Understand Mealtime Occasions

A quick service restaurant chain partnered with W5 to understand how people make decisions for lunch and dinner meals. The research would be used to create menu options that better fit the occasions and contexts in which mealtime decisions are made.

APPROACH

W5 designed a qualitative approach that allowed researchers to be present for food decisions at all times of the day. Using a mobile research platform, quick service restaurant consumers were asked to answer a series of questions about how they select restaurants and specific menu items when faced with the decision. The mobile tool also presented participants with multimedia activities to complete, including photo essays of dining experiences. Research was conducted over two weeks to capture the breadth of food decisions.

RESULTS

This approach yielded a wealth of information about the decision-making process of quick service restaurant consumers. W5 researchers shared the most important occasions for visitation and the primary criteria in the menu selection process. With this data, the client had evidence for creating menu items and designing packaging and messaging that better fit consumers’ lifestyles and resonated with their values and food philosophies.