Every day consumers come across different brands and products that are presented in a way by their manufacturers / suppliers that they distinguish from each other and assist in consumers making their buying decisions. These buying decisions are based on different determining factors which may include pricing of the product or service, its quality and specifications or features. In addition to these factors consumers buying decisions are also mainly driven from consumers’ own choice, behavior and perception regarding a product or service (Kotler & Keller, 2008). This paper will highlight a decision process which involved a selection of a restaurant and the desired food menu and identification of the basis for such decisions.
It was last weekend when the author had the chance to have a night out with his friends and it was decided to go to a restaurant in London. Selecting a restaurant was a difficult process as every individual gave a different opinion regarding the type of restaurant and menu that it should be serving. However, a common factor which helped us to remove differences in our opinions was that we all opted for healthy food rather than fast food or curries. The next step was to decide between a list of restaurants available off the internet which were serving food under the category of healthy foods at a reasonable price. This involved examining online serving menus available of different restaurants and even calling a few restaurants in Central London area. Furthermore, we read through reviews of different restaurants by individuals who had already visited these restaurants and have either enjoyed eating there or regretted it. This process helped us to narrow further down the choice of restaurants where we could go. We made a small list of restaurants with their addresses and made a trip to Central London ourselves couple of hours ahead of dinner time to observe the restaurants which we had short listed. It was not surprising that some restaurants had posted different information on the internet in terms of available food menu and prices. This was completely unethical as these restaurants should not publish conflicting information regarding their services.
After walkthrough different restaurants we finally decided to go a restaurant known as Buffet V. The restaurant is placed in a posh locality of the Central London on Oxford Road and from the onset the restaurant gave a feeling of well maintained set up with high regards to cleanliness. The restaurant also had a promotion of one guest free if a table of six guests is booked which helped further with our decision as it surely saved us some money, thus promotion is an essential element of marketing strategy (Phillips, Doole & Lowe, 1994). The restaurant serves healthy food choices from five different countries including China, Korea, India, Italy and even the UK. This excited us as we had a chance of exploring different flavors from the world’s menu. The menu served was buffet giving a choice between different healthy food dishes. The layout of the restaurant was not compact with open spaces between tables and floor manager very polite and welcoming. All this made us feel comfortable and happy with our decision. The food was well cooked with exuberating tastes which was delightful. Waiters were very attentive and served with highest levels of service quality. After finishing our meal we went back to our residence.
Overall learning experience from this trip involved making a decision regarding selection of restaurant based on various determining factors including location, cleanliness, variety of food served, floor service by the staff and most importantly the pricing and promotion restaurant had in place for its customers. It can therefore be concluded that these factors are as important as our own choice between at least two alternatives and behavior in the entire buying process (Reynolds & Olson, 2001).
List of References
- Kotler, P. & Keller, K. (2008). Marketing Management (International Student). New Jersey: Pearson / Prentice Hall.
- Phillips, C., Doole, I., & Lowe, R. (1994). International Marketing Strategy. London: Routledge.
- Reynolds, T. J., & Olson, J. C. (2001). Understanding Consumer Decision Making. London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.