Question

David Ortega is the lead researcher for an upscale restaurant group hoping to add another chain that would compete directly with the upscale Smith and Wollensky restaurants (http://www.smithandwollensky.com). Smith and Wollensky is also considering opening a lesser priced “Grill.” David wants to learn what people are willing to pay for and what sacrifice can be made to deliver a satisfying if not luxurious experiences, and how can he create a unique experience at a lower price?

David decides a qualitative research approach will be useful. He wants to understand how the fine dining experience offers value and what intangibles create value for consumers. He uses a phenomenological approach, and the primary tool of investigation is conversational interviewing. He enters into casual conversations with businesspeople in the lounge of the Ritz Carlton by commenting on the wine he is sipping by saying, “It ain’t bad, but it’s hard to believe they get $14 for a glass of this stuff.”

Comments of the five consumers he conversed with are given verbatim (the comments are not given/included), and he decides to use a word count to try to identify the main themes. He hopes this will clarify the business problem and provide a better understanding of the total value proposition offered by restaurants, wines, hotels, and other products.

In no less than 5 sentences a paragraph, answer the following questions related to the problem.

Questions:

1. [Internet Question] Using the Internet, try to identify at least three restaurants that Smith and Wollensky competes with and three with whom the new S&W grill may compete.

2. Try to interpret the discussions above. You may use one of the approaches discussed in the text. What themes should be coded? What themes occur most frequently? Can the different themes be linked together to form a unit of meaning?

3. What is the result of this research? What should David report back to the restaurant group?

Answer 1

1. Competitors for S&W : Del Frisco's Restaurant, Ocean Prime, D'Amico & Sons.

Competitors for S&W grill : The Capital Grille, Del Frisco's grill, Fogo de Chão Inc.2. David uses a phenomenological approach i.e to have an real life experience by himself. He talks to five people, who were in Ritz Carlton for a dining experience, for his thematic analysis. Themes are words that comes from them where he does an analysis and reaches to conclusion. While talking with them he might get the answers for some of the questions such as Why have they come to this particular restaurant? Are they looking for innovative dietary? Are they attracted to the ambience? What exeperinces are they expecting from the restuarent. Different themes together can lead to a meanigful result. In this case all the list of factors can lead to the answer of the question what do people expect from a restaurant.

3. David will get an idea as to what people are expecting from a restaurant from this research. He should report back to his employer the themes that he had considered and how it can help his restaurant to be successful. He should give a detailed report the factors that will lead his restaurant to sustain with competitors.