Chapter 4 Th e World of Food and Beverages 71
would include children, teenagers, young adults,
and mature adults. Another way to divide the
market into segments is to group customers based
on interests and activities. These might include
shoppers, sports fans, and couples on a date, 4-15.
Your target market is the market segment whose
needs you strive to meet.
The choice of target market is a major part of
the restaurant concept. For example, the target mar-
ket for the Hard Rock Cafe is people who love rock
music. The owners of the Hard Rock Cafe make all
their decisions with this target market in mind.
All foodservice managers need to know if
their customers are satisfi ed. If customers are not
satisfi ed, the manager needs to know why. Then
the business can work to improve customer sat-
isfaction. There are many ways to test customer
satisfaction with the dining experience. The dining
experience is not only the food that is being served.
Customer Feedback
It also includes the ambiance, the friendliness and
courtesy of the staff, and the cleanliness of the res-
taurant.
Many foodservice operations use guest com-
ment cards to obtain information about customer
satisfaction. However, comment cards cannot al-
ways be used. Comment cards work well in family
and fast-food restaurants, but they are often out of
place in fi ne-dining restaurants.
Many fi ne-dining restaurants use the mys-
tery shopper technique instead. Mystery shoppers
are persons who are hired to dine at a restaurant.
They do not reveal their true identity to the restau-
rant staff. Mystery shoppers are asked to prepare
detailed reports on the restaurant’s facilities, food
and beverage quality, service, and staff. This method
usually gives objective information about how the
restaurant is perceived by customers.
There is another way to fi nd out about guest
satisfaction. Managers can walk around the res-
taurant and talk with their guests. They can ask the
guests what they think about the food and service.
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4-15
Shoppers are an example of a target market in foodservice.