction tracker, known as customer experience programme, one the most unique approach of measuring

customer satisfaction, stated by the Assistant Store Manager. The purpose of this program is to investigate and

analyse customer experiences in relation to retain existing customers and attracting new customers. In addition,

the Assistant Store Manager of Burger King has mentioned that the information collected from customer satisfaction

tracker program directly fed back to the entire Burger King in real time and focus on the organization’s operational

aspects on food quality, cleanliness and speed of the service etc.

vi. What are the existing policies and practices of the company to satisfy customers: The interview results

show that both McDonald’s and Burger King have been using some unique and most effective policies and

practices to satisfy their customers. As an example, the Store Manager of McDonald’s has said that the company

has been collecting customers’ feedback on shopping experience and thus taking initiatives to increase overall

efforts to increase customers’ satisfaction for the next shopping. On the other hand, as an example, the Assistant

Store Manager of Burger King has said that the company has been handling customers’ complaints in most

effective and appropriate ways to reduce number of complaints as well as to take actions in relation to address any

concerns or complaints of customers. From the interview results, it is clear that besides of these policies and

practices both McDonald’s and Burger King has been using some other tools and techniques to satisfy their

customers.

vii. What are the future plans of the company to increase customer satisfaction: Both McDonald’s and Burger

King have planning to introduce different business strategies to be a market leader in fast-food business in the UK.

For this reason, both companies have future plans to increase customers’ satisfaction. For example, the Store

Manager of McDonald’s has mentioned that the company is planning to focus on the different market segments,

such as kids, adult, and older customer segment. Based on the demands and expectation of all market segments,

the company is committed to introduce appropriate menu and balanced foods with keeping great concern on

healthy issue for each segment. So, the future plans of the company will be able to increase brand image and thus

help to increase overall customer satisfaction. Another example shows that the Assistant Manager of Burger King

has mentioned that the company has focusing on the customers’ complaint management. For the purpose of

effective customers’ complaint management, the company has been planning to carry out customer survey on

regular basis and thus taking relevant actions throughout the entire Burger King system to reduce number of

customers’ complaint. Thus, it can be said that this plan is going to help the company to reduce customers’

complaint and thus to increase customer satisfaction.

Presentation of survey data

The researcher has carried out questionnaire survey among fifty respondents of both McDonald’s and Burger King.

The researcher has developed questionnaire through pilot study and pilot survey and thus it can be noted that all

of the questionnaire in survey were most relevant and appropriate to explore and analyse customer satisfaction at

McDonald’s and Burger King. Each survey has nearly 20 questions and the researcher has selected respondents

on random basis to get perception about customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King from mass

population. The questionnaire survey results can be represent as follows-

i. Gender distribution of the respondents: Based on the survey results, the researcher would like to represent

the gender distribution of the respondents in a table as follows-

Table: 4.3. Gender distribution of the respondents at McDonald’s and Burger King

Gender Total number of Percentage of respondents

respondents

McDonald’s Male 27 54%

Female 23 46%

Burger King Male 35 70%

Female 15 30%

Source: Survey data

The survey results show that in case of McDonald’s more than half, such as 54% of the respondents were male

and rest, such as 46% of the respondents were female. On the other hand, in case of majority, such as 70% of the

respondents were male and rest, such as 30% of the respondents were female. So, it McDonald’s has been

experiencing both male and female customers in almost similar percentage, but Burger King has been experiencing

more male customer than female customers.

ii. Age band of the respondents: The researcher would like to mention the age band of the respondents of both

McDonald’s and Burger in a table as follows-

Table: 4.4. Age band of the respondents at McDonald’s and Burger King

Age Total number of Percentage of respondents

respondents

McDonald’s 20-29 15 30%

30-39 12 24%

40-49 18 36%

50-above 5 10%

Burger King 20-29 24 48%

30-39 10 20%

40-49 9 18%

50-above 7 14%

Source: Survey data

McDonald’s and Burger King are serving different aged customers. For example, the age group of 20-29 years

represents 30% of respondents at McDonald’s that belongs to the second highest percentage of customers within

the business while the same age group represents 42% of respondents at Burger King that constitute the highest

percentage of customers within the business. Another example shows that McDonald’s have been providing

services to 36% of the customers at the age of 30-39 years, on contrast, Burger King have only 26% of the

customers at the age of 30-39 years. The survey results on the age band thus show that both McDonald’s and

Burger King have been providing services to different age group customer at different percentage.

iii. Defining customer satisfaction by the respondents: During the survey, different respondents have defined

customer satisfaction from different perspective. Based on the survey results, the researcher would like to mention

the most relevant and appropriate definition of customer satisfaction as of ‘the positive attitudes of a customer

towards a business because of their products, services and other aspects after buying or consuming of those

products and/or services by the customer’. Thus, the definition of customer satisfaction reflects some of the major

aspects, such as the quality of products, the service quality, the practices to offer best things to customers and

other related business activities etc. of a business that involves satisfying customers.

iv. How frequently the respondent visits the restaurant, like McDonald’s and Burger King: The survey results

on the frequency of visiting at McDonald’s and Burger King by the respondents. Based on the survey results, the

author would like to mention that both McDonald’s and Burger King having almost same or similar frequency of

visiting by customers at their restaurant. For instance, 32% customers are visiting twice a week at McDonald’s and

36% of customers are visiting twice a week at Burger King. At McDonald’s about 14% customers are visiting more

frequently while at Burger King about 18% customers are visiting more frequently.

v. Do the respondents like McDonald’s/Burger King compare to other fast-food chains in the UK: The survey

results in relation to overall likeness of McDonald’s and Burger King compare to other fast-food chains in the

UK. The survey results show that majority, such as 76% of the respondents have said that they like McDonald’s

compare to other fast-food chains in the UK. On the other hand, almost similar percentages, such as 72% of the

respondents have mentioned that they like Burger King compare to other fast-food chains in the UK.

vi. What are the common factors that affect customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King in the

UK: The researcher would like to represent the survey results in relation to the common factors that affect customer

satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King. The survey results represent that there are several factors that can

affect customer satisfaction of a business, like McDonald’s and Burger King. For example, about 30% of the

respondents of Burger King have mentioned that the quality of products/foods is the vital factor that affects

customer satisfaction, on the other hand, only 14% of the respondents of McDonald’s have mentioned that the

product quality is important factor that affect customer satisfaction. Another example shows that service quality is
one the most common and important factors that affect customer satisfaction and almost similar percentages of

respondents, e.g. 26% at McDonald’s and 24% at Burger King have mentioned that service quality affects customer

satisfaction.

vii. The level of satisfaction by the respondents with the overall customer service policies and practices at

McDonald’s and Burger King in the UK: The survey results on the overall level of satisfaction with the overall

customer service policies and practices at McDonald’s and Burger King. The survey results show that half, i.e. 50%

of the respondents at McDonald’s are satisfied, followed by 30% are highly satisfied with the overall customer

service policies and practices within the business. On the other hand, at Burger King almost half, such as 46% of

the respondents are satisfied, followed by 36% are highly satisfied with overall policies and practices for customer

service within the business. At McDonald’s 4% of the respondents have mentioned that they are highly dissatisfied

with the overall policies and practices for customer service while same percentages, i.e. 4% of the respondents

have mentioned that they are dissatisfied with the overall policies and practices of customer service at Burger King.

viii. Suggestions and comments by the respondents to increase customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and

Burger King in the UK: The researcher would like to summarize the suggestions and comments, mentioned by

respondents of both McDonald’s and Burger King for the purpose of increasing customer satisfaction at McDonald’s

and Burger King as follows-

 The company should focus on the current trends in fast-food markets and thus focus on the demands and

expectations of the customers of different segments;

 The company must be committed to deliver or offer quality products and services to the customers as well

as the company have to offer competitive price of their foods;

 It is important to develop and implement different business strategies in line with customers’ feedback and

suggestions, so the company should carry out market research and collect customers’ feedback and

suggestions on regular basis; and

 The company should build strong relationships with customers through focusing on their economic, social

and psychological perspectives.

Conclusion

In any research report, the presentation of data or primary research findings has significant importance. The use

of appropriate format and techniques to present all of the collected data is another key concern for a researcher.

In this research report, the researcher has used most relevant and appropriate format and techniques to present

data on the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King in the UK. All of the relevant

issues and concerns of data presentation has been provided in most effectively and appropriately including the
presentation of all relevant primary and secondary research findings on the comparative study of customer

satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King in the UK.

Chapter 5: Discussion on research findings

Introduction

The discussion on research findings is one the most important part within a research report. The researcher has to

discuss both primary and secondary research findings with critical analysis of those findings. Under the this

chapter, the researcher has discussed and explained both primary research findings, that were collected from

primary sources, such as conducting interviews and carrying out survey and secondary research findings that have

been gathered from secondary sources, such as existing documents of the case studied organizations, i.e.

McDonald’s and Burger King and different publications, such as books, articles, publications etc. In accordance

with the research findings discussion, the author has developed some conclusive remarks and constructive

recommendations about the research topic. All of the conclusive remarks and constructive recommendations have

been presented at the final chapter of this research project.

Primary research findings

The researcher has obtained primary research findings through collecting primary data by conducting interviews

and surveys. The interviews have conducted with four management personnel two of each restaurant, i.e. two from

McDonald’s and two from Burger King. The researcher has also collected primary data through carrying out

questionnaire survey with the customers of each restaurant.

A. Discussion on interview data: The researcher would like to discuss the interview results as follows-

 The researcher has conducted with the management personal of the case studied organizations, i.e.

McDonald’s and Burger King. For example, at McDonald’s, the researcher has conducted interview

with Store Manager and Team Leader of a restaurant located at East London, e.g. Commercial Road,

Whitechapel, London. On the other hand, at Burger King, the researcher has conducted interview with

Assistant Store Manager and Team Leader of a restaurant located at East London, e.g. Aldgate East,

Whitechapel, London. So, the selection of interviewees at McDonald’s and Burger King and the location

of the restaurant were most appropriate to explore existing theories and practices to satisfy their

customers.

 The definition of customer satisfaction is very subjective and varies among person to person. This notion

has been proved by the definitions of customer satisfaction provided by the management personal of

the case studied organizations, i.e. McDonald’s and Burger King. For instance, the Store Manager of
 McDonald’s has defined customer satisfaction as the level of satisfaction by a customer after buying or

purchasing foods from a business, on the other hand, the Assistant Store Manager of Burger King has

defined customer satisfaction as the overall level of satisfaction of a customer during the buying or

purchasing foods/products from a company. Thus, it can be noted customer satisfaction is defined as

the process of measuring and evaluating the overall approach of satisfaction with a product/food of a

business.

 There are different factors and aspects that can affect customer satisfaction. During the interviews, the

researcher has derived some the major and important factors that can affect the level of satisfaction of

a customer within fast-food industry and these include- the quality of the foods is prime concern to

satisfy customer, mentioned by Team Leader of Burger King; the price of the foods, described by

Assistant Store Manager of Burger King; the location as well as the physical settings of the restaurant,

noted by Team Leader of McDonald’s; and the brand name and brand image stated by Store Manager

of McDonald’s.

 Every business has their key competitive edge that helps them to achieve competitive advantage in the

operating market. McDonald’s is one the leading and famous fast-food chains in the world and Burger

King is another leading fast-food chain in the world. So, it can be said that both company has its key

competitive edge. For example, the Store Manager of McDonald’s has mentioned that the brand name

and brand image as well as commitment towards quality foods etc. are the most important competitive

edge of the business. While, at Burger King, the Assistant Store Manager has mentioned that the

enhanced menu, quality of foods, price of foods, commitment to build strong relations with customers

etc. are the key competitive edge of the business.

 Both McDonald’s and Burger King have been developing and implementing different policies and practices

to satisfy their customers. Based on the interviews results of McDonald’s, it is clear that the company

has been collecting customers’ feedback on their shopping experience and thus taking effective

initiatives to reduce customers complaints and thus to increase customer satisfaction for the next

shopping. On the other hand, the interviews results of Burger King show that the business has been

introducing customer satisfaction survey to identify factors that affect customer satisfaction. The

company has also been developed effective approaches to handle customers’ complaints and thus

reduce number of customers’ complaints to increase customer satisfaction.

 The interviews results thus depicts that both McDonald’s and Burger King has been developing and

implementing different policies and practices to reduce customers’ complaints and thus to increase

level of satisfaction by a customer with their foods, services, price, and overall environment of the

restaurant.

B. Discussion on survey data: The researcher would like to discuss the questionnaire survey results as follows-
 The questionnaire survey results shows that more than half, such as 54% of the customers are male and

rest of the customers are female at McDonald’s. While at Burger King, majority, such as 70% of the

customers are male and rest of the customers are female. Thus, it can be said that McDonald’s having

serving both male and female customers at almost similar percentages. On the other hand, Burger

King has been serving more male customers than female customers.

 From the questionnaire survey results, it can be noted that at McDonald’s there are more young customers

than Burger King. For example, at McDonald’s there are (24%+36%) 60% of adult (age band of 30 to

49 years) customers, followed by 30% of young (age band of 20 to 29 years) customers. On contrast,

at Burger King there are 48% of young customers, followed by (20%+18%) 38% of adult customers.

Thus, it can be said that majority of the customers are adult at McDonald’s and majority of customers

are young at Burger King.

 The frequency of visiting at particular restaurant is one the most common aspects to measure the level of

satisfaction by a customer. The questionnaire survey results show that the frequency of visiting at

McDonald’s and Burger King there is almost similar percentages of customers visiting each restaurant.

For example, at McDonald’s 14% customers are visiting restaurant more frequently, while at Burger

King 18% customers are visiting more frequently. However, in some cases there is big difference in

visiting restaurant by customers at McDonald’s and Burger King. For instance, 20% of customers are

visiting twice a month time at McDonald’s; on the other hand, 12% of customers are visiting twice a

month time at Burger King. Thus, it can be noted that the frequency of visiting by a customer is closer

at Burger King than McDonald’s and also can be noted that more customers are satisfied with Burger

King compare to McDonald’s in terms of frequency of visiting at restaurant.

 The questionnaire survey results shows almost similar percentages of customers have mentioned that

they like McDonald’s and Burger King compare to other fast-food industries within the UK. For example,

76% of customers have mentioned that they are satisfied with McDonald’s compare to other fast-food

industries and 72% of the customers have mentioned that they are satisfied with Burger King. Thus, it

is clear that majority of the customers are satisfied with McDonald’s and Burger King compare to other

fast-food industries in the UK.

 There are several common factors that have significant impact and influence on customer satisfaction.

Based on the questionnaire survey results, the researcher would like to opine that different percentages

of customers have mentioned different factors that affect satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

For example, 30% of the customers have mentioned that product quality at Burger King is vital factor

that affect customer satisfaction, on the other hand 14% of the customers have mentioned about

product quality that can affect customer satisfaction at McDonald’s. Another example shows that 18%

of the customers have mentioned that price of foods at McDonald’s is one the most common factor to
 satisfy customers, while at Burger King only 6% of the customers have mentioned that the price of

foods may affect customer satisfaction.

 The questionnaire survey results represent that majority of the customers are satisfied and highly satisfied

with overall customer service at McDonald’s and Burger King. For instance, 50% of the respondents

have mentioned that they are satisfied, followed by 30% are highly satisfied with overall customer

service at McDonald’s. On the other hand, 46% of the customers have mentioned that they are

satisfied, followed by 36% of customers are highly satisfied with overall customer service at Burger

King. So, it can be noted that most of the customers have greater satisfaction with overall customer

service at McDonald’s and Burger King.

 Based on the questionnaire survey results, the researcher would like to summarize the suggestions from

customers to improve business policies and practices to reduce customers complaints and thus to

increase customer satisfaction as of- both business has to focus on the current trends of fast-food

business; to collect customers’ feedback and suggestions on regular basis; to develop strategy to build

strong relations with customers and community; to develop effective complaint management division

and thus take actions to reduce customers’ complaints; and finally to focus on business commitment

that concern with customer satisfaction etc.

Secondary research findings

The researcher has obtained data and information from secondary and tertiary sources. The main sources for

secondary research findings were review of books, articles, journals, publications, and related websites etc. All of

the sources were most relevant and appropriate to explore current policies and practices to satisfy customers at

McDonald’s and Burger King as well as to evaluate comparative level of customer satisfaction within the case

studied organizations, i.e. McDonald’s and Burger King. The researcher would like to discuss some the most

relevant secondary research findings on the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger

King as follows-

1. Customer satisfaction is the process of measuring level of satisfaction and the ability to meet

customers’ expectation by a product and/or service of a business (Khare, 2012). Customer satisfaction

is the subjective approach that reflects the emotional response of a customer towards a product and/or

service of a business (Oliver, 1997). Grigoroudis and Siskos (2010) have mentioned that customer

satisfaction is one the most effective approach to explore market information, customers’ expectations,

and customers’ behaviour towards a product/service of a company. So, it is clear that customer

satisfaction is the process of measuring and/or evaluating the emotional response of a customer about

a particular product/service of a business.

 2. McDonald’s is one of the leading fast-foods businesses in the world that has been operating in 119

countries with the focus on innovations and using of latest technologies to ensure quality products as

well as better services to its customers (Astute Solutions, 2012). According to ACSI (2012) shows that

McDonald’s has ranked as lowest in terms of satisfaction. On the other hand, Burger King is another

leading fast-food business in the world. ACSI (2012), has positioned Burger King just above of

McDonald’ in terms of customer satisfaction. Thus, the data provided by ACSI (2012) shows that both

McDonald’s and Burger King have lower percentage of customer satisfaction in comparison with other

fast-food businesses in the world.

3. An organization may use different tools and techniques to measure customer satisfaction. Among them

SERVQUAL model, that has been developed by Zeithaml in 1985 is widely used to measure customer

satisfaction of any businesses like fast-food business. Some other prominent models that can be used

to measure customer satisfaction include- expectancy-disconfirmation model developed by Oliver in

1981; Means-end model, developed by Zeithaml in 1988; and Behavioural intentions model, developed

by Brady and Cronin (2000). All of these models are very effective to explore demands and

expectations of customers towards a business and thus to measure the level of satisfaction of that

customer.

Conclusion

The discussion of research findings has crucial influence on the overall research project. Based on the research

findings, the researcher may provide cost-effective and valid conclusions and recommendations about the research

subject both from academic and organizational perspective. The researcher has discussed and explained some of

the major issues and concerns on the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King

that has been collected and gathered from primary and secondary sources. At the end, it can be noted by the

author that both primary as well as secondary research findings have been elaborated in this chapter in accordance

with the comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Chapter 6: Conclusions & Recommendations

Introduction

This is the final chapter of this research project. In this chapter, the researcher has presented conclusive remarks

and recommendations about the research project. The researcher has also presented some of other relevant

issues, such as self-reflection on research project, future research ideas and opportunities, and overall limitations

of the research study etc. For example, in this chapter the researcher needs to provide future and further research

opportunities on the proposed research subject area(s). In this case, the researcher need to provide clear and
constructive conclusions on the issues and concerns arrived from the review of literature and during the collection

of data from primary source(s) through different research methods. So, the researcher would like to mention that

this chapter was most appropriate to represent conclusions and recommendations on the comparative study of

customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Conclusions on research findings

Based on the data and information obtained from primary, secondary and tertiary sources, the researcher would

like to summarize the research findings as follows-

1. Customer satisfaction is the one the most common aspects for any business that is very subjective in

nature and varies from person to person about a particular a product/service of that business. The

business has to develop several policies and practices to increase customer satisfaction in relation to

achieve organizational goals and objectives in current competitive markets, especially in fast-food

industries.

2. There are several common factors that can affect customer satisfaction. Some of the major factors that

affect customer satisfaction within fast-food businesses, in case of McDonald’s and Burger King

include- quality of foods, price of foods, quality of services, location of restaurant, physical settings of

the restaurant, promotion and discount, brand name and brand image etc.

3. The most common approaches to satisfy its customers, McDonald’s has been collecting customers’

feedback through customers’ survey and customers’ shopping experience program and thus taking

actions to increase customer satisfaction for the next shopping for a customer. In similar ways, Burger

King has been developing most appropriate practices to handle and manage customers’ complaints

and thus take initiatives to reduce number of customers’ complaints in relation to increase customer

satisfaction.

4. An organization may use different tools and techniques to measure customer satisfaction. The most

widely used models include- SERVQUAL model, Expectancy-disconfirmation model, Means-end

model, and Behavioural intentions model etc. All of these models are very important to measure level

of customer satisfaction in any business, including fast-food businesses, such as McDonald’s and

Burger King.

5. Both McDonald’s and Burger King have been serving male and female customers of almost similar

percentages. The questionnaire survey results show that Burger King has been experiencing mainly

young customers while McDonald’s has been experiencing mainly adult customers.
 6. Based on the questionnaire survey results, it is clear that majority, such as 76% customers at

McDonald’s and 72% customers at Burger King are satisfied with overall customer service compare to

other fast-food businesses in the UK.

Recommendations

A. Recommendations on academic perspective: The researcher would like to mention following key points as

recommendation to academic perspective-

1. The review of literature shows that there is some lacking in knowledge of customer satisfaction at

McDonald’s and Burger King. The researcher findings show that this research report will be able to

fulfil some of the major gaps in knowledge of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

2. During the review of literature, it is clear that there are several common factors that may affect customer

satisfaction in fast-food industries, like McDonald’s and Burger King. The primary data shows similar

findings on the factors that may affect customer satisfaction at restaurant. So, it can be noted that there

are several common factors, such as quality of products, price of products, service quality, location and

settings of the restaurant, and brand name etc. have vital influence on customer satisfaction at fast-

food industries, such as McDonald’s and Burger King.

3. The review of literature shows that an organization, including fast-food business may use different tools

and techniques, such as SERVQUAL model, Expectancy-disconfirmation model, Behavioural

intentions model etc. to explore current market trends as well as demands and expectations of

customers. The interview and survey results represent that both McDonald’s and Burger King have

been using most relevant and appropriate tools and techniques to identify market trends and demands

as well as expectations of customers in fast-food industry. So, it can be noted that this report will be

able to improve knowledge and understanding of different tools and techniques to understand the

business environment.

B. Recommendations to organizational perspective: The researcher would like to mention following

recommendations to organizational perspective-

1. Customer satisfaction is becoming key concern for a business, particularly for restaurant business. The

review of literature shows that customer satisfaction is playing vital roles to gain competitive edge in

the markets as well as achieve success compare to other competitors in the markets. The interview

and survey results also represent similar perception on customer satisfaction that has been playing

crucial roles to meet customers’ demands and expectations for the purpose of competing on the market

and thus achieve organizational goals and objectives. So, it can concluded that both McDonald’s and
 Burger King have to focus on the customer satisfaction to compete and thus to achieve organizational

goals and objectives.

2. There are some common factors, such as quality of products, price of products, service quality, physical

environment of the restaurant, promotions and discount, brand image etc. that can affect customer

satisfaction within an organization. The researcher would like to mention that both McDonald’s and

Burger King have to identify and evaluate most appropriate factor(s) that have crucial influence on

customer satisfaction and thus need to improve business practices and policies to increase customer

satisfaction.

3. The primary research findings depicts that majority, (e.g. more than 80% of the respondents) of the

customers are satisfied and highly satisfied with the current business practices and policies in terms of

customer service compare to other competitors in the fast-food industry. Thus, the case studied

organizations, such as McDonald’s and Burger King should continue current practices and policies to

provide better customer services to improve customer satisfaction. However, both McDonald’s and

Burger King should introduce new practices and policies that focus on the commitment towards

providing quality products and services to their customers and thus increase overall customer

satisfaction of the business.

4. McDonald’s and Burger King have to continue their current policies and practices to satisfy their

customers and need to introduce new policies and practices to increase customer satisfaction of

different segments of customers, such as adult, young, children etc. Both McDonald’s and Burger King

have been developing new policies to increase level of customer satisfaction.

5. Finally, the researcher would like to opine that both of the case studied organizations, such as

McDonald’s and Burger King need to carry out marketing research on regular basis for the purpose of

exploring and analysing the changes in customer demands and expectations into the fast-food industry.

Based on the data and information, the organizations need to develop business strategies, such as

marketing and operations strategy in relation to increase level of satisfaction about products and

services by their customers.

Self-reflection on research project

The researcher was self-motivated to complete this type of research project. The selection of research subject, i.e.

customer satisfaction and the case studied organizations, i.e. McDonald’s and Burger King is very relevant and

appropriate to explore key issues and concerns on customer satisfaction at fast-food industry. For the purpose of

exploring theories and practices, the researcher has carried out review of literature that was very helpful to improve

knowledge and understanding of customer satisfaction. During the review of literature, the researcher has identified

some of the most important issues on the general concept on customer satisfaction, tools and techniques to
measure customer satisfaction, and policies and practices to increase customer satisfaction and so on. All of these

issues were very helpful to improve both academic and organizational perspectives.

The researcher has collected primary data from the case studied organizations, i.e. McDonald’s and Burger King

through conducting interviews and survey. The researcher has developed questionnaire for both interview and

survey. So, the development of the questionnaire for the semi-structured interviews and the questionnaire survey

has helped the author to increase and improve knowledge and understanding about the questionnaire development

as well as the skills and competencies to complete interview and survey to collect primary data. The researcher

has used some of the most relevant tools and techniques to analyse and present collected data. Thus, the

researcher was able to prepare standard research report with appropriate data analysis as well as valid conclusions

and recommendations. The author was satisfied with overall research works and research findings in terms of

comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Future research and opportunities

During the review of literature and collection of primary data, the researcher has explored several common issues

and concerns on customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King. For example, during the review of literature,

the researcher has identified that according to ACSI (2012), McDonald’s is the lower ranked in customer satisfaction

and Burger King has ranked as just one step up than McDonald’s. So, what are the main reasons behind this lower

position on customer satisfaction of McDonald’s and Burger King than some other fast-food industries, like Papa

John’s, Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) etc. can be regard as future research project. Another example

shows that during the review of literature, the researcher has identified that there are some common models, such

as SERVQUAL Model, Expectancy-disconfirmation Model, Means-end Model and Behavioural intentions Model

etc. are very common to measure customer satisfaction within fast-food industries, like McDonald’s and Burger

King. Thus, how these models can be used to measure customer satisfaction of different businesses rather than

fast-food industry can be undertaken as future research idea and/or future research opportunity.

During the collection of primary data, the researcher has identified that most of young people are visiting Burger

King compare to McDonald’s, while McDonald’s has been serving mainly adult customers. The primary data shows

that majority of the respondents of both McDonald’s and Burger King is satisfied with overall customer service at

the restaurant. So, what are the key drivers within McDonald’s and/or Burger King that have been helping the

organization to achieve customer satisfaction may be taken as further and/or future research topic. Finally, it is

clear that the completion of this research project and the preparation of research report on the comparative study

of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King has created many new ideas and opportunities for further

and future research project in the field of fast-food industry and/or other business industry in the field of customer

satisfaction within the business.

Overall research limitations

For instance, it shows that the researcher has to selected limited number of interviewees due to shortage of time

as well as lack of financial resources. Likewise, the researcher has some of the following limitations during the

completion of research works and thus preparation of research report-

 Limited number of sample size during the interview and questionnaire survey. So, there may have some

lacking in data collection and thus preparation of standard research report.

 Due to inefficiency of the author to conduct interview and survey, it was difficult to collect most effective

and appropriate data from McDonald’s and Burger King that may affect the analysis and presentation

of data on customer satisfaction.

 The concern for ethical issues was another limitation for this research project. For instance, the issue of

confidentiality, privacy, access to organizational information etc. were most common limiting factor in

this research project.

Thus, the researcher would like to say that all of these factors may have negative impact on the overall research

report in the field of comparative analysis of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King.

Conclusion

In accordance with overall discussions and explanations of the different issues and concerns involved in the

comparative study of customer satisfaction at McDonald’s and Burger King, the author would like to opine that both

McDonald’s and Burger King have been focusing on the quality, cleanliness and better customer services in relation

to increase customer satisfaction compare to other existing market competitors in fast-food industry.