Customer Experiences on New Normal Marketing Strategies: A

Phenomenological Study on Fast Food Establishments

Rationale

Knowing that a large target market exists for a product or service is one thing.

But, it is another to be able to justify why those customers would buy these products or

service from a certain business. A solid marketing strategy offers a business

organization the assurance that customers would actually flock and gather to buy or

render the product or service your company was offering. In addition to this, fierce

market competition encourages companies, whether big or small, to prepare marketing

strategies and marketing plans.

Every business, big or small, have to learn how to unleash an effective marketing

campaign to bring their quality products or services to the right market, retain existing

customers, increase their sales and profitability, and grow their business. In the

Philippines, small enterprises are facing a lot of challenges and one of these is how to

implement inexpensive yet effective marketing strategies and tactics to make their

business more competitive (Abrugar, 2013).

Theoretical Lens

The three theories that would support our study are; the Attribution Theory,

Institutional Theory and the Marketing Orientation Theory. The Attribution Theory says

that most customers think of you in terms of a single attribute, either positive or

negative. Heider (1958) was the first to propose a psychological theory of attribution. In

many cases, how deeply entrenched that attribute is in the mind of your customers and
prospective customers determines how readily they would buy your product or service

and how much they would pay (Fiske & Taylor, 1991).

Another theory that would support our study is the Institutional theory. This theory

is closely tied to this so-called “company culture.” It suggests that the actions of

businesses and the outcomes of these actions are influenced by the knowledge

systems, beliefs, and rules that characterize the context of the organization. If put in

another way, the words and actions we choose should directly reflect the image we

want to portray of our business. Therefore, a business entity must always review their

words while reflecting on the image you’re trying to create to be sure the two align

(DiMaggio & Powell, 1983).

The last supporting theory is Marketing Orientation. This theory maintains that to

be successful, businesses should determine customers’ needs and wants, and satisfy

them more effectively than their competitors. Firms that adapt and implement marketing

concepts are said to be market oriented that is if they are more skilled in generating

knowledge in order to achieve better knowledge through improved access to consumer

preferences (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2005; Li & Calantone, 1998).

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the marketing

strategies applied by fast food establishments in a new normal situation. In this study,

the researchers will define different marketing strategies as an overall plan for

marketing a product, which includes selecting, and analyzing a target market and

creating a marketing mix.

 This study is intended to expose the knowledge and awareness of the customers

which has the first-hand experiences on the marketing strategies applied by fast food

establishments. It is also aimed to verify the effectiveness and efficiency of the

marketing strategies applied by these certain business. Also, this study is meant to

make the customers realize what are the biggest challenges usually encountered in this

nature of business and what are the best solutions in order to lessen the repercussions

from these problems.

Research Questions

The following are the research questions to be used for the accomplishment of

the study:

 What are the marketing strategies observed from the fast food

establishments?

 What are the insights gained by the customers on the marketing

strategies observed?
References:

Abrugar, V. (2013). 15 Marketing Tips for Small Businesses in the Philippines.

Retrieved from: http://businesstips.ph/15-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses-
in-the-philippines/

DiMaggio & Powell (1983). The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and
Collective Rationality in organizational Fields. American Sociological Review,
48 (2).

Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd Ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill

Heider, F. (1958). The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. New York: Wiley

Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F., & McDaniel, C. (2005). Marketing (8th Edition). Ohio: Thomson
South- Western, Inc.

Li, T., & Calantone, R.J. (1998). The Impact of Market Knowledge Competence on New
Product Advantages: Conceptual and Empirical Examination. Journal of
Marketing, 62(4), pp. 13-29.