Consumers Name Their Favorite Burgers
In-N-Out Burger, Red Robin and Culvers earned diners' highest scores in R&I;'s 2009 Consumers' Choice in Chains study
-- Restaurants and Institutions, 9/1/2009
 |
Return to Consumers' Choice in Chains of 2009: Introduction
CONSUMERS' FAVORITE BURGER CHAINS:
|
Platinum |
Gold |
Silver |
|
|
In-N-Out Burger |
Red Robin |
Culver's Frozen Custard & ButterBurgers |
|
|
OVERALL SCORE |
71.2 |
62.6 |
61.6 |
| ABOUT THE CHAIN | Headquarters: Irvine, Calif. President: Mark Taylor Units: 232 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 80 Respondents who... Are aware of the chain: 35% Visited in past 12 months: 9% Plan to return: 90% |
Headquarters: Greenwood Village, Colo. CEO: Dennis Mullen Units: 436 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 37 Respondents who... Are aware of the chain: 62% Visited in past 12 months:13% Plan to return: 80% |
Headquarters: Prairie du Sac, Wis. CEO: Craig Culver Units: 402 R&I Top 400 Chains rank: 60 Respondents who... Are aware of the chain: 15% Visited in past 12 months: 6% Plan to return: 90% |
| WHY IT WON | No sexy ads or colorful characters here: In-N-Out Burger's fiercely loyal patrons—including as many seniors (64 and older) as Gen Yers (26 and younger)—are the West Coast brand's best ambassadors. While others stretch their menus into new territory, In-N-Out's burger-fries-and-drink lineup has stayed basically the same since 1948. | Red Robin bests the competition in menu variety as well as atmosphere. The mood and the message at the expanding (17 new units have opened so far this year), full-service concept is decidedly family-friendly. Recent upgrades to the brand image include a new logo and a redesigned, “more user-friendly” menu and Web site. | Having won over fans in the Midwest with its signature ButterBurgers, the 25-year-old Wisconsin-based chain is ready to “Culverize” the country. Culver's, which already has units in Arizona, Colorado and Texas (and a goal of 20 new stores by the end of 2009), aired its first national TV spot in February during the Academy Awards. |
CONSUMERS' CHOICE IN CHAINS: BURGER CHAIN RANKINGS:
| Overall Score | Atmos-phere | Cleanli-ness | Conven-ience | Food Quality | Reputa-tion | Menu Variety | Service | Value | |
| 1. In-N-Out Burger | 71.2 | 61% | 70% | 62% | 83% | 84% | 44% | 77% | 73% |
| 2. Red Robin | 62.6 | 71 | 69 | 47 | 75 | 69 | 69 | 65 | 45 |
| 3. Culver's | 61.6 | 58 | 65 | 53 | 75 | 70 | 64 | 63 | 46 |
| 4. Fuddruckers | 57.3 | 69 | 61 | 40 | 74 | 69 | 60 | 54 | 42 |
| 5. Whataburger | 53.6 | 39 | 49 | 53 | 64 | 61 | 50 | 51 | 50 |
| 6. Sonic | 51.9 | 43 | 41 | 58 | 53 | 54 | 61 | 55 | 49 |
| 7. Wendy's | 51.5 | 35 | 45 | 54 | 58 | 57 | 53 | 45 | 54 |
| 8. Jack in the Box | 47.0 | 31 | 37 | 51 | 48 | 46 | 58 | 42 | 52 |
| 9. Hardee's | 46.9 | 32 | 42 | 44 | 60 | 49 | 47 | 44 | 42 |
| 10. Checkers | 45.5 | 28 | 26 | 52 | 58 | 45 | 41 | 35 | 54 |
| 11. A&W | 44.9 | 41 | 43 | 39 | 53 | 48 | 44 | 45 | 41 |
| 12. McDonald's | 44.2 | 29 | 37 | 60 | 38 | 49 | 46 | 37 | 53 |
| 13. Burger King | 44.1 | 27 | 34 | 52 | 49 | 48 | 45 | 37 | 48 |
| 14. Krystal | 43.1 | 27 | 33 | 43 | 47 | 44 | 38 | 39 | 55 |
| 15. Carl's Jr. | 42.9 | 32 | 36 | 43 | 52 | 45 | 48 | 42 | 37 |
| 16. White Castle | 41.1 | 27 | 36 | 39 | 44 | 44 | 32 | 36 | 55 |
| Note: Overall Score is an index; percentages for each attribute represent respondents who rated the chain a 4 or 5 on a scale of a low of 1 to 5. | |||||||||
What Consumers Want from Burger Chains
Consumers were asked how they rate—on a scale of 1 (not very important) to 5 (very important)—the importance of eight attributes in choosing a burger chain. The chart below shows how burger-chain patrons' opinions have changed in the past year.
| Attribute | 2009 | 2008 |
| 1. Food Quality | 4.34 | 4.32 |
| 2. Value | 4.26 | 4.22 |
| 3. Cleanliness | 4.22 | 4.18 |
| 4. Convenience | 4.05 | 4.02 |
| 5. Service | 4.04 | 4.02 |
| 6. Menu Variety | 3.94 | 3.89 |
| 7. Reputation | 3.82 | 3.76 |
| 8. Atmosphere | 3.55 | 3.48 |
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