Fast-Foods Versus Restaurants. An Approach From The Young People’S Perspective

The present paper proposes to identify the main differences between fast-foods and restaurants, the occasions on which the services offered by each of these two types of food service units are used, and also their segments of consumers, from the young people’s perspective. This study was conceived with students from “Transilvania” University in Braşov, and the research method was the ‘focusgroup’. The results of the research reveal that the young people prefer to dine at a fast-food, due to its ability to adapt its offer to them, by meeting their nutritional and socializing needs. The restaurant is chosen by the young people for celebrating special events, for business meetings and for other situations, such as dining out with the family, with an older person, with a visitor from another country or with other people whom the young people wish to impress. Although the research method is a qualitative one and cannot be extended to the entire population, the results can be used by the restaurants’ managers to conceive some appropriate strategies for attracting and building the young people’s loyalty.