It’s a stark comment on the high food prices we all face – and the persistent decline in the average family’s buying power. A new study from a leading Financial Education firm reveals three quarters of Americans now see Fast Food as a ‘luxury’…
That’s questionably bad news for Fast Food fans – who would, nevertheless, get more nutrition value spending their scarce dollars on non-processed foods. But it’s unquestionably bad news for the Fast Food industry, which is seeing flat or declining revenues, and waning customer traffic.
The key questions
Among other questions on the Lending Tree survey, consumers were asked: “Do you agree with the statement, ‘fast food has gotten more expensive, and I now view it as a luxury’?”
And an overwhelming 78 percent said they did.
‘The results make clear, regardless of the context, that most Americans now see fast food as a luxury,” North Carolina-based LendingTree told Food & Wine magazine in a statement. “That’s a new phenomenon. Yes, there have always been groups of Americans who might have viewed fast food that way because of their financial struggles. However, for the vast majority of Americans to feel that way seems like a significant cultural shift, and a troubling sign.”
Just the tip of the iceberg
Follow-up questions revealed that:
- 62 percent say they’re eating Fast Food less due to rising prices.
- 65 percent say they’ve been shocked by the high price of a fast-food bill in the past six months.
- 67 percent agree Fast food should be cheaper than eating at home.
- 75 percent say Fast Food is no longer cheaper than eating at home
- 46 percent say Fast Food restaurant prices are on a par with their local sit-down restaurants.
- 22 percent say Fast Food is more expensive than local sit-down restaurants.
- 56 percent say their go-to dining choice is now cooking at home.
Other survey ‘vignettes’…
- More women than men are turning away from Fast Food
- 25 percent of Americans polled say they no longer eat Fast Food at all.
- 54 percent say still eat Fast Food 1-2 times a week. And only…
- 22 percent say they eat Fast Food 3-4 or more times a week.
Parallel issues
Tipping culture evolution
Call me old-school, but I would never even think of tipping at a fast Food joint. It’s just not traditional, and it’s not culturally appropriate. But the chains are starting to demand it.
56 percent of those polled by LearningTree said they had never been asked to tip at a Fast Food resto in the past 6 months..
44 percent reported they had been asked to tip. Of those:
25 percent of those said they left a tip. And…
19 percent said they didn’t tip.
“Much has been written about how technology has made it easier and easier for companies to ask for tips from their customers and how many companies are taking advantage of it to bring in extra revenue, sometimes to the annoyance of their customers,” the survey report observes. “That’s spurred talk among millions of Americans of ‘tipping fatigue’.”
Surge pricing fears
The spectre of so-called ‘surge pricing’ has been a hot topic among Fast Food fans over the past 6 months or so. And the concern is not fading, according to the results of the LearningTree survey.
The Fast Food chains insist they would never implement surge pricing. But, if they change their minds in the future, the potential to do so is just a few keystrokes away in the new, AI-driven menuboard and ordering systems they’re all phasing in. over the next few years.
My take
No surprises there for me.
I agree wholeheartedly with those survey respo0ndentsd who said they expect Fast Food to be cheaper than food prepared at home. I’m definitely eating less Fast Food less due to rising prices. Though I’ve never been more than an occasional fast Food consumer. And my go-to dining choice has always been cooking at home.
Like I said, I’m old school. I’ve never equated Fast Food joints with sit-down restaurants. And it’s in sit-down restos that I have always expected and appreciated good service. That’s what tips are for: to reward good service. As for surge pricing… Any restaurant that implements it is off my ‘friends’ list immediately and forever.
~ Maggie J.