Dunkin’ Donuts Case Study

1- Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping a coffee shop such as
Dunkin’ Donuts formulate sound marketing strategies.
Dunkin’ Donuts has relied heavily on market research to achieve its enormous success.
Back when the company began, Bill Rosenberg founded Dunkin’ Donuts on a culture of
listening to what customers want and then providing it. Market research has been a vital
part of this commitment, and has been used in many forms throughout the company’s
history, including focus groups and survey research. So what does this have to do with
their coffee, you might be wondering? As it turns out, Dunkin’ Donuts conducted
research with both surveys and taste testing in order to find the perfect blend that
customers favor the most. Not only does the company have the right flavor down, but it
also made a commitment to quality as a result of researching what customers want in a
cup of coffee.

For example, Marketing research in the form of focus groups and survey research
revealed that customers select a coffee and donut shop based on five factors:
accessibility, quality, variety, image, and affordability. This helped Dunkin’ Donuts
formulate sound marketing strategies to make improvements on all these factors. To
illustrate, in order to improve accessibility, Dunkin’ Donuts has opened locations in
Home Depot, Wal-Mart, 7-11, and Stop & Shop stores to add to the convenience that
customers’ desire. Every location is strategically placed and designed with these
customer preferences in mind.

2- Dunkin’ Donuts is considering further expansion in the United States. Define the
management decision problem.
The primary objective of marketing research is to bring the Manufacturers, Consumers
and End Users in the same line because this will determine the opportunities and the path
through which the organization or the product will penetrate the market in order to be
successful. Therefore, the management decision problem here is:
What can Dunkin’ Donuts do to further expand in the US in a profitable manner?

3- Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the management

decision problem you have identified.
The marketing research problem is to determine consumer preferences for coffee and
donut shops. Specifically, research should provide answers to the following questions:
a. What criteria do consumers use in selecting a coffee and donut shop?
b. How do consumers evaluate Dunkin’ Donuts and its competitor’s based on the
identified choice criteria?
c. What is the potential demand for coffee and donut shops?
d. What is the demographic and psychographic profile of consumers who prefer
Dunkin’ Donuts to competitors?

4- Develop a questionnaire for assessing consumer preferences for coffee shops. Please
create 13 questions to develop the coffee shop questionnaire.

COFFEE SHOP QUESTIONNAIRE

PART 1

Q1. How often do you visit a coffee shop?

a. One a month or less often
b. 2 or 3 times a month
c. Once or twice a week
d. Three or more times per week

Q2. Please rate the importance of the following factors in your selection of a coffee shop.
Not at all Very
 Important Important
A. Quality 1 2 3 4 5
B. Image 1 2 3 4 5
C. Variety 1 2 3 4 5
D. Price/Affordability 1 2 3 4 5
E. Convenience of location 1 2 3 4 5
Q3. Please rate your preference for the following coffee shops
Not at all Very much
Preferred preferred
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q4. Please rate the following coffee shops in terms of Quality.
Poor Excellent
quality quality
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q5. Please rate the following coffee shops in terms of Variety
Poor Excellent
variety variety
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q6. Please rate the following coffee shops in terms of Image

Poor Excellent
image image
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
 E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q7. Please rate the following fast food restaurants in terms of Price/Affordability.
Poor Excellent
price price
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q8. Please rate the following fast food restaurants in terms of Convenience of Location
Poor Excellent
location location
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q9. Please indicate how frequently you eat in the following coffee shops.
Not at all Very much
frequently Frequently
A. Krispy Kreme 1 2 3 4 5
B. Dunkin’s Donuts 1 2 3 4 5
C. Starbucks 1 2 3 4 5
D. Caribou Coffee’ 1 2 3 4 5
E. Aurora Coffee 1 2 3 4 5
Q10. How often do you eat in Dunkin’ Donuts?
a. Once a month or less often
b. 2 or 3 times a week
c. Once or twice a week
d. Three or more times per week
PART B
In this part, we would like to ask you some questions for classification purposes.
Q11. Your gender
a. Male
b. Female
 c. Would rather not tell
Q12. Marital Status
a. Currently married
b. Never married
c. Divorced/Separated/Widowed
Q13. Family size
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
e. Five or more
Q14. Your age
a. 18-24
b. 25-40
c. 41-60
d. 60+
Q15. Your formal education
a. Less than high school
b. High school graduate
c. Some college
d. College graduate
Q16. What is your occupation?
-------------------------
Q17. What is the approximate combined annual income of your household before taxes?
a. $30,000 or less
b. $30,001 to 50,000
c. $50,001 to 75,000
d. $75,001 to 100,000
e. $100,001 to 150,000
 f. $150,001 and over
Thank you for your participation.