Developing Country Consumer Fast Food Preferences

Abstract

The author explores consumer fast food preferences in Saudi Arabia, a developing country where U.S. fast food companies have been mushrooming since the early ′90s. Utilizing a sample of 250 fast food restaurant patrons, the study examines the attributes of fast food restaurants that are important to consumers, the pattern of fast food purchases, and the variations in fast food preferences and purchase behavior across different consumer demographics. The results indicate that the top five most important service attributes are cleanliness, taste, friendliness, speed, and variety. In this market, people most often eat fast food for dinner, followed in preference by lunch; breakfast is not popular as yet. With respect to the frequency of purchase, the amount spent per visit, the type of fast food restaurant preference, and the type of fast food menu preference, there exist differences across various consumer demographics.