Which US Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) are doing the best job luring upper scale casual eatery diners, hit by an economic downturn yet wanting fresh ingredients with a cheaper price point?
Wendy’s, Subway and Chipotle lead competing QSR chains in both value and quality perception by casual dining patrons in what is becoming the new “fast casual” dining category, according to YouGov BrandIndex, the only daily consumer perception research service of brands.
Coming up close in value and quality perception with this demo are Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Arby’s.
Lagging in their appeal to casual diners are Burger King, Domino’s and KFC, with Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Long John Silver’s particularly dragged down by their quality perception levels by the casual diner demo. Long John Silver also suffered from a distinctly lower value score as well.
The top national QSR chains were measured with two of YouGov BrandIndex’s scores simultaneously and plotted on a graph chart: value, which asks respondents “"Does it give good value for what you pay?"; and quality, which asks respondents "Is it high quality or low quality?" Results were screened for respondents who have eaten at casual dining chains over the past three months.
