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Winter 2008	Spring 2008
Sandelman & Associates celebrates its 20th anniversary and thanks its loyal clients for their support. Since the start of 2007, consumer sentiment with regard to value at fast-food restaurants has changed. At casual dining restaurants, the trend is even more dramatic. Which markets boast the most frequent diners? In the Top 5 casual dining markets, users enjoy at least 5 casual dining occasions a month. How do diners perceive your advertising? Sandelman's 2008 QSR Advertising Rating Report provides answers.	In the chain restaurant business, pizza is likely the most competitive segment. Sandelman will tell you how the industry is faring against "all other QSR." Although the vast majority of consumers patronize fast-food restaurants at least monthly, the category has been unable to sustain the heady growth of recent years. Problem: Heavy usage is down. Notably, four of the Top 10 “heavy QSR user” markets are in Texas. Champaign, Ill., is the only Top 10 heavy QSR user market in a northern clime. Casual dining frequency is down, but amount spent is trending up.
Winter 2008	Fall 2007
Performing well on customer satisfaction attributes that are considered extremely important by a high percentage of users is vital. So where to start? Smaller, regional chains excelled in Sandelman’s 2007 Quick-Track Awards of Excellence, capturing seven of the Top 10 spots in the “Top Rated Chains Overall” category. Learn more If you need to know who is dining late night, where they're going, how much they're spending and whether they'd patronize other chains if they extended their hours, then Sandelman can help. Frequent fast-food users are cutting back. Quick-Track data can help you spot opportunities.	Fast-casual routs its older sister traditional quick-service when it comes to “excellent” overall ratings. Do consumers want a greater variety of healthful items? Do they blame restaurants for obesity? Sandelman provides some answers. McDonald’s still dominates Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts with respect to “regular customers,” but Dunkin’ leads in “chain loyalty” and Starbucks is not far off the pace. Is casual dining recovering? Q307 data suggests it’s heading in the right direction.
Summer 2007	Spring 2007
About 70 percent of chain restaurant diners are well satisfied overall. In 2006 McDonald’s and Subway had made great strides with respect to advertising “likeability.” How do they fare in 2007? The breakfast daypart is critical to family dining, where it accounts for 33 percent of occasions, and of growing importance to QSRs. There is an opportunity to boost premium menu item purchase frequency at QSRs.	Concern over trans fats continues to grow Men eat burgers, women choose pizza For eight straight years, Subway has been ranked No. 1 when it comes to providing healthful foods QSR’s heaviest users are south of the Mason-Dixon line, in cities like Greenville, N.C., and McAllen, Texas Is QSR usage slumping?

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