Conclusion and Recommendations

Posted: January 4th, 2023

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Conclusion and Recommendations

This chapter concludes the findings of the study based on the research aim and objectives. It also makes recommendations to the management of the fast-food outlets in UAE by suggesting ways for improving customer loyalty using branding personality and image development strategies. Also, limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are addressed.   

Conclusions

This study set out to achieve the following objectives

1. To provide critical literature review of the concept of branding in marketing
2. To provide critical literature review of the concept of loyalty and its relevance in fast food sector
3. To provide a defined link between the concepts of branding and loyalty in the context of fast food sector in UAE
4. To provide actionable recommendations to practitioners based on the findings of the study

The critical review of the literature evidenced the importance of performing a comprehensive consumer-focused or buyer-focused market research to establish the attractants that appeal to customers and influence their buying behavior. It also reiterated the pertinence of garnering consumer loyalty as a critical component for the success of fast-food businesses. However, the literature established an overreliance on consumer loyalty initiatives and an underutilization of effective brand image development by most marketing teams. For fast-food outlets, a brand image that captures the set of human behaviors and leverages the conscientiousness and previous purchasing experiences of fast-food enthusiasts is critical for engendering brand loyalty and the desirable marketing outcomes. In this regard, it can be concluded that the critical literature review provided an adequate explanation of concept of branding and the concept of brand loyalty in marketing and their relevance in the fast-food sector.

The findings of the study provided evidence of the linkage between the concepts of branding and loyalty in the context of fast food sector in UAE. Notably, the association between brand preference, brand personality, and brand loyalty was evident from the study. Notably, one conclusion from the study is that brand loyalty to fast-food outlets in UAE was predominantly influenced by the sincerity, excitement, and competence brand personalities and not by the sophistication and ruggedness personalities of the fast-food brands. In turn, although sincerity, excitement, and competence brand personalities reflected the personal traits of many fast-food enthusiasts, an equally large proportion of the patrons were not sure. While the sincerity and competence brand personality garnered brand loyalty from the older fast-food outlet patrons, especially towards Burger King, Starbucks and Subway, while the excitement personality was responsible for the loyalty displayed by the more youthful consumers, particularly towards McDonald’s and Burger King and Starbucks. Altogether, although the fast-food enthusiasts were attracted by the multiple brand personality types projected by the outlets, they were less sure whether these brand personalities reflected their individual personalities. In this regard, another conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that while the association between brand personality and brand loyalty was confirmed for the fast-food outlets in UAE, the brands were yet to align their personalities with those of their fast-food enthusiasts in the country. Therefore, the brand loyalty of the fast-food outlets in the country was yet to benefit fully from the brand personalities of their patrons, indicating a marketing opportunity for the fast-food outlets.  

The study was limited by the lack of representation of all the demographics of UAE, especially across gender, age, and profession. The older male participants drawn from the engineering profession were overrepresented in the study. Moreover, the study focused on fast-food chains that are based in the United States. These biases limited the generalizability of the findings across the fast food sector across the country.

Future research initiatives should focus on comparing fast-food chains from different countries that have established a presence in the UAE, alongside the American-based ones. Also, the sample of participants should be draw from a diverse age and professional demographic, while balancing the gender representation. Specifically, future studies should compare the brand personality characteristics preferred by the older fast-food enthusiasts and those by their younger counterparts. Similarly, comparing the brand personalities preferred by men and women is advices. These studies would inform age-specific and gender-sensitive brand image and personality development initiatives for the fast-food outlets in the UAE.

Recommendations

The study unearthed the gaps in marketing of the fast-food outlets in UAE that provide marketing opportunities for fast-food chain and outlet managers. The recommendations are summarized in table 1.

Table 1. Summary of recommendations

These recommendations are explained in details. Firstly, the fast-food management should highlight the brand personality that is aligned to that of its most frequent patrons, even while attempting to appeal to multiple consumer personalities. Focusing on the dominant unique traits of their customers would focus the brand image and communication strategies. Currently, the fast-food outlets focus on competence by using the halal logo alongside their brand logo to instill confidence in their clientele (Anam, Sanuri, and Ismail 641). The management should therefore conduct an in-depth market study of the Emirati personalities to develop consumer personas that would help target the marketing activities. The consumer personas would help deliver consistent and coherent imaging and messaging, which would attract and inspire loyalty among the fast-food enthusiasts in the country. For instance, Subway and Pizza Hut should focus more on the over 40-year-olds and therefore refine the consumer persona of the demography by gathering more intelligence about their lifestyle, personality traits, and food preferences. The same can be done by Starbucks and McDonald’s with the 18-24 and 25-40 age groups respectively.  

Secondly, the management of the fast-food outlets should highlight the unique features and attributes of the Emirati that are contained in the brand, be it the colors, décor, cuisine, staff, and service styles. These aspects may be related more to the personalities of the clientele, which are enmeshed with their Arabic and Islamic culture (Ismail, Husin, Bhatti, and Aji 902). In this regard, while the Emirati are welcoming to modern innovations, a touch of indigenous tastes would personify the brand and synchronize it to the national culture, lifestyle, and ambitions. Therefore, the management needs to conduct a comprehensive market research on the national culture of the Emiratis to understand their heritage and current nuances.  

Thirdly, the management should focus more on the fast-food clients that has not decides on which outlet to place their loyalty. The large numbers of undecided clients are potential loyal patrons to each of the fast-food outlets provided the chains were able to differentiate themselves sufficiently in the UAE fast-food market. In this regard, the management of each fast-food outlet should study the branding strategies of its competitor to identify areas of brand differentiation. This would avoid the general perception of that the Emiratis are attracted to sincere, exciting, and competent brand personalities, and that sophistication and ruggedness were brand personalities that were not sought after by the fast-food enthusiasts in UAE. A market research that seeks to understand the undecided clients would inform the management of the fast-food outlets on what brand personality and how it should be projected to these consumer segment to acquire their loyalty.

Works Cited

Anam, Javeed, Bin Mohamed Mokhtar Sany Sanuri, and Bin Lebai Othman Ismail. “Conceptualizing the relation between halal logo, perceived product quality and the role of consumer knowledge.” Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 38, no. 6, 2018, pp. 640 – 660.

Ismail, Noraini, Maizaitulaidawati Md Husin, Tariq Bhatti, and Hendy Mustiko Aji. “Islamic branding in food service industry: Qualitative study of sellers’ and consumers’ perceptions.” Global Business and Management Research, vol. 10, no. 3, 2018, pp. 900-907.