Marketing Research Proposal for Kfc

							Arby’s in Duluth
Project Proposal & Questionnaire
      Marketing Research
           MgtS 3711
    Ethan Christensen, Ph.D.
          April 22, 2005




           Jon Sjostrom
           Kris Severson
           Rebecca Hart
           Dave Durham
Executive Summary
According to a focus group that we conducted, there is a large demand for an Arby’s in
the Duluth-Superior area. A questionnaire is now being implemented to determine the
potential purchase behaviors of consumers in regards to Arby’s and fast-food preferences
in general. Students at the University of Minnesota Duluth will be surveyed. A
combination of nominal, ordinal and interval scales of measurement will be used. After
conducting the questionnaire, SPSS will be implemented for data entry and analyses
purposes. The final project will be completed by May 6, 2005.


Background

Arby’s was established by the Raffel Brothers in 1964 and now has over 3,400 stores
worldwide. The name Arby’s stands for R.B, the initials of the Raffel Brothers. However,
many customers believe that R.B stands for “Roast Beef”. The nearest Arby’s is over 100
miles away from Duluth. Due to the lack of selection in fast food, there is a large
untapped market of roast beef enthusiasts in this area.

After conducting a focus group, we determined that there is in fact a large demand for
Arby’s in the Duluth area. Many people had negative perceptions of fast-food, but
preferred healthier options, such as sub sandwiches.

According to Arby’s web site, they offer “high-quality adult fast food” and target mainly
the 25- to 55-year-old age group. Through our research, we would like to prove to Arby’s
that 18-25 year olds would also be a great market to target to.

Arby’s has a unique culture that differentiates it from other fast-food restaurants. It’s
founded upon the core values of Arby’s: Dream Big, Work Hard, Get it Done, Play Fair,
Have Fun, Make a Difference. Their menu includes roast beef and chicken sandwiches;
Market Fresh sandwiches, wraps, and salads; side dishes; breakfast; dessert; and shakes.

Objectives

      To determine the likelihood of students in the Duluth area purchasing Arby’s
      To find out how much students would be willing to spend on a meal at Arby’s
      To ascertain students’ perceptions of Arby’s
      To determine how often students would visit Arby’s
      To determine how Arby’s is positioned compared to competitors in the minds of
       students
Research Approach

We will be conducting primary research on a minimum of 32 students from UMD. A
nonprobability sample will most likely be used because we cannot guarantee that the
sample will represent the population of interest as a whole. The method of collecting data
that will be used is a questionnaire. We will use a combination or nominal, ordinal and
interval scales of measurement.

Data Analysis

We will use the SPSS program to analyze and compute our data that will be received
from the questionnaires. We will follow the data analysis procedure:
   1. Validation and editing
   2. Coding
   3. Data entry
   4. Machine cleaning of data
   5. Tabulation and statistical analysis
            One-Way Frequency Tables
            Crosstabulations

Time and Cost Estimates

We will adhere to the following timeline for this research project:
April 22nd – submit rough draft of questionnaire
April 27th – have a final copy of questionnaire completed
April 29th – have questionnaires administered
May 2nd – enter data into SPSS and analyze data
May 4th – have rough draft of report finished
May 6th – turn in final report

This project will not cost us any actual money, just the time and effort needed to make a
thrilling and exciting report. In a real world situation, this project would likely cost
upwards of $1,000. These costs would come from four people conducting the
questionnaire, entering the data, analyzing the results, and writing the final report.

Limitations

One limitation of our project is that we may have a small sample size. Therefore, our
findings may not be very valid. Our results still can be valid; it is just less likely to occur
than if we had enough resources to conduct a questionnaire with a larger sample. Also,
we do not have much time to complete the project, so we may not produce as quality of a
project as could be possible with a longer time frame. As in any project, there could be
errors in our questionnaire or the procedures used to implement it. This may lead us to
skewed data or false information.
1. Rank the following fast-food restaurants according to how likely you would be to
   visit that restaurant (1 being most likely to visit, 2 being second most likely, and so on
   to12 being least likely to visit):

       __ Subway
       __ Wendy’s
       __ Erbert’s and Gerbert’s
       __ Taco Bell
       __ Hardee’s
       __ Arby’s
       __ Quizno’s
       __ KFC
       __ Burger King
       __ Taco John’s
       __ Culver’s
       __ McDonald’s

PLEASE CIRCLE YOUR RESPONSES TO THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

2. What is your attitude toward Arby’s on a 1-7 scale (1 being poor, 7 being excellent)?
     Poor                                                                     Excellent
       1              2            3        4           5             6           7

3. Have you ever visited Arby’s before?

       Yes                  No
   If Yes, proceed to question #4
   If No, skip to question #6

4. How many times have you visited Arby’s before?

       1-3            4-6          7-10     11-15       16-20         21 or more times

5. How satisfied were you with your experience at Arby’s, on a 1-7 scale (1 being not
   satisfied, 7 being very satisfied)?
   Not Satisfied                                                              Very Satisfied
       1              2            3        4           5             6           7

6. I think there should be an Arby’s in the Duluth/Superior area.
   Strongly        Somewhat                 Neither Agree                    Somewhat      Strongly
   Disagree        Disagree      Disagree   or Disagree       Agree          Agree         Agree

7. How frequently would you eat at Arby’s if there was a Duluth restaurant?

       Very frequently           Somewhat frequently        Not frequently     Never
8. Regarding your response to the previous question, how many times in a typical month
   would you eat at Arby’s if there was a location in Duluth?



9. How much would you typically be willing to spend on a meal at Arby’s?

       $0.00      $0.01 - $3.99        $4.00 - $6.99       $7.00 - $9.99      $10.00+

10. How far would you be willing to travel to visit an Arby’s?

   <1 mile      1-5 miles         5-10 miles    10-15 miles     15-20 miles    20+ miles

11. What time of day would you be most likely to go to Arby’s to eat?

   8:00 AM – 10:00 AM
   10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
   12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
   2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
   4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
   6:00 PM – 8:00PM
   8:00 PM – 10:00 PM
   10:00 PM – 12:00 AM
   12:00 AM – 2:00 AM

12. How many people would you typically go with on a trip to Arby’s?

       0          1          2            3            4          5+

PLEASE FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

Gender: __ Male       __ Female

Age: ___

School at UMD:
___ Labovitz School of Business and Economics (LSBE)
___ College of Education and Human Services Professions (CEHSP)
___ College of Liberal Arts (CLA)
___ School of Fine Arts (SFA)
___ College of Science and Engineering (CSE)