Olivia Krey

Project Overview

I collaborated in a group academic project to consult with the business Waffle Love, identifying a problem or opportunity in the company to conduct Marketing Research about. Exploratory research was conducted to identify a decision problem and research problem to be studied further. A survey was carefully crafted using Qualtrics that was subsequently taken by approximately 150 CSUN students. From the survey, we gathered the responses and thoroughly analyzed the data through SPSS. A 12 page marketing plan was curated to detail our findings and recommendations to the managers of Waffle Love. Finally, a presentation was given to tell the managers and peers about our findings.

Decision problem

How can Waffle Love attract more CSUN students to their Northridge location?

Research Problem

What promotions would CSUN students reactive most positively to?

Method

Our research was focused on learning about CSUN student’s dining habits and what promotions attract student customers. To answer this question, we conducted an online survey programmed on Qualtrics. We acquired a sample size of 137 persons from the CSUN student population.

Results

Overall Demographics. We examined a sample of CSUN students and their demographic data. The sample can be described as the following:

– Current CSUN students (as of Spring 2024) – 62% Female (36% Male) – Young (mean age 20) – 56% live in Northridge while 43% do not

Awareness Statistics. Next, respondents were asked questions based on their awareness of Waffle Love and other local restaurants that may be competitors to Waffle Love. To get an idea of the awareness of our business, Waffle Love, we asked the respondents if they had heard of the company. Results show that 68% of the sample had heard of Waffle Love.

We then tested if commute affects whether the respondents have heard of Waffle Love. Data shows that 81% of respondents with a commute under 20 minutes have heard of Waffle Love, while 53% of respondents with a commute over 20 minutes have heard of the company.

An important insight for Waffle Love managers is to understand what brings CSUN students to a particular restaurant. Two different variables were examined to address this concern:

“How are you most likely to discover a new restaurant?”

When given a list of 10 options and an “other” text box, the most frequent answer was Instagram with 76% of the respondents reporting finding new restaurants in this way, followed by “word of mouth” at 65%, Tiktok at 54%, Google Search at 49%, and Yelp reviews at 38%.

“When choosing a restaurant to dine at before or after classes, what aspects are most important to you?”

Respondents were presented with 9 different qualities a restaurant may have and were asked to rate them on a scale from 1-7 (1 = least important/7 = most important). High quality food was rated most important, followed by low cost, fast service, friendly staff, and ease of parking.

How many restaurant rewards programs are you currently signed up for?

Because Waffle Love employs a rewards program, we were interested in getting an idea of our sample’s current use of rewards programs to restaurants. The respondents reported being subscribed to an average of 2 rewards programs.

“Which of the following Waffle Love promotions would you be interested in?”

This 1-7 scale question (1 = least important/7 = most important) asked respondents to rate 6 different specific store promotions based on their individual interest. Some of the promotions are already implemented by the store while others are not. Respondents were most interested in a weekly special for $6.50, followed by a free birthday specialty waffle, 10% off student discount, and a discounted student menu consisting’ of 4 waffles at $8-10. Waffle Love already implements the weekly special for $6.50 and the free waffle on birthday, but does not offer any student discounts.

Limitations

• Method of sampling (convenience samples).
• Nature of the survey requires individuals to rate promotions in a hypothetical setting, where they may respond differently in a real world environment.
• Possibility of individuals being fully remote students.

Recommendations

• Strengthen Waffle Love’s presence on Instagram and TikTok, using visually appealing content and collaborating with student influencers to increase brand visibility and engagement among CSUN students.
• Continuously offer promotions such as the weekly special, free birthday waffle, student discount, and discounted menu, while actively promoting these offers through social media and on-campus advertising.
• Expand and actively promote Waffle Love’s loyalty program.
• Organize events or partnerships with CSUN, such as sponsoring university events or setting up pop-ups on campus, to increase brand visibility and build a stronger sense of community and loyalty among students.
• Focus on promoting popular menu items and introducing innovative options that cater to the preferences of CSUN students, while ensuring affordability and maintaining the high quality that Waffle Love is known for.