97% of regular KFC customers express satisfaction

Roy Morgan research found that McDonald’s, which is visited by roughly 30% of Australians in any given four-week period, is the most popular chain; followed by KFC (20%), Subway (16%), Hungry Jacks (13%) and Domino’s Pizza (11%). 

For each of these chains, there is a dramatic difference in satisfaction levels between their “heavy” customers, who dine in or take away five or more times in an average month, and “light” customers, who only visit occasionally. 

While McDonalds and KFC’s overall​ customer satisfaction ratings tend to be towards the lower end of the spectrum compared to many other chains, this is not the case among their most frequent customers. 

An impressive 83% of heavy McDonalds customers and 85% of heavy KFC customers said they were satisfied with the stores, Roy Morgan found. 

While Subway generally rates very well for customer satisfaction across the board, the chain still sees its scores skyrocket among heavy customers—a staggering 97% of whom reported being satisfied with the chain. 

“In one respect, these results are not particularly surprising: if someone returns to the same quick service restaurant five or more times in one month, they’re not doing it because they’re dissatisfied​,” said Andrew Price of Roy Morgan Research.

“But the challenge here is for quick service restaurants to encourage return visits from their infrequent customers, who tend to be noticeably less satisfied​. 

“As our data shows, satisfaction starts improving as soon as a customer makes that transition from one-off to return visitor, rising exponentially with more frequent visits​.”