Brand Health Metrics | Quick Service Restaurants

Overview

This template is designed for quick-service and fast-casual dining brands, restaurants, coffee shops, and delivery-based outlets. In this category, consumer behaviour is defined by routine, convenience, and impulse, with decisions often made in the moment rather than planned in advance.

Metrics	Questionnaire
Spontaneous/Unaided Brand Awareness Prompted Brand Awareness Brand Category Entry Point (Attribute/Image) Association Brand Usage Recency Brand Usage Frequency Brand Consideration Brand Barriers Brand Appeal Favorite Brand Brand Substitutability Visit Satisfaction Reason for Satisfaction Touchpoint Recall Prompted Ad/Communications Awareness Importance of Category Entry Points Category Purchase Frequency Visited With Day of Visit Time of Visit Past Purchase Channel Category Feeling Statements Custom Questions: + max 5 of your choice added at the set-up stage.	Thinking about [category name], please list all the brands that come to mind. Which of the following [category name] brands have you heard of before today? Next, you will see some occasions or situations in which people might get something from [category name] brands. Please review each statement and indicate which, if any, of the listed brands you associate with that statement. You can select as many or as few brands as you like. It does not matter if you have actual experience with that particular brand or not; it is your opinion we are interested in. Which of these brands do you link with the occasions or situations below? Remember that you can select as many or as few as you like, or none of these, if none are relevant to the statement. Which of the following brands did you order from in the [category timeframe]? How recently did you order from each of the following brands? How often do you order from each of the following brands? Thinking about the next few months, how likely are you to order from each of the following brands when you’re choosing [category name]? For which, if any, of the following reasons might you not order from these brands? Overall how much do you like each of these brands? Which of these [category name] brands would you say is your favorite? If your favorite brand was not available, which of these might you choose instead, if any? Thinking about your recent experiences with each, how satisfied were you overall when you ordered from or visited each of these brands? Which of the following aspects of your order or visit to these brands were you satisfied with (if any)? Which of the following brands of [category name] have you seen, heard or come across in advertising, promotions or other communications recently? Where do you think you came across or heard about these [category name] brands recently? Below is a list of occasions or situations that people have linked to [category name]. Please read through the list and select those statements of greatest importance to you when you buy [category name]. How often do you order from or visit [category name] brands? When you order from or visit [category name] brands, who are you usually with? What days do you most often order from or visit [category name] brands? At what times of day do you most often order from or visit [category name] brands? How or where do you typically buy [category name]? When thinking about [category name] to what extent do you agree with each of the following statements?

Metrics

Questionnaire

Spontaneous/Unaided Brand Awareness
Prompted Brand Awareness
Brand Category Entry Point (Attribute/Image) Association
Brand Usage Recency
Brand Usage Frequency
Brand Consideration
Brand Barriers
Brand Appeal
Favorite Brand
Brand Substitutability
Visit Satisfaction
Reason for Satisfaction
Touchpoint Recall
Prompted Ad/Communications Awareness
Importance of Category Entry Points
Category Purchase Frequency
Visited With
Day of Visit
Time of Visit
Past Purchase Channel
Category Feeling Statements

Custom Questions: + max 5 of your choice added at the set-up stage.

Thinking about [category name], please list all the brands that come to mind.
Which of the following [category name] brands have you heard of before today?
Next, you will see some occasions or situations in which people might get something from [category name] brands. Please review each statement and indicate which, if any, of the listed brands you associate with that statement. You can select as many or as few brands as you like. It does not matter if you have actual experience with that particular brand or not; it is your opinion we are interested in.
Which of these brands do you link with the occasions or situations below? Remember that you can select as many or as few as you like, or none of these, if none are relevant to the statement.
Which of the following brands did you order from in the [category timeframe]?
How recently did you order from each of the following brands?
How often do you order from each of the following brands?
Thinking about the next few months, how likely are you to order from each of the following brands when you’re choosing [category name]?
For which, if any, of the following reasons might you not order from these brands?
Overall how much do you like each of these brands?
Which of these [category name] brands would you say is your favorite?
If your favorite brand was not available, which of these might you choose instead, if any?
Thinking about your recent experiences with each, how satisfied were you overall when you ordered from or visited each of these brands?
Which of the following aspects of your order or visit to these brands were you satisfied with (if any)?
Which of the following brands of [category name] have you seen, heard or come across in advertising, promotions or other communications recently?
Where do you think you came across or heard about these [category name] brands recently?
Below is a list of occasions or situations that people have linked to [category name]. Please read through the list and select those statements of greatest importance to you when you buy [category name].
How often do you order from or visit [category name] brands?
When you order from or visit [category name] brands, who are you usually with?
What days do you most often order from or visit [category name] brands?
At what times of day do you most often order from or visit [category name] brands?
How or where do you typically buy [category name]?
When thinking about [category name] to what extent do you agree with each of the following statements?

Core Brand Metrics

Spontaneous / Unaided Brand Awareness

Measures which brands come to mind first when consumers think about the category. This reflects spontaneous brand salience - how easily a brand surfaces in memory without prompting.

Unaided awareness is a strong indicator of mental availability but not its entirety, since mental availability also depends on the range of buying situations and needs where the brand is thought of.

Prompted Brand Awareness

Captures recognition once a list of brands is shown. Together with unaided awareness, this shows the brand’s reach in memory and whether people recognize it when cued.

You can track up to 15 Brands.

Category Entry Point / Attribute Association

Respondents link brands to Category Entry Points (CEPs) or simple need-based statements and attributes.

This measure maps the contexts and situations that bring each brand to mind, forming the foundation of mental availability and mental equity. The more diverse the associations, the greater the likelihood the brand will be thought of across many buying occasions.

You can track up to 15 Category Entry Points.

Mental Market Share (derived from Category Entry Point / Attribute Association)

From Category Entry Point / Attribute Association, we calculate Mental Market Share, the proportion of all category entry point associations in the market that belong to each brand.

While traditional market share measures what is purchased, MMS measures what is thought of. It indicates a brand’s relative mental footprint within the category.

Tracking MMS over time allows users to see whether mental penetration is expanding or shrinking, and whether marketing activity is helping the brand come to mind in more buying situations, not just by more people and therefore the likelihood to grow.

Brand Usage Recency

Captures how recently consumers have visited or ordered from each brand. Recency acts as a key diagnostic in QSR because recent experience strongly influences top-of-mind salience.

It complements usage frequency to reveal whether visits are habitual or sporadic.

Brand Usage Frequency

Measures how often consumers visit or order from each brand over a defined timeframe. In QSR, frequency is closely tied to routine and convenience, not necessarily emotional loyalty.

Tracking frequency helps brands identify share of stomach and whether they are maintaining presence in consumers’ habitual rotation of places.

Brand Consideration

Measures how likely consumers are to buy a brand in their upcoming purchase occasions.

It bridges mental and behavioral measures, showing whether a brand is not just known but also thought relevant and acceptable for future choice.

Brand Barriers

Identifies the main reasons consumers do not consider a brand - from practical constraints (price, availability) to perceptual issues (“not for me,” “poor quality”). Addressing these helps remove friction and expand the brand’s reachable customer base.

You can track up to 10 Brand Barriers.

Brand Appeal

Appeal reflects both brand warmth and relevance of the menu experience. Consumers may “like” a brand because it feels familiar, delivers good value, or evokes positive family or social moments. Appeal is less about aspiration and more about comfort and consistency.

Brand Favorite

Identifies which brand consumers prefer most when thinking about eating out or ordering in. This measure highlights brand affinity and routine dominance - who wins when multiple options are acceptable.

Brand Substitutability

Reveals how easily a consumer would switch to another restaurant if their preferred one were unavailable. High substitutability indicates a highly repertoire-driven market - a normal pattern in QSR, but one that helps brands understand their competitive vulnerability and overlap with others.

Visit Satisfaction

Assesses overall satisfaction with the most recent visit or order. This captures the immediate experience quality, which influences short-term repeat behaviour.

Reason for Satisfaction

Explores what specifically drove satisfaction (e.g., taste, service, speed, cleanliness, price).

This helps brands pinpoint operational levers that sustain loyalty and positive word-of-mouth, complementing mental availability data with experience-based insights.

You can track up to 10 Satisfaction reasons.

Brand Touchpoint Recall

Measures which brands have been noticed in advertising or promotions recently. This indicates share of voice in memory, helping link marketing activity to refreshed brand salience. It is not a direct measure of effectiveness, but of mental presence created through exposure.

Touchpoint Exposure

Captures where people remember encountering brand communications across social, digital, in-store, outdoor, and interpersonal contexts. It provides insight into which moments of exposure most reinforce memory and appetite triggers, linking communications to situational recall.

Category Metrics

Category Entry Point Importance

Respondents select which Category Entry Points (CEPs) or simple need-based statements and attributes most influence their brand choice. These represent the category’s dominant entry points, the frames of reference within which brands must compete to be recalled, and provide valuable context to associations captured at a Brand level.

Category Purchase Frequency

Measures how often people get food or drink from places like these overall. This context shows whether category-level consumption patterns (e.g. dining out frequency) are changing, helping explain shifts in brand-level usage.

Visited With

Identifies who consumers were with on their last visit or order (alone, with friends, family, partner, children, colleagues, etc.).

Day of Visit

Captures which day of the week respondents last visited or ordered in the category. This identifies routine patterns such as weekday lunches, weekend takeaways, or Friday-night treat occasions, valuable for mapping temporal entry points.

Time of Visit

Captures time of day (e.g., breakfast, lunch, afternoon, evening, late night). This helps brands understand when to be mentally available.

Past Purchase Channel

Asks how or where the purchase occurred - in-restaurant, drive-thru, collection, delivery app, or website. Channel understanding is central to QSR brand growth, showing where physical and digital availability intersect.

You can track up to 10 Purchase Channels.

Category Agreement Statements

These statements explore the habitual, impulsive, and convenience-led nature of QSR choice, providing crucial context for interpreting loyalty and substitution.

Statements

I often decide where to get food at the last minute rather than planning ahead.	Captures impulsivity and low planning, helping brands see how often decisions depend on immediate recall and proximity.
I like switching between different places rather than always going to the same one.	Reflects repertoire behaviour typical in QSR, reminding users that repeat visits come from habit and convenience rather than deep loyalty.
I tend to go wherever is quickest or most convenient at the time.	Highlights the dominant role of convenience - speed, accessibility, and effort reduction as key drivers.