Jolly Dogs and McSpaghetti: Anthropological Reflections on Global/Local Fast-Food Competition in the Philippines

The Philippines' fast-food scene presents a compelling model of how Western market forces such as globalization and neoliberalism can have positive impacts on local populations. For example, competition between multinational brands (McDonald's) and their local counterparts (Jollibee) increasingly informs Filipino cultural/political identity. Jollibee's bellwether position in the country's thriving fast-food trade has become an intense source of national pride. Innovative menu items, aggressive marketing, and subtle expressions of postcolonial resistance all contribute to Jollibee's dominance over foreign companies, especially McDonald's. Ethnographic data from a provincial Philippine city in 2005–2006 reveals how smaller domestic players effectively compete against global retail giants.     

A Study of Factors Influencing Parental Patronage of Quick Service Restaurants

Summary

This study identified factors influencing parental quick service restaurant patronage. Results indicated that parents are influenced to patronize quick service restaurants most often by speed of service, menus that offered their childrens' favorite food items, and parents' lack of time for meal preparation at home. Children preferred French fries, pizza, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, and chicken nuggets at quick service restaurants. French fries, the favorite childrens' fast food menu selection, was ranked by respondents as one of the least healthy food items, while mashed potatoes, one of childrens' least favorite fast food menu selections, was perceived to be one of the healthier food selections by parents. Restaurateurs were encouraged to develop newer, healthier methods of preparing these popular menu items while offering more nutritious menu selections for children.     

Multi-Attribute Dimensions of Service Quality in the Fast Food Restaurant Industry

Abstract

As the fast food restaurant industry grows in the Western industrialized world, it has also become increasingly competitive. In such an environment, marketers are concerned about how to increase or maintain market share through better service quality and effective segmentation strategies. This paper reports a two-phase exploratory study conducted to determine the dimensions of service quality in the fast food industry, from the consumer's perspective. Factor analysis revealed 10 dimensions made up of 57 different attributes. The 10 dimensions were able to discriminate among three groups of fast food patrons, namely: frequent, less frequent, and more frequent patrons. Managerial implications of these findings, for market segmentation, targeting, positioning, and promotional strategies are discussed.     

Changing Food Consumption Patterns and Their Impact on the Quick Service Restaurant Industry

Summary

During the past two decades there have been significant changes in U.S. food consumption patterns. Consumers are purchasing smaller quantities of milk, eggs, pork, and beef. They are consuming more poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables. Such trends in food demand are important since they may require corresponding changes in marketing and production strategies for the foodservice industry. This study investigates the driving forces that influence consumer food preferences and the trends in food consumption patterns, and consequently their influence on the Quick Service Restaurant industry.     

Brand Personality of Global Quick-Service Restaurants in Emerging and Developed Markets: A Comparative Study in Brazil and the U.S.

This study aimed to determine the dimensions of the personality of global quick-service restaurant brands perceived by young consumers in the U.S. and Brazil, and whether these dimensions showed similar configurations in both countries. A survey was carried out with two QSR brands (McDonald's and Subway). Data analysis utilized exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The study identified five personality dimensions for each of the brands studied in each country. Results support the proposition that global brands can carry a common meaning across nations, but also that certain local nuances of brand personalities can differ.     

发展黑龙江食品流通业之管见

黑龙江省自然资源十分丰富,发展食品工业有着得天独厚的优势。应以振兴东北老工业基地和由农业大省向食品大省的转化为契机,大力发展食品流通业,使其向集约型、规模型、外向型、效益型和科技发展型转变,促进企业走“优势互补、盘活存量、结构重组、规模经营”的发展之路。     

Examining the Relationship Between Advertising Expenditures and Sales of Quick-Service Restaurants in the United States

The United States fast-food industry represents an important business sector with respect to national and international economics. Due to the low levels of product differentiation and high industry competition, fast-food companies heavily engage in advertising and branding activities. Quick-service restaurants (QSR) are the largest and growing segment of the fast-food industry. The current study examined the longitudinal relationship between advertising expenditures and sales revenues for the QSR industry and leading QSR brands in the United States from 1986 to 2007. Hypotheses were tested using a time-series regression analysis. Managerial, research, and policy implications of the results are provided.     

Understanding Mature Customers in the Restaurant Business

Summary

The study reported here examined die differences between intangible service experiences of mature and younger customers in quick-service, casual, and fine-dining restaurants. The authors used ten unpleasant service experiences to identify the significant experiences that can impede satisfaction in three types of restaurants. No unpleasant service experiences were significant for either mature or young customers. However, in the casual dining restaurants, the (1) lack of product knowledge and (2) inattentive servers created significantly unpleasant service experiences for mature customers. In the quick service restaurant, the (1) lack of product knowledge, (2) inattentive servers, (3) rudeness, and (4) lack of cleanliness produced significantly unpleasant service experiences which in turn impeded the satisfaction for the mature customer. The reasons for these findings are discussed, and the authors suggest that the restaurant industry pay more attention to the mature population in order to increase both customer satisfaction levels and profits. A literature review precedes a discussion of the characteristics and service requirements of mature restaurant customers.     

Empowerment and Customer Satisfaction Strategies in Multi-Cultural Hotel Restaurant Environments

ABSTRACT

The paper addresses empowerment issues for hotel restaurant managers, as they affect: (a) quality service, (b) customer satisfaction, and (c) financial implications. It investigates empowerment in restaurant management in Dubai five star hotels, how managers operating in Dubai's multi-cultural environment perceive empowerment in their operations, and how this perception relates to their organization's quest for service quality, customer satisfaction, and financial return. Primary data was collected in focus group interviews with (n = 24) managers. Findings suggest managers are well informed, see empowerment as beneficial, support its application, but harbour some concerns, and as literature suggests, there are ambiguities and disagreements over its application.     

中国食品安全的全程物流保障体系研究

食品安全问题是事关国计民生的大事。本文基于我国食品安全现状与存在的问题,分析了我国目前食品物流业对于保障食品安全方面存在的主要问题,建立了全程食品安全物流保障体系,并提出实施该保障系统的建议。     

Food Away from Home Expenditures in the United States

This study investigates the factors affecting food away from home expenditures in the United States using county level data. Results generally indicate that counties with higher labor force participation rate of women, higher number of college graduates, higher number of employed individuals, higher number of females, and higher number of whites and AsianslPacific Islanders as well as counties with lower number of hispanics and lower number of family households spend more on food away from home than others.     

An Examination of the Relationship Between Employee Behavior/ Non-Behavior and Customer Satisfaction in Quick Service Restaurants

ABSTRACT

The major objective of this research is to explore the relationship between employee behavior/non-behavior and customer satisfaction in quick service restaurants. Four behavioral components (employee reliability, employee responsiveness, employee assurance, and employee empathy) and one non-behavioral component (the physical environment) are identified.

The survey questionnaire included the modified SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, 1991) in addition to questions about satisfaction. A convenience sample of 125 participants was used to collect data by frequenting selected quick service restaurants. The results identified significant positive correlations between three of the five behavior/non-behavior constructs (employee responsiveness, employee assurance, and the physical environment) with three of the four identified dimensions of customer satisfaction (satisfaction with the food, satisfaction with the task/service, satisfaction with the price, and overall satisfaction).     

Revisiting customers' perception of service quality in fast food restaurants

This research is an extension to previous work in fast food restaurant marketing. The population of this research consists of actual fast food restaurant customers. Following the literature, data are analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Structural Equation Modeling, and Path Analysis. Findings of this work identify factors impacting customer satisfaction, as well as dimensions of service quality and their rankings in the fast food restaurant context. Results indicate that there is no direct way of increasing behavioral intentions through improving service quality for fast food restaurants. Rather, behavioral intentions can be improved through customer satisfaction as an intermediary. Further, this work finds evidence that customer satisfaction can be improved through service quality, food quality, and price-value ratio, which in turn would pave an indirect path toward improvement in behavioral intentions in this industry. Results of this research shed light on prioritizing managers’ focus and resource allocation for customer satisfaction and different dimensions of service quality and can be used by fast food restaurant managers to set guidelines and strategies in providing better service to their customers.     

服务质量开发过程的质量管理体系

由于服务业在质量管理中存在许多问题,很难找到现成和权威的答案,因此要对服务质量管理所涉及的内容和方法进行分析与研究,借带制造业产品质量开发的步骤和技术,构建一种面向服务质量开发过程的服务质量管理体系构架。     

关于实施本科生导师制的教学研究

高等学校教育教学改革的根本目的是提高人才培养质量,而人才培养质量的提高,教师是最关键的因素,构建本科生导师制的人才培养教学模式是对提高人才培养质量途径的重要探索。文章综述了目前本科生导师制的在国内一些高校的研究成果和实践情况,探析了目前国内实施本科生导师制的问题及原因分析,最后提出了有针对性的建议策略。     

我国政府间财政能力及其均衡制度研究

构建社会主义和谐社会离不开政府间财政能力的均衡配置。虽然财政能力均衡理论在国外已有50多年的历史,且均衡制度已比较完善,但我国以转移支付为主要内容的财政能力均衡制度建设还处于起步阶段。我国政府间财政能力纵向配置和横向配置的实证分析结果表明,我国转移支付制度的效果不佳,还存在着许多问题。这就需要我们借鉴国外的财政能力均衡制度来完善我国的政府转移支付制度。     

蓝牙电话系统的容量问题与解决

蓝牙技术和公共交换电话网络（PSTN）相结合产生了一种移动通信系统——蓝牙电话系统。本文首先介绍了蓝牙电话系统的结构和特点。然后，在此基础上讨论了它的系统容量问题，并提出了解决方案。     

我国食品质量全流程监管体系前瞻性探析

近年来,我国食品安全事件的频繁发生揭露了食品质量监管环节的漏洞。本文分析了中外食品安全风险监测、评估与预警体系,及基于全流程的食品安全追溯研究现状,阐述了建立有效食品安全监管系统的意义,从政策及技术方面提出了建立我国食品安全监管体系的策略,以期对我国食品安全体系的构建有所裨益。     

跨企业供应链管理系统的过程模型分析

集成并协调供应链中各成员的Web服务可以使虚拟企业获得很高的效率,本文重点讨论跨企业供应链管理系统的建模问题。在分析跨企业过程的服务集成面临的相关问题的基础上,引入了面向对象的设计理念,详细阐述了过程模型的服务接口、服务活动、占位符和服务包装器四类服务模型原语。