Segmentation of Consumers as a Leading Factor in Restaurant Marketing

Effective management of a restaurant enterprise operating at the competitive market requires conducting marketing activities at an appropriate level. However, the consumer behavior of consumers of restaurant services and its motives are heterogeneous. Therefore, effective management of a restaurant enterprise requires solving the problem of segmentation of the restaurant services market which determines the relevance of the research topic. Our paper shows that an important variable characterizing consumer behavior is the frequency of use of a restaurant service by this respondent, since it is this characteristic that determines the attractiveness of the respondent from the point of view of marketing efforts. We conducted a survey with consumers in order to learn their preferences in three restaurants in the middle price category in Yekaterinburg. In all the restaurants, a uniform way of conducting the research was agreed: questionnaires and pens were placed on the side of the tables, and the decision to take part in the study was made by the respondents themselves. The study resulted in 265 completed questionnaires. When developing a methodological approach to the segmentation of the restaurant services market, it was proposed to introduce into scientific use the concept of a special market segment. A special segment is a fairly large and stable segment of buyers (consumers) identified by the nature of the special purchase situation or the special purpose of making a purchase, to identify which a special (independent) research method or tool can be used, which reduces the scope of the main research and simplifies it. Our results show that the use of the developed composition of the segments of the restaurant market allows to specify the process of planning the effective marketing strategy of a restaurant business.