McDonald's Wins on Jobs-to-be-Done That Matter

Consumer Edge Insight conducted a survey of consumer perceptions about 20 different fast food restaurants. Specifically, how are they ranked by consumer perceptions on different attributes, such as:

• Good value
• Convenience
• Low prices
• Fast service
• Great tasting food
• More…

The customers were asked to rank order the different attributes, and “great tasting food” actually ranked 8th. The first four above were the top ranked attributes.

Which explains this unusual finding when it comes to McDonald’s:

McDonald’s scored VERY LOW in “satisfaction with last visit”. Only 22% of respondents were extremely satisfied with their last McDonald’s experience. Highest satisfaction scores went to Chick-fil-A (66%), Long John Silver (56%), and Whataburger (54%).

McDonald’s scored VERY HIGH in “extremely likely to visit again”. McDonald’s 64% score on that measure was third behind Subway (68%) and Chick-fil-A (67%).

Wha…? Yeah, low satisfaction combined with high intent to visit again. Strange isn’t it? Are consumers masochists? Well, no. The key here is recognizing that customers have a number of jobs-to-be-done when it comes to eating. Translating the four attributes into jobs-to-be-done (using the previously defined structure):

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On the highest ranked jobs-to-be-done (remember, jobs should be rank ordered), McDonald’s is at or near the top. What’s interesting is that the “satisfaction with last visit” score was low for McDonald’s. But it turns out that’s not the most important question. Rather, the question should be, “how satisfied are you with the jobs-to-be-done that matter?”

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Hutch Carpenter is a Strategic Consultant with HYPE Innovation, and has worked in innovation management for over 5 years. He’s also a firm believer in the concept of jobs-to-be-done, which stresses the importance of understanding customers’ wants and needs. He’s @bhc3 on Twitter.