Preliminary parts Pagea) Title page....1b) Transmittal..3c) Table of contents....2d) Executive summary.42) Report texta) Introduction.5b) Problem Statement..5c) Method Used5d) Findings..8
e) Recommendations..9f) Analysis...9g) Conclusion93) Addendaa) References11b) Appendices.12
Transmittal Form
I am writing this report to give you more information about the high pricing policies adopted by the restaurants selling food products such as burgers, hotdogs, pretzels, popcorn, cheese steaks and beers in sports venues. It has become one of the leading fast food manufacturing companies in USA. It has several outlets which are spread across the country. These are offering its highly valued and popular fast food dishes to its customers.
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I conducted a research on the way these entrepreneurs have been exploiting the people who buy its products in the sports venues in different parts of the country. While conducting the research, I carried out interviews and designed questionnaires. This gave me an opportunity to understand the actual situation regarding the relationship between this company and its clients.
I hope the report will be of great importance in this course. Therefore, I urge you to accept it as an original work of my hands.
Regards
JJ.
Executive Summary
Over the years, the food and beverage manufacturing industry has done a tremendous job in feeding the populous US citizens. As a result of the booming nature of this business, a lot of entrepreneurs have invested their money here. Thus, there has been a mushrooming of food producers who have expanded to spread their outlets across the country. However, a lot of concerns have been raised about the nature of business activities performed by these organizations. Of particular interest is the issue of food quality and pricing. A lot of complaints have been labeled against them for manufacturing low quality foods which are harmful to the lives of consumers. Besides, they have also been accused of hiking their prices. This is an unethical practice which has been adopted by these organizations to exploit the consumers.
This report gives a comprehensive coverage of the high pricing policies adopted by food and beverage dealers in the sports venues across the country. As a result of the high number of people thronging sports venues in the country, a lot of entrepreneurs have taken advantage to charge high prices in burgers, hotdogs, pretzels, popcorn, cheese steaks and beers. These are fast moving products which are so popular with sports lovers. This research reports on the high prices charged by these distributors in the sporting venues across the country. It does this by analyzing its prices and giving recommendations on how this can be resolved in order to benefit the common American citizens who rely on their services.
Introduction
Generally, sport is a very popular recreational activity in the country. It brings people together. However, whenever fans attend a venue to enjoy their favorite sporting activities, they do rely on the restaurants located within these stadia for food and beverage products such as burgers, hotdogs, pretzels, popcorn, cheese steaks and beers. Because of the high demand, the sellers have increased the prices of these commodities. Their products are expensive. The prices they charge in the sports venues are not fair at. This research was carried out to investigate the high prices charged by the outlets in the sports venues. It was done by interviewing consumers about their experiences with the company. Therefore, this research establishes that it is not a good practice which should be tolerated. In this regard, the research recommends that it should rethink its pricing policies not only to make them fairer, but to comply with the rules and regulations governing business activities in the country.
Problem Statement
This research seeks to address the issue of high pricing by restaurants in the sports venues. Usually, sports venues have become very popular places in the country. As entertainment centers, they attract a lot of people attend them to enjoy various sporting activities such as foot ball, basket ball, rugby and athletics. However, their main problem has been the high prices they are charged on the fast food products they often consume while in these places.
Methods Used
The following methods were used while conducting this research:
- Population Sampling
After identifying sports lovers as the main target population for this research, it became important to select a proportional sample which would be used to represent them. Therefore, a total of 20 clients were selected to be used in the research. However, these were mostly people who had had some experiences with these food products during their time in such recreation centers. Their views were gathered through the use of questionnaires and interviews. This enabled the researchers to know about the complaints they have had against the company. Their responses were used as a source of information because they are the exact people who have been personally affected by the tendency of this company to charge higher prices for its products.
- Interviews
After identifying the sports lovers as the target population, interviews were organized to enable them give more information about their experiences with this company. The identified respondents were asked a set of open and closed ended questions. This would be instrumental in collecting all forms of data which would be adequate in the research. They were asked to explain if they have been using these food products whenever they go to these sporting places. At the same time, they were to answer if indeed they have felt the high prices charged by the company on its food products. The information gathered from them was used to help in analyzing the situation and knowing more truth about this matter (Dobson, J., 2012). However, they were encouraged to give accurate and exhaustive information which can be relied upon by the researchers. Interview was used during this research because it would provide first hand information which can be relied upon by the researcher.
- Use of Questionnaires
Well structured questionnaires were designed and supplied to the identified respondents. Here, they were given a combination of closed and open ended questions to respond to in order to give more information about the research question. Each of these questionnaires had a total of 15 questions. However, in order to be more useful, the questions were spread across different issues. This helped in provoking their thought and enabled them to give adequate information about this matter. However, while filling out these questionnaires, the respondents were instructed to be honest, precise, accurate and informative. Moreover, they were urged to comply with time schedules and fill the questionnaires and submit them within the shortest time possible. This made them provide a very resourceful set of data which helped in deducing their conclusions.
- Survey
In order to gather adequate information, a series of surveys were conducted in the country. This was done by evaluating the actual situation on the ground. Meaning, the researchers took time to carry out investigations in the market regarding the prices charged by the company. At the same time, similar studies were conducted on other rival companies which offer the same services. While doing this, the researcher took time to go these outlets to ascertain the prices charged on these products. Later, the same procedure was repeated in the competing organizations (Weiss, J. W., 2010). The information gathered was compared and used in used in analyzing if exactly this company charges high rates in the market. However, this survey continued went an extra mile to examine and visited the company premises. Here, documents were collected and analyzed in order to get information about the pricing history and of course find out if there has been any case of customer complaints regarding their pricing policies.
Findings
The following were the main findings of this research:
- A total of 10 respondents said that they are satisfied by the quality of services offered by these restaurants. However, they said that they do not like the way it has been hiking the prices of its products without any reason. Thus, they said that they are not satisfied with and may not continue relying on its services. This demonstrates that the company is notorious for overcharging its clients. However, it is a very bad thing which should not be condoned.
- Out of the 20 respondents, only 1 claimed that he has not used these products. This represented a paltry 5%. Meaning, the remaining 19 respondents which represented 95% of the respondents. This indicates that these foods have become so popular amongst these people. Meaning, they are sold in these locations and made available to them in these venues.
- Of the 20 respondents, 15 said that they have issues with the prices of these commodities. They said that they were not happy with the high prices charged by this company on its products. This represented a 75% of the total population. This implies that many of the company’s customers are not contented with its pricing policies (Carrigan, M. & Pelsmacker, P., 2010). They held that it has been indiscriminately charging high prices to its customers. However, this is not a good experience for them because it has made them feel exploited.
Analysis
These findings demonstrate that many people are not contented with the pricing policies of this company. Despite the popularity of its products, these restaurants have not established a good rapport with its clients due to its unfair pricing policies. Many of the sports goers said that they do not like the tendency of the company to increase its prices for no proper reason. This is why they planning to run away from it in future. The following is the list of prices for these food items in different stadia in the country:
Recommendations
Based on the above finding, the report recommends the following:
- The food prices should be revised. They should be lowered to conform to replicate that of other places.
- The government, through the Department of Commerce, should intervene. It should take action against these exorbitant prices.
- The administrations of these stadia should be involved in ensuring fair prices within their premises. Anyone who persists, should be sued for the violation
Conclusion
Surely, the restaurants located in the stadia have been taking advantage of the large number of clients to exploit them. The services offered to the sports goers are very expensive. Many of them feel exploited because they are often charged exorbitantly whenever they visit these venues to enjoy their favorite sporting activities. It is not justified to indiscriminately hike prices without any proper ground. Even if it means maximizing profit, they should know that there are legal requirements which should always be considered. This is unethical practices which will not only make it lose clients, but be on the wrong side of the law. Therefore, it should rethink its decisions and be ready to implement fair pricing policy to help it retain its clientele base.
References
Carrigan, M. & Pelsmacker, P. (2010). Will ethical consumers sustain their values in the global credit crunch? International Marketing Review, 26(6), pp. 674–687, (p.7).
Dobson, J. (2012). Finance Ethics: The Rationality of Virtue. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Weiss, J. W. (2010). Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach With Cases (5 Ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Appendices
Fig 1 Soda
Fig 2 Sports Fan
Fig 3 Michigan Stadium
Fig 4 Beer
Percentage of Client Satisfaction
High Prices within the Stadium v. Out of Stadium
