MINNEAPOLIS — A recent national survey administered by Harris Interactive on behalf of Dairy Queen has revealed that almost half of U.S. adults (46 percent) are eating out at restaurants about the same or more as they did one year ago, the company has announced.
The survey results also found that 89 percent of those who eat out in restaurants say that when dining out they would take advantage of discounts including value meals, coupons, frequent custom cards/membership programs and so on.
When it comes to choosing a restaurant, 71 percent of adults said price and menu variety were the most important factors in determining their choice of restaurant.
Celebrities including Warren Buffett, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also weighed in independently of the survey, which was commissioned to discover just how the economy has affected dining decisions.
Cuban, who several years ago took a challenge to manage a Dairy Queen for a day, says he would most likely take advantage of a value menu when asked about different economic incentives to eating out at a restaurant.
"Today more than ever consumers look for value, price and menu variety which is exactly why we introduced Sweet Deals, our new, permanent value menu," said Michael Keller, chief brand officer for International Dairy Queen Inc. "Sales have been trending up since we launched Sweet Deals, and this survey supports the fact that people still like to treat themselves, but are taking the extra time to find the best value."
Sweet Deals will be supported by national advertising in May.
About the survey
Harris Interactive fielded the study on behalf of Dairy Queen from March 5-9, 2009, via its QuickQuer online omnibus service, interviewing a nationwide sample of 2,852 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older. Data were weighted using propensity score weighting to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, race/ethnicity, and propensity to be online. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
