Development Status and Trend of 1. Fast Food Box Industry

Fast food box is a kind of utensil made of resin or other thermoplastic materials by high temperature hot melt plastic injection molding technology, mainly used for containing and transporting food. There are many kinds of fast food boxes. According to different materials, they can be divided into PP (polypropylene) fast food boxes, PS (polystyrene) fast food boxes, EPS (expanded polystyrene) fast food boxes, etc. Among them, PP fast food boxes have the advantages of good heat resistance, high chemical stability and strong corrosion resistance, and their application range is more extensive.

The market demand for fast food boxes mainly comes from the catering and takeaway markets. In recent years, with the gradual improvement of national consumption level and the strong development momentum of the takeaway industry, the market demand for fast food boxes has been continuously released. The scale of China's fast food box market has grown rapidly, with a compound annual growth rate of 21% from 2017 to 2022 and a scale of more than 20 billion yuan in 2023.

Consumers of fast food boxes are mainly concentrated in first-tier and second-tier cities, among which young people, white-collar workers and students are the main ones. They have a large demand for fast food boxes, but they also have higher quality, function and appearance of fast food boxes. Claim.

The development of the fast food box industry is also facing some challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, a large amount of plastic waste will be produced during the use and treatment of fast food boxes, causing environmental pollution and waste of resources, which has aroused widespread concern from the society and the government. In order to control white pollution, in January 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecological Environment issued the Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution, opening up the growth space of plastic products.

The fast food box industry needs to strengthen environmental awareness, improve the degradability and recyclability of fast food boxes, and develop more environmentally friendly new materials and technologies to meet the requirements of policies and consumer preferences. On the other hand, with the increasing demand of consumers for food safety, health and personalization, the fast food box industry needs to constantly innovate, improve the quality and value of fast food boxes, and meet the diversified needs of consumers. The fast food box industry needs to strengthen consumer research to understand consumer preferences, needs, pain points and expectations, so as to design and test new products and services to improve consumer satisfaction and loyalty.

Methods and steps of 2. consumer research

Consumer research refers to the use of various market research techniques and methods on the basis of the study of the basic characteristics of the market environment, demographic characteristics, lifestyle, economic level, etc., to achieve their own aspirations and needs of consumer groups through cognition, attitude, motivation, choice, decision-making, purchase, use and other stages.

The purpose of consumer research is to understand the psychology and behavior of consumers, discover consumer needs and problems, evaluate consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and predict consumer behavior and trends, so as to design and develop products and services., Improve and promote to provide the basis and guidance.

The methods of consumer research are divided into two main categories: qualitative research and quantitative research. Qualitative research refers to in-depth exploration and understanding of a small number of consumers through in-depth interviews, focus groups, observation methods, case studies, etc., in order to obtain information about consumers' psychology, motivation, attitudes, and feelings that are difficult to quantify.

Quantitative research refers to the systematic measurement and analysis of a large number of consumers through questionnaires, experimental methods, mathematical statistics, etc., in order to obtain quantifiable information such as consumer behavior, preferences, satisfaction, and loyalty.

In general, qualitative research and quantitative research complement each other, with qualitative research providing assumptions and indicators for quantitative research and quantitative research providing validation and support for qualitative research.

The steps of consumer research generally include the following:

Identify research objectives: identify the themes, issues, assumptions and expected results of the research, as well as the purpose and value of the research.

Design the research plan: select the appropriate research methods, samples, tools and indicators, as well as the time, place and budget of the research.

Implementation of research activities: collect, record and sort out data according to the research plan.

Analysis of research results: the use of appropriate analytical methods and techniques, data cleaning, processing, induction and interpretation, to draw conclusions and recommendations.

Writing research report: according to the research objectives, programs, activities, results and analysis, write a complete, clear, standardized and persuasive research report, including title, abstract, keywords, catalog, text, conclusions, suggestions, references and other parts.

Communicate research results: communicate and communicate research reports to relevant stakeholders and decision makers in appropriate forms and channels to realize the value and purpose of research.

Cases and Enlightenment of 3. Consumer Research

In order to illustrate the application and role of consumer research in the fast food box industry, this paper takes Shangpu Consulting as an example to introduce the case and enlightenment of consumer research services provided by a fast food box enterprise.

Shangpu Consulting is a professional market research and consulting agency with rich industry experience and professional knowledge to provide customized market research and consulting services for customers in all walks of life. Shangpu Consulting's customers include a fast food box company, which mainly produces and sells PP fast food boxes, occupying a large share of the domestic fast food box market, but also facing fierce competition and changing market environment. The company hopes to design and test new products and services through consumer research to improve the quality and value of fast food boxes and meet the diversified needs of consumers.

Champ Consulting provides the following consumer research services for the company:

Determine the research objectives: Shangpu Consulting conducted in-depth communication and discussion with the enterprise, understood the background, problems, needs and expectations of the enterprise, and clarified the theme, problems, assumptions and expected results of the research, as well as the purpose and value of the research. The subject of the research is the consumer preference and demand of the fast food box, and the problem of the research is the consumer's use scenario, use frequency, use experience, use feeling, use problem, use suggestion and so on. The research assumption is that the consumer has higher requirements for the quality, function and appearance of the fast food box, and the expected result of the research is the analysis and suggestion of the consumer's preference and demand for the fast food box, the purpose and value of research is to provide the basis and guidance for the design, development, improvement and promotion of the company's products and services.

Design of the research plan: According to the research objectives, Champ Consulting selected the appropriate research methods, samples, tools and indicators, as well as the time, place and budget of the research. The research method uses a combination of qualitative research and quantitative research, qualitative research uses in-depth interviews and focus groups, and quantitative research uses questionnaires and experimental methods. According to the age, gender, income, education, occupation, region and other characteristics of consumers, a stratified sampling was carried out, and a total of 1000 consumers were selected as the research object. Research tools include interview guide, focus group guide, questionnaire design, experimental design, etc. The survey indicators include consumer usage scenarios, usage frequency, usage experience, usage experience, usage problems, usage suggestions, etc. The survey time is set for April to May 2023, the survey locations are set for first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, and the survey budget is set at 500000 yuan.

Implementation of research activities: Champ Consulting has collected, recorded and sorted out data according to the research plan. In terms of qualitative research, Shangpu Consulting conducted in-depth interviews with 100 consumers, each for about 45 minutes, and discussed a focus group composed of 10 consumers, each for about 90 minutes, through audio and video recordings., Notes and other methods, recorded consumers' words, expressions, actions and other information. In terms of quantitative research, Shangpu Consulting conducted a questionnaire survey on 800 consumers, each for about 15 minutes, and conducted experiments on 100 consumers, each for about 30 minutes, through computers, mobile phones, paper and pens, etc. Ways to collect consumers' answers, reactions, evaluations and other data.

Analysis of the results of the survey: Champ Consulting used appropriate analytical methods and techniques to clean, process, summarize and interpret the data, and obtained the results of the survey.Conclusionand recommendations. In terms of qualitative research, Shangpu Consulting uses content analysis to encode, classify and summarize consumers' words, expressions, actions and other information, and extract the main information of consumers' psychology, motivation, attitude, feelings and so on. In terms of quantitative research, Shangpu Consulting used descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and factor analysis to describe, infer and explain consumers' answers, reactions, evaluations and other data, and obtained the main data of consumers' behavior, preferences, satisfaction, loyalty and so on. In terms of comprehensive analysis, Shangpu Consulting uses SWOT analysis to summarize and evaluate consumers' preferences and needs, and draw consumers' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as corresponding suggestions and strategies.

Writing research report: According to the research objectives, plans, activities, results and analysis, Shangpu Consulting has written a complete, clear, standardized and persuasive research report, including title, summary, keywords, catalogue, text, conclusion, suggestions, references and other parts. The title of the research report is "fast food box consumer preferences and needs of consumer research report", the summary is:

Convey research results: Shangpu Consulting conveyed and communicated the research report to the senior management and product development team of the enterprise in the form of electronic documents and PPT, explained the purpose, method, results and analysis of the research, answered relevant questions and doubts, and was recognized and appreciated by the enterprise.

Through this consumer research, Champ Consulting provides the following insights for the company:

The consumer preferences and needs of fast food boxes are diversified and dynamic, and continuous consumer research is needed to understand the changes and trends of consumers, so as to adjust the design, development, improvement and promotion of products and services in a timely manner.

Consumer preferences and needs of fast food boxes are affected by a variety of factors and dimensions. It is necessary to comprehensively consider consumers' usage scenarios, usage frequency, usage experience, usage experience, usage problems, usage suggestions, etc., as well as consumers' age, gender, income, education, occupation, region and other characteristics, so as to comprehensively analyze consumers' strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as corresponding suggestions and strategies.

The consumer preferences and needs of fast food boxes can be effectively obtained and analyzed through the methods and steps of consumer research. It is necessary to use a combination of qualitative research and quantitative research to obtain consumer psychology and behavior information and Data, so as to provide the basis and guidance for the design, development, improvement and promotion of products and services.