Mystery Guest Research

At Thursday July 29th we did a mystery guest research at the Waffle House in Tempe. We tested the quality of the food, service and the prices.

On our way to the Waffle House we searched for promotional activities on the side of the road. We couldn't find anything. When we arrived we noticed the big yellow logo at the outside of the building. The building itself looked simple and maintained with red canopies. We didn't see menus at the outside, except some offers. The location is easy to reach by bus, but it isn't really well-known amongst the locals. Parking spaces are limited.

The first impression of the inside was simple and looked like a typical American diner (red cushions for the sofas and chairs; they also have a jukebox). There's no extra decoration present. The menu is already placed on the tables and at the same time it is served as a place mat. There were clear pictures of the food on it and they were large. They have an open kitchen and it looked pretty clean.
The people who were eating at the Waffle House were mostly families and youth.

We were immediately greeted by employees. Their uniforms are all the same: black aprons and caps with the logo on it. They were wearing gloves when they prepared the food. The service was very fast and the personnel was very friendly. They started a conversation and even made some little jokes. When we asked for new cutlery, we got it right away. When serving a waffle, a employee asked if it wasn't to dark and also the butter came aside. They were cleaning regularly. The farewell was very friendly.

The quality of the products was good. The quantity was maybe not as much as Americans are used to. For us it was perfect! The price-quality ratio is good to perfect. The serving of the food was not that special and looked simple. The cutlery was clean but there were some fluffs on it.

Some other things we noticed, were: there were house rules and some certificates hanging on the wall.

Research Proposal

We want to know more about the history of Waffle House, about the concept, about the marketing mix and most important about the branded customer experience.

We will be analyzing this by using desk research and field research.

Desk research:

• The official website of Waffle House for information about the history & mission, fun facts, customer experiences and different locations;
• Review websites;
• Forums;
• Which keywords on search engines make that customers will see Waffle House first? (promotion/place);

Field research:

• Mystery Guest research by ourselves (we check the quality of the service, food and the prices);
• Interviews with the manager, customers and employees after getting permission to do this (if possible);
• Searching for promotional activities in and around Tempe and the media.

Before we will do the mystery guest research and the interviews, we will make up questionnaires. This will make it easier for us. During the interviews, one of us will ask the questions and another member of our group will write the answers down.

The theories we will be using, are: the holy triangle (target group, location, formula) from Inbev and the marketing mix (product, location, promotion, employees and price).

Introduction

Hey!

We are group one and would like to introduce ourselves and our subject.

Tamara Pleiter and Jelle Verhoeven are both upcoming 2nd year students Tourism Management (Dutch). Tamara is 20 years old and lives in Breda. Jelle is 17 years old and lives in Oisterwijk.
Sanne van Pinxteren and Evelien van Raan are upcoming 4th year students Function-oriented Bachelor Tourism and Recreation (Dutch). Sanne is 22 years old and lives in Rosmalen. Evelien is 23 years and lives in Oosterhout (NB).

We're now participating in a Summer Course of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, which takes place in the state of Arizona, USA. Here we shall fullfill a assignment called 'Branded Customer Experience'.

The company we chose for this assignment is 'Waffle House'. In the Netherlands waffles are only sold at stalls (on fairs) and at supermarkets. They can hardly be found in restaurants. We think the Dutch like waffles very much, so it could be very successfull in the Dutch market.

Group 1 has chosen for...

...the Waffle House!
Evelien, Sanne, Tamara and Jelle take part in group one!

Our introduction will follow a.s.a.p.!

See ya!
Group One