Economic and Social Factors Affecting the Purchasing Power of Customers in Fast Food Restaurants (Applied in Marsa Matrouh City)

Abstract

Fast food restaurants constitute a huge percentage of restaurants sector which is considered as an important sector for each country. This sector highly depends on customer purchasing power which refers to the capacity of a customer to buy certain quantities of goods and services. Hence, the purchasing power for customers and whole country is influenced by the economic factors. The aim of this study is to understand and analyze the characteristics of customers and fast food restaurants with the different types of work in Marsa Matrouh and the impact of the economic factors on the consumers' purchasing power. The population of the study comprises all fast food restaurants in Marsa Matrouh city which contains 7 restaurants and using a simple random sampling technique. A target sample of 425 customers and 7 managers was chosen, so there are two questionnaires' forms were designed. Data were analyzed using SPSS technique and results indicated the importance of these factors and their impact on the customers' purchasing power. The results have emphasized that economic factors are the most important factors which affect the purchasing power, behavior and customers’ choices. Also, the working nature of these restaurants in that city affects their behaviors highly. The study accepts that there is a positive relationship between economic factors (consumers’ income, family income and credit card acceptance) and customer purchasing power.