Marketing Strategies and Competitive Advantages of Fast Food Industries in the UK (A case study of KFC)

By

ABSTRACT

Past research suggests that in order to commercialize new products successfully, firms should assimilate a range of technological inputs into novel combinations, exploit market opportunities afforded by the environment, and ensure that these new products effectively meet the needs of the market. The research was aimed at identification of the marketing strategies that have been working best for KFC, over the years, Understanding the marketing mix of KFC and analysing how fast food industry in United Kingdom is maintaining competitive advantages with the help of right marketing tactics. This research used a secondary and qualitative research methodology. The reason or using qualitative research is that it is more subjective and in order to collect information many different methods are used. It was found that the impact of the marketing mix on consumer behaviour was influenced through product, price, location, and promotion. However, different factors also have effects and influence consumers' perception and change consumers' purchasing behaviour.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTII

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION1

Background1

Purpose1

Significance2

Research Questions3

CHAPTER 02: LITERATURE REVIEW4

Children, Food Marketing, and Obesity4

Parental Response to Food Advertising7

Corporate Social Responsibility9

Environmental (“Green”) Marketing10

Cause Related Marketing12

Theoretical Framework16

Attribution Theory16

Correspondent Inference17

The Discounting Principle17

Involvement19

Food Advertising and Marketing Tactics21

CHAPTER 03: METHODOLOGY24

Research Design24

Rationale for a Quantitative Study24

Ethical Consideration25

Limitations of the Research Methodology26

Validity26

Timescale28

CHAPTER 04: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS29

Introduction29

Interpretations29

Conclusions49

Fast Food Industry Analysis49

Using Porter's Five - Forces Model, Strength of each Force within the Fast Food Industry49

New Entrants in the Industry49

Increasing Rivalry in the Industry51

Increasing Supplier's Power51

Buying Power of the Consumer52

Threat of Substitutes53

Fast Food Industry Attraction53

REFERENCES56

APPENDICES79

Questionnaire79

CHAPTER 01: INTRODUCTION

Background

To gain an edge in competitive landscape, firms must innovate to sustain their growth and development. New product development is the core of innovation. Therefore, since Schumpeter, researchers have conducted numerous studies' to probe the drivers of new product development, such as the role of R&D, team composition, organizational support, product champion, inter-functional cooperation such as marketing, engineering, manufacturing integration, etc. Also, past research suggests that in order to commercialize new products successfully, firms should assimilate a range of technological inputs into novel combinations, exploit market opportunities afforded by the environment, and ensure that these new products effectively meet the needs of the market. However, the odds of new product development projects succeeding are still sobering. Every year, we see thousands of new products introduced into the market, and simultaneously we see hundreds of new products exit the market. One would ask: Why are some firms more successful at commercializing new products than others? We try to provide some initial answers built on previous research.

Purpose

First, the competitive landscape of firms has been changed from individual firms to firm networks. The new competition rules call for new theoretical explanations for how firms compete in market place. One theme of this stream of research is the importance of social network in building competitive advantage. The premise of this stream of research is built on the idea that networks can allow firms to create value that no single firm could have created ...