Finding places to eat in the unfamiliar city of Salt Lake City, Utah, presents a challenge to me as a newcomer. With no prior knowledge of the local area, each step I take becomes crucial to ensure a good experience. The potential consequences of making a bad decision as a consumer ranges from wasting time trying to get refunds or having to suck it up and be dissatisfied with what you paid for. As a consumer with no knowledge on Salt Lake City, Utah I have to start with a blank slate, that means I must rely on the internet for most of my information. I will explain my process in order using the stages of need recognition, information search, and evaluation of alternatives to select the Italian Takeout restaurant that best suits my situation.
I have just moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, my fridge has not yet been stocked; my only other option for food is takeout. What I will be looking for specifically is Italian food; I do not have a lot to spend considering I just paid security so nothing too fancy, and I can only do delivery as I do not want to leave the comfort of my home. I start off my research by searching up on Google for “Italian takeout delivery in Salt Lake City”. I see that Google has filter options, so I put “rating” as “3.5 and up”, and “price” as “$$”. The factors I put the most importance to, is the customer reviews/ratings, and how big the portion sizes are based off pictures.
To evaluate alternatives, i narrowed it down to the best 3 choices based off their ratings. The 3 choices are “Caffe Molise”, “Olive Garden Italian Restaurant”, and “Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant”; I chose these 3 as they have the highest quantity of ratings and over 4+ stars each. I started off by looking at their posted pictures of dishes; “Caffe Molise” had very fancy unrecognizable dishes that would cover about 1/3 of the plate, upon seeing this I decided to cross “Caffe Molise” off the list. On the other hand, “Olive Garden Italian restaurant” and “Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant” had generous portions with dishes that look familiar to me. After looking over the menus for both restaurants, I can see that they serve mostly the same options and are priced relatively the same. That means my final decision will be based off recent customers reviews.
After looking over customer reviews and menu options, I decided that the restaurant of choice that I will be purchasing from is “Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant”. This is mainly because of the fact that many recent reviews on “Olive Garden Italian Restaurant” are people that are saying that their food is very “mediocre and bland”. While “Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant’s” reviews are mostly positive, with some reviews even showing off their finished plates.
After reflecting on my journey as a newcomer searching for takeout, it became clear that the consumer decision-making process plays a crucial role in every purchase. Each consumer has their own taste, so they will more than likely choose the option that best suits them. This experience also taught me that businesses need to think about who they want to attract as customers and what they can do to make sure their target audience keeps choosing them.
When selecting an Italian takeout restaurant, my preference leaned heavily toward affordability, considering I had just recently moved to an urban apartment. Going for a low-budget option, my focus was on something not too fancy yet big in portion. However, I recognize that preferences when considering dining are very diverse and can vary. For some, the sit-in experience, with food served fresh from the kitchen, may be more important than getting food delivered to their home. There are even those who lean towards the fancier side, prioritizing quality over quantity with smaller portions. These varying preferences show the importance of consumer’s individual tastes, and/or financial situations, and how they can greatly influence whether they purchase something or not.
