The Story Wave 22

1: QSR: An Industry Snapshot

Our recent report on the state of the quick-service restaurant (QSR) industry explores consumer sentiment towards café culture and ordering preferences. Using QuestBrand data, we rank the leading QSR brands by brand equity and growth. Here are some key takeaways:

• When coffee shop customers place to-go orders, they more often favor purchasing from a popular chain (48%) over a local coffee shop (25%).
• Half (45%) of US adults agree that customers should have to spend more money if they remain at a coffee shop for an extended period of time.
• When deciding which coffee shop to visit, customers are more often influenced by a shop’s convenience (62%) than its brand (31%).
• When ordering at a QSR for pick-up, 20% of young adults (ages 18-34), but only 10% of older consumers (ages 55+), prefer ordering online using a restaurant’s mobile app or website.
• Almost half (45%) of older consumers, but 29% of young consumers, prefer ordering from the drive-thru.

2: AI Nation: Exploring Comfort with AI Applications

In a recent report, The Harris Poll explores Americans’ comfort using AI technology within the travel, financial services, and healthcare industries. Here’s a sneak peek at our findings:

• Less than one third (29%) of Americans believe that AI will ultimately be good for society.
• More than half of US adults have tried AI, but far fewer have leveraged this technology within healthcare (19%), finance (16%), or travel (14%).
• TRAVEL insights are good, but action is not: 71% of US adults would be comfortable using AI to forecast flights, but less than half (48%) would be comfortable using AI to book an approved itinerary on their behalf.
• HEALTHCARE assistance is fine, but not without oversight: 67% of US adults would be comfortable engaging AI systems to answer questions about an upcoming appointment, but only 42% would be comfortable allowing AI to develop a personalized treatment plan based off their test results.

3: What do Young Consumers Think About These 5 Popular Fast-Food Chains? – Brand Story

According to a recent Harris Poll survey, young consumers (ages 18-34) order items from quick-service restaurants more often than older consumers (ages 55+). Using QuestBrand data, we’ve examined what these frequent customers think about five popular fast-food chains – Burger King, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Wendy’s.

• We mapped these QSR brands across 25 distinct brand attributes to reveal what defining characteristics young customers associate with each brand:

• Young consumers similarly perceive Burger King, McDonald’s, and Wendy’s as “Practical,” a “Good Value,” and “Corporate.”
• Taco Bell and Chick-fil-A break away from these other brands and carve out more distinct personalities. Chick-fil-A is seen as “Customer-Centric,” “Wholesome,” and “Trustworthy.” In comparison, Taco Bell is more often described as “Young,” “Bold,” “Unconventional,” and “Hip.”

Read the full brand story to discover how Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell fostered these unique brand identities.