How Aurora Restaurant Promotes Itself Among Postgraduate Students - Case Study Example

How Aurora Restaurant promotes itself among postgraduate students? Introduction This look into how the Aurora Restaurant in Nottingham can promote itself to Trent University students. The above represents a look into how the restaurant could build its business through marketing and promotional techniques. This brief will seek to explore and develop the title that also serves as the research question. Growth in a restaurant customer base is a key issue facing these types of establishments (Jenkins, 2015) Increasing revenue is a key issue for any business and is particularly acute for restaurants due to consumers having so many choices with the trend toward fast food outlets providing added pressure to lure customers to an eat-in format (The Economist, 2010). The scope of this report seeks to reveal how through the use of promotions, the Aurora Restaurant can make a meaningful increase to its customer base from the huge number of students located at Trent University that is less than a 10-minute drive, or approximately 7 kilometers. Figure 1 – Location of Aurora Restaurant and Trent University in Nottingham (Google Maps, 2016, p. 1) In considering how the Aurora Restaurant could promote itself to appeal to postgraduate students, there are a number of factors to be considered. These represent pricing in terms of other postgraduate eating possibilities such as the university’s canteen and other options which were aspects brought forth in the questionnaire (Appendix 2). Another area to be considered is monetary constraints represented by postgraduate budgets. A study conducted by the university indicated that its postgraduate students earn an average of £17,688 per annum (Trent University, 2015). This cannot be assumed to be representative of all postgraduates as some attend full time and others work on a part-time basis. The university has 5,130 postgraduates with an undergraduate enrolment of 21,740 students (Trent University, 2015). In terms of the postgraduates:2,480 are full time: and 2,650 are part-time (Trent University, 2015). This look at the Aurora Restaurant will seek to promote its business to Trent University postgraduate students and will look at demographic, target audience size, marketing analysis, and other areas. Research Methods In order to address the research question posed by the title, a questionnaire conducted among Trent University students was used as the starting point. This was done in order to uncover their views and opinions concerning aspects and areas that provided the basis for understanding key issues and aspects to be considered in formulating a plan for the Aurora Restaurant to attract their business. This primary research formed the basis for looking at varied secondary research sources such as journal articles and the Internet as a means to determine potential approaches to increase student interest and trial of the establishment. These factors were guided by the conceptual map: Figure 2 – Conceptual Map Analysis and Presentation of Findings The conceptual map identifies the steps used in the process where the potential attraction factors gleaned from the questionnaire formed the starting point, followed by the target audience analysis. This represents strategy content that leads to the strategy foundation process that recommended including all university students and the discount suggestion. The third segment under the strategy map strategy implementation that considered the positive questionnaire points in conjunction with the potential attraction factors from the questionnaire. These all lead to the Aurora marketing considerations that mesh the above three aspects into a recommendation that looked into all areas. Analysis and Presentation of Findings – Strategy Content This represented the strategy content that Varadarajan (2010) identifies as the relationships to be developed, offers used, timing and how resources will be deployed. There are 5,130 postgraduates enrolled at the university where 2,480 are full time, and 2.650 are part-time (Trent University, 2015). In a search for information on postgraduate resources and general information, a somewhat dated study by Groves (2003) was the only source that was located which provided important insights. It included observations to consider in terms of its postgraduate target audience strategy approach. When one considers that only an estimated 5% to 10% of this total might be convinced to try the restaurant it is a very limited market. This conservative number (5% to 10%) is based on Appendix 2 where question 7 uncovered that 32% eat outside at restaurants. It is estimated that due to the sit-down nature of the restaurant, the 5% to 10% figure seemed to represent a conservative estimate when considering all of the other potential choices that students have, this would decrease the percentage of those who would try the Aurora Restaurant. This discount conversion discount figure was based on the fact that Outhouse Steakhouse in the UK offers 15% off to senior citizens, so this was used to formulate the 10% to 20% discounts (BeFrugal, 2016). As shown in Appendix 1 under income, converting 5% to 10% of the total 5,130 postgraduate students would yield just 257 to 513 potential customers. Considering their less than frequent dining out potential and varied options (types of food choices and locations), the size of the postgraduate marketing approach is too small to be viable. Analysis and Presentation of Findings – Strategy Foundation Process The information gleaned from the Groves (2003) under strategy content, helped to provide a basis for this step. Aspelund et al (2007) explain that the strategy foundation process represents how strategy for a firm developed. It entails looking at the activities a business is engaged in as the basis for determining strategy that considers market opportunities, an analysis of market size, and varied related decision making aspects. Appendix 1, that looked at ‘Postgraduate Funding Areas’, along with the ‘Restaurant Questionnaires and interview analysis’ (Groves, 2003) provided information for this segment (strategy foundation process). In terms of market opportunities, Appendix 1 identified that the largest marketing profile is the entire student body of the university that offers enough potential new customer trial, 5% to 10% of the total enrollment of students, would add 1,087 to 2,174 individuals to the 257 to 513 postgraduate student marketing profile. The discounts of 10% to 20% would help to make these percentages potentially attainable. This is due to the fact that 64% of those surveyed under question sixteen indicated that they would like to see some type of discount. The questionnaire (number 17( found that postgraduate students spend £34,64 when eating with friends, £59 when they eat with family members, and £104.93 when eating with groups or celebrations. A requirement that one person in the party must be a university student would help the 5% to 10% estimate. This represents approximately 1,300 (at 5%) to 2,600 (at 10%) based on 26,000 students (undergraduate and postgraduate). The generous discount is the appeal factor in the above as a pull aspect. Considering the questionnaire identified that 32% indicated they eat outside the university at restaurants, the 5% and 10% marketing return figure seems to be viable. Analysis and Presentation of Findings – Strategy Implementation Chaffey et al (2009) state that strategy implementation represents how a business will carry out its programmes. This consists of the actions of the business and its relationships with external areas such as the university. It also includes changes to the structure of the business, coordinating activities and control measures (Slater et al, 2010). As these represent internal aspects, this section will speculate on what the restaurant might do to carry out the proposed strategy. In terms of internal operations, the discounts would only require a student ID for one in the party visiting the restaurant. The restaurant could organise a free buffet exposure promotion to introduce its food to students by inviting them to the restaurant. A Facebook page could provide students with a place to review the comments of customers and students.. The clutter of these and other social media sites means that a free buffet and discounts would be the primary promotions, with social media serving only to provide a site students could access to post comments and read reviews under a basic site setup. Sonnenshein (2012) who writes for Gourmet Marketing advises that the cost of social media is expensive in terms of set up (£15,000) and administration costs (£2,00 plus a month). This money would be better spent on free buffets and discounts. Analysis and Presentation of Findings – Aurora Restaurant Marketing Considerations The approaches indicated and brought forth under Appendix 1 (Postgraduate Funding Areas) and Appendix 2 (the questionnaire) provided information that aided in the formulation of the recommended full university student body approach and discount method. Questions four and five indicated that food preference was not an issue. This set the stage for the discount approach. Whilst the students indicated that they had not heard of the restaurant, the free trial buffet at would provide an introduction that is hard to resist. McAlaney et al (2010) explain that this is a significant marketing approach to induce trial as students are provided the opportunity to taste some menu items. Another aspect to be considered is consumer buying behaviour. It is a decision process that people go through in order to arrive at decisions to try or buy a product or service (Prakash, 2010). It provides insight regarding why consumers make purchasing decisions and what influences them to buy (Evans et al, 2006). Solomon et al (2012) explain that there are six stages. The following will discuss these in conjunction with the marketing suggestions for the restaurant. The first represents ‘problem recognition’ (Van Kleef et al, 2005), which in this case represents the desire of the restaurant to lure students, and the considerations connected to that process. The free buffet and discounts are marketing steps to overcome the fact that the restaurant was unknown to respondents in the questionnaire (numbers 8 and 9). Huang et al (2009) advise that ‘information search’ is the second step in the buying process. In this instance, the administration free buffet would help to promote the restaurant to students and also creates an awareness campaign that introduces the generous discount programme. The discount marketing and exposure programme were designed to also deal with the third stage in the consumer buying process that represents the ‘evaluation of alternatives’ (Hughner et al, 2007). In this instance, the dining experience coupled with the student discounts provides them with a reasonable price that counters fast food options and other restaurants in the same price category. Using the pricing discount as the lure, along with the convenient location applies to the fourth consumer purchase step that is termed as ‘purchase decision’ (Kim et al, 2010). Discounts that apply to students and whom they bring with them means they are being offered a range of possibilities as opposed to a student only discount approach. This could lead to ‘trial or purchase’, which is the fifth step in the consumer buying process (Chandon et al, 2005). The Aurora Restaurant offers reasonability priced lunch menus starting at £16.95, and dinner priced at £19.95 (Aurora Restaurant, 2016). Whilst these prices are moderate, to increase student traffic the restaurant might consider discount prices for students that start at around 10% for one, 15% for two to four, and group discounts of 20% for five or more. The volume that this pricing would potentially create would offset the discounts and possibly endear students to come to the establishment. The last step (number six) is called the ‘post-purchase evaluation’ (Kuo et al, 2009). This is where the quality of the food and service come into play. This was mentioned under question six and is where the restaurant either passes or fails the test in terms of whether university students come back and provide important word-of-mouth recommendations (Sernovitz, 2009). As can be seen from the above look at the six steps in the consumer purchasing process, the approach under the restaurant marketing campaign used three elements, trial, location (ten minutes) and discounts. Conclusion This look into how the Aurora Restaurant could influence postgraduates to frequent their establishment looked into the market size of this group along with varied marketing and consumer behavioural theories. Rather than have to resort to complex and expensive marketing techniques, simply getting students to try the restaurant is the key. This represented the findings from the literature that uncovered that one of the keys to growth for a restaurant represents gaining in customers. It was learned that the limited budgets of university students mean the marketing centred on offering meaningful discounts as the means to attract them in enough numbers to make the effort worthwhile. Through a free trial buffet for students and discount offers specially devised for them, they would be curious to try to eat in dining as opposed to fast food and other alternatives when their budgets permitted. In terms of things that would have been done differently if this project was to be done a second time, the questionnaire would have included more emphasis on the total student body of the university and a larger sampling in order to have more numbers to aid in the analysis. Despite this shortcoming, the research helped to verify that the responses from the limited sample were useable and believable. This is because the secondary research helped to support the questionnaire findings and lead to the discount and free buffet suggestions. References Aspelund, A., Madsen, T., Meon, O. (2007) A review of the foundation, international marketing strategies, and performance of international new ventures, European Journal of Marketing, 41(12). pp.1423 - 1448 Aurora Restaurant (2016) Menu (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) BeFrugal (2016) Outback Steakhouse printable coupons & deals. (online) Available at (Accessed on 15 February 2016) Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, E., Mayer, R., Johnston, K. (2009) Internet Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. London: Pearson Education. Chandon, P., Morwitz, V., Reinartz, W. (2005) Do Intentions Really Predict Behavior? Self-Generated Validity Effects in Survey Research. Journal of Marketing. 69(2). pp. 1-14. Evans, M., Jamal, A., Foxall, G. (2006) Consumer behaviour. Chichester: John H. Wiley ^ Sons. Food and Drink Innovation Network (2010) Chinese food is Britain’s favorite takeaway. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Google Maps (2016) Aurora Restaurant and Trent University Nottingham. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Groves, J. (2003) Key findings of the NPC National Survey of Postgraduate Funding and Priorities. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Huang, P., Lune, N., Mitra, S. (2009) Searching for Experience on the Web: An Empirical Examination of Consumer Behavior for Search and Experience Goods. Journal of Marketing. 73(2). pp. 55-69. Hughner, R., McDonahg, P., Prothero, A., Shuktz, C., Stanton, J. (2007) Who are organic food consumers? A compilation and review of why people purchase organic food. Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 6(2). pp. 94-110. Jenkins, A. (2015) What are the challenges for restaurant owners? (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Kim, D., Ferran, D., Rao, H. (2010) A trust-based consumer decision-making model in electronic commerce: The role of trust, perceived risk, and their antecedents. Decision Support Systems. 44(2). pp. 544-564. Kuo, Y., Wu, C., Deng, W. (2009) The relationships among service quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and post-purchase intention in mobile value-added services. Computers in Human Behaviour. 25)4). pp. 887-896. McAlaney, J., Bewick., B., Bauerle, J. (2010) Social norms guidebook. West Yorkshire: University of Bradford, University of Leeds. Prakash, S. (2010) Consumer Buying Behaviour. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Sernovitz, A. (2009) Everything You Need To Know About Word of Mouth Marketing. Word of Mouth Marketing. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Slater, S., Hull, G., Olson, E. (2010) Factors influencing the relative importance of marketing strategy creativity and marketing strategy implementation effectiveness. Industrial Marketing Management. 39(4). pp. 551-559. Solomon, M., Russell-Bennett, R., Previte, J. (2012) Consumer Behaviour. London: Pearson Education. Sonnenshein, M. (2012) Creating a restaurant marketing budget. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) The Economist (2010) Good and hungry. The Economist. 17 June. pp. 11-12/ Trent University (2015) University Overview. (online) Available at < http://universities.findthebest.co.uk/l/80/The-Nottingham-Trent-University > (Accessed on 10 February 2016) UCAS Postgraduate (2015) Postgraduate fees and funding. (online) Available at (Accessed on 10 February 2016) Van Kleef, E., Van Trip, H., Luning, P. (2005) Consumer research in the early stages of new product development: a critical review of methods and techniques. Food Quality and Preference. 16(3). pp. 181-201. Varadarajan, R. (2010) Strategic marketing and marketing strategy: domain, definition, fundamental issues and foundational premises. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 38(2). pp 119-140. Appendix Appendix 1 Table 1 – Postgraduate Funding Areas (1 of 3) Finance Summary Comments Marketing Potentials Income “The majority of postgraduates have a higher income than expenditure. Of those respondents who gave full details of their income and expenditure (776 respondents), 51% had a greater income than expenditure, 16% broke even, and 33% had a greater expenditure than income” (Groves, 2003, p. 1). This represents the prime target audience initially identified for the Aurora Restaurant. Postgraduates represent 5.130 students. Using a rough estimate (based on question 7 of the student survey) it is estimated that the postgraduates that fit this category range from 5% to 10%. The indicated potential target audience of only postgraduate students represents a limited target audience for this group (257 to 513) based on a total number of 5,130 of postgraduate students. This is too small a target audience to not consider broadening the marketing profile to include 21,740 undergraduates (Trent University, 2015). Insufficient funding “51% of respondents described their funding as not sufficient, and only 8% said their funding was more than sufficient. 15% had tried to get access or hardship funds from their institution” (Groves, 2003, p. 1). This aspect indicated that over fifty percent of postgraduate students referred to their funding as not being enough to meet their needs. This area supports the contention that using only a postgraduate target audience would not potentially yield enough customers. Including all Trent University students indicates a wiser marketing choice. Table 1 – Postgraduate Funding Areas (2 of 3) Finance Summary Comments Marketing Potentials Average income “The average income of respondents was £15,273. The most common sources of income were paid employment (65% of respondents, average £13,638), postgraduate awards from Research Councils etc. (34%, £7,529), overdraft (30%, £1,319), savings (20%, £3,624), parents (16%, £3,003), career development loans (9%, £4,436) and institutional scholarships (8%, £3,996)”(Groves, 2003, p. 1). This income figure obtained in Groves (2003) study (£15,273) closely resembles the £17,688 income for present day Trent University (2015) postgraduate students. Whilst some postgraduate students have higher financial resources. It needs to be considered that the actual conversion rate into Aurora Restaurant patrons needs to be calculated conservatively at 5% to 10% of the overall 5,130 postgraduate figure. Average expenditures “The average expenditure of respondents was £12,958. The main items of expenditure, in addition to tuition fees, were rent/mortgage (average £3,531), food/household goods (£2,218), household bills (£1,354), entertainment/ socialising (£1,289), travel (£1,155), clothes (£584) and course materials (£400). 13% of respondents had childcare or child-related costs, with an average of £3,317” (Groves, 2003, p. 1). The food expenditure of £2,218 provided in the 2003 survey indicates a tight budget for postgraduate students. By offering the discounts of 10%, 15% and 20% under singular, multiple and larger party student visits, the restaurant stands the chance of all Trent University students considering this establishment for their limited food budgets. When this is added to the socialising budget of £1,289, there seems to be sufficient financial resources for the restaurant to base a marketing campaign on. Table 1 – Postgraduate Funding Areas (3 of 3) Finance Summary Comments Marketing Potentials Paid work to augment income and costs “71% of respondents were undertaking paid work alongside their studies. 29% were in full-time professional employment, 22% were employed doing teaching or other work at their institution, and 18% were doing casual work elsewhere. 54% of respondents undertook this work for essential income, and 33% had career development as a main motivation” (Groves, 2003, p. 1). The high percentage of postgraduates that work means this is a prime group for the restaurant to target. The aforementioned high working percentage of postgraduates increases the possibility that they will take advantage of the discounts. (Groves, 2003, p. 1) Appendix 2 Questionnaire 1. Age The questionnaire was comprised primarily of individuals aged 21 through 26 that accounted for 91% of the 22 respondents. 1. Gender The gender skew for the questionnaire was primarily female (who comprised 73%), which might have an impact on the study. 3. Nationality Whilst this question was asked, its relevance in terms of this study does not seem to be that important as university students generally are forming new ideas and associations that broaden their thinking and horizons. There are some cultures where the students might be guided by strong cultural values (such as Iraq, or China) but it was deemed that the nationality factor was not an influence that would skew results in any significant way. 4. Food preference This was a noteworthy question as it provided insight regarding general food preferences. 86% responded that ‘anything’ was their choice. 5. Preferred foods to eat In a further inquiry concerning food, this question uncovered that Chinese (8) was the number one preference, following by Italian (2). As the Aurora Restaurant (2016) serves modern British menu, this differs from the preference indications. This might be due to the fact that Chinese food is a preferred takeaway type order in the UK (Food and Drink Innovation Network, 2010) and that 37% of the respondents were Chinese 6. Eat in restaurant attraction points The respondents indicated that food quality was the most important consideration for an eat in restaurant. This was followed by service quality, health and hygiene and then price as almost equal responses. The fact that price was mentioned in third place indicates this is not that important a consideration, however, considering the study represents university students, it would seems to be important to consider this higher in terms of priorities. By linking price with quality of food the appeal of the Aurora Restaurant would seem to rate high as a potential university student destination. 7. Lunch location choice In asking where university students primarily eat lunch it was uncovered that home and the university canteen were the first and second choices. This was followed by locations outside of the university. It would seem that the first response represented convenience and lower cost, whilst the university canteen seems to indicate convenience and price. These are speculations in terms of these choices. It seems that enough students eat outside of the university where a restaurant such as Aurora might represent a potential choice. 8. Heard of Aurora Restaurant? The survey found that none of the respondents had heard of Aurora Restaurant. 9. First heard of Aurora Restaurant? As the preceding question uncovered that none of the respondents had heard of the restaurant, the responses to this question were all negative. 10. Social media The clutter and cost of social media to promote the restaurant might require adding additional staff and administration costs. This time and money would be better spent on the free buffet and discounts that are measurable marketing efforts. 11. Have you visited Aurora Restaurant? Questions number 8 and 9 revealed that since the university students had not heard of the restaurant, it will need to use university on site promotions and discounts as a lure to induce trial. This includes the aforementioned direct university promotional efforts and marketing on Facebook and Instagram to aid in the above. 12. What do you like about the Aurora Restaurant? As mentioned, questions 8 and 9 revealed that students were not familiar with the restaurant, thus this question did not provide any useful information. 13. Suggestions This was a question that did not yield any responses. This could potentially be due to the fact that the university students had not heard of the Aurora Restaurant, As a result, the discount promotional tool in conjunction with the use of social media and university marketing would offer a way to generate awareness and trial. The discounts are staged so that one person receives a 10% discount, two to three people receive a discount of 15%, and groups of six or more receive a 20% discount. The rationale is to cause students to come in groups to thus increase traffic. 14. Aurora Restaurant social media page This question yielded no results as the university students had not heard of the restaurant. 15. On which social media network have you seen Aurora Restaurant? As per prior questions on the restaurant, since university students had not heard of it, no results were recorded for this question. 16. What type of follow up services should Aurora provide to attract university students? This was an important question as 64% indicated discounts, and 32% indicated a loyalty card, with others mentioning special offers. Whilst the survey count is off, it does indicate that discounts (which are basically loyalty rewards, along with special offers) represent the direction to proceed. This supports the discount suggestion. 17. Maximum that one would pay in going to a restaurant. This question yielded responses that indicated university students would spend an average of £34.64 when dining with friends, £59 when dining with family and £104.93 for celebrations. This seems to support the progressive discount suggestion of 10% for one, 15% for two to three, and group discounts of 20% for six our more. The above analysis of the questionnaire indicates that the Aurora Restaurant needs to introduce itself to university students as an alternative place to eat. This means using pricing and discounts as lure under a progressive formula that rewards students with larger discounts for the more people they dine with. This approach is in keeping with the social nature of university students and word of mouth where a progressive discounting approach would get around. As long as the restaurant delivers on taste and food quality, this approach should work well. Read More