A Comparative Study on the Impact of Ambient Factors on Patronage: A Case of Three Fast Foods Retail Brands in Masvingo, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACTAcademic researches on ambient factors have proliferated over the years, however very few studies on this area have focused on Fast Food Retail Businesses. This study therefore adopts a comparative approach to examining how the ambient variables (light, music, scent, and colour) affect customers' patronage on these fast foods outlets. The focus of this paper is on the main Fast Food Retail outlets in Masvingo City (Zimbabwe), namely Chicken Inn, Food Express and Wimpy. In this study we employed a descriptive research design and the sample size was 150 respondents (90 males and 60 females) who were intercepted as they patronised these shops. The major finding of this paper is that even though we took a comparative approach to looking at the impact of ambient variables, the results confirm that indeed these have a positive effect on consumer patronage although with varying degrees of influence. Therefore, it is important that marketing practitioners are encouraged to consider the synergistic contribution of the ambient variables in order to create a comprehensively appealing environment for attracting patronage.Keywords: Fast food retail businesses, ambient and patronage.INTRODUCTION:Many researchers, retailers, marketers, restaurant owners and practitioners have investigated the influence of ambient factors on consumer patronage and consumer behaviour in general (Gilboa and Rafaeli, 2003). The ambient factors play a significant role in forming customers impression (Bitner, 1992) and are crucial tangible components of the service product that give cues to customers and create a perceptual image in the minds of customers (Kotler, 1973). In fact, marketers and researchers have come to acknowledge that servicescapes have been widely used as a way to evaluate intangible products, that is, the appearance and external impression of a retail business may create either a positive or negative influence on consumer patronage. The ambient factors are rich in cues which are very influential in communicating the business's image and purpose to its customers (Bitner, 1992). It is therefore important for the Food Retail Brands to appropriately mesh these variables (light, music, scent, and odour) so that they are able to appeal to the target market. However, past researches have examined the effects of individual stimuli such as music, colour, light or scent on consumer behaviour, but according to our knowledge we have not come across a research that has taken a comparative approach to see how the aforementioned variables impact on patronage. Thus in this study we are interested in investigating how the patronage of three retail businesses namely Chicken Inn, Food Express and Wimpy is affected by music, light, colour and scent.According to Jackle and Sulle (2002), Fast food came in the 1940s after the Second World War, grew and prospered in the late 20th century, and is now considered as one of the most developed sector. Fast food is a concept that refers to ready cooked food or to food that is prepared and served quickly in restaurants, stores, kiosks and takeaways. In Zimbabwe, the Fast food Industry has and is increasingly creating benefits to the economy through employment creationATMOSPHERICS/ AMBIENT FACTORS:According to Levy and Weitz (2009), store atmosphere is referred to as the attribute that aims to intensify the store environment with the combination of different cues such as lighting, color, music, and scent. Masson, Morris and Wilkinson (1993), acknowledge that ambient factors are psychogenic variables which are highly impalpable and are therefore hard to quickly remember and that these variables (i.e. scent, color, music and lighting etc), are critical in influencing and shaping behaviour while the individual will be in the store and that the very moment the individual leaves the store, these variables will cease to influence his or her future store patronage choice or purchase behavior. …