Literature Review
The following literature review looks at various factors which affect the purchasing habits of consumers when it comes to fast food and also considers if the introductions of cheaper meals for poverty-stricken patrons increase the sales of fast food outlets.
In an article written by Holly Richmond (2013) (Appendix-Addendum A) she states that 47% of Americans eat fast food on a weekly basis and that 4% never eat at fast food outlets. According to Richmond (2013) the number of Americans who eat fast food regularly has gone down, even though it only went down by one percent. Richmond (2013) states that younger individuals are the biggest customers of fast food, but not because one would expect younger individuals to be more economically
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This could possibly suggest that poorer South Africans are a lead contributor to the sales made by fast food outlets. It should however be taken into account that Richmond (2013) only uses data collected by American consumers and Planting (2013) only uses data collected by South African consumers. Richmond (2013) and Planting (2013) however both agree that the amount of young consumers i.e. 16 and older has increased over the past few …show more content…
Planting (2013) and McMillian (2014) would therefore agree that the fast food purchases of lower-income individuals and households have increased, even though their data is based on different countries respectively. Planting (2013) and McMillian (2014) may differ slightly on the motivation behind purchases, as Planting (2013) states that South Africans spend their disposable income on fast foods whilst McMillian (2014) states that lower-income Americans purchase cheaper foods, such as fast foods, because it is difficult for them to find cheap, healthy