Burger Industry Tracker

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January 09 - February 08, 2023

1 Executive Summary

The Verasight Industry Tracker provides an overview of different industries to identify key insights as brand familiarity, use and Net Promoter Score. For the Burguer Industry Tracker Verasight surveyed 3,260 respondents from the Verasight Community.

Key Insights

Note: Familiarity with each brand is asked to all respondents, while use and trust for a specific brand is asked only to respondents who are familiar with that brand.

Note: Familiarity with each brand is asked to all respondents, while use and trust for a specific brand is asked only to respondents who are familiar with that brand.

Note: The number of responses per brand varies as the NPS is only asked for respondents that have used each brand. The NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters

2 Consumer Profile

2.1 McDonald’s

2.2 Burger King

2.3 Wendy’s

2.4 Sonic Drive-In

2.5 Jack in the Box

2.6 Whataburger

2.7 Hardee’s

2.8 Culver’s

2.9 Five Guys

2.10 Carl’s Jr.

2.11 In-N-Out

2.12 Steak ’n Shake

2.13 Shake Shack

3 Familiarity

Which of the following restaurants have you heard of? Select all that apply. (N = 2,986)
Item Selected
Burger King 78%
McDonald’s 78%
Wendy’s 73%
Sonic Drive-In 62%
Five Guys 60%
Jack in the Box 59%
Hardee’s 56%
In-N-Out 53%
Carl’s Jr.  51%
Whataburger 50%
Steak ’n Shake 49%
Shake Shack 40%
Culver’s 34%

3.1 Crosstabs

Age

Response 18-29 30-49 50-64 65+
McDonald’s 77% 75% 84% 78%
Burger King 69% 74% 86% 85%
Wendy’s 64% 67% 83% 81%
Five Guys 55% 53% 70% 65%
Jack in the Box 50% 51% 69% 67%
Sonic Drive-In 50% 55% 74% 71%
In-N-Out 49% 47% 59% 57%
Whataburger 46% 45% 57% 51%
Steak ’n Shake 41% 47% 55% 51%
Shake Shack 41% 40% 43% 37%
Hardee’s 40% 46% 70% 68%
Carl’s Jr.  40% 46% 61% 58%
Culver’s 29% 33% 35% 37%

Income

Response < $50,000 $50,000-$99,999 $100,000 - $149,999 > $150,000
Burger King 84% 79% 73% 67%
McDonald’s 82% 78% 76% 70%
Wendy’s 79% 75% 65% 61%
Sonic Drive-In 69% 63% 54% 48%
Jack in the Box 62% 61% 56% 44%
Hardee’s 61% 57% 50% 42%
Five Guys 61% 66% 55% 47%
Carl’s Jr.  53% 52% 49% 44%
Whataburger 49% 50% 53% 44%
In-N-Out 49% 56% 55% 48%
Steak ’n Shake 48% 50% 52% 42%
Shake Shack 33% 44% 47% 39%
Culver’s 32% 36% 33% 32%

Gender

Response Male Female Other
Burger King 76% 80% 100%
McDonald’s 75% 82% 100%
Wendy’s 70% 76% 100%
Sonic Drive-In 58% 67% 100%
Five Guys 57% 63% 93%
Jack in the Box 57% 61% 100%
Hardee’s 52% 59% 80%
In-N-Out 51% 54% 100%
Carl’s Jr.  49% 53% 61%
Whataburger 48% 51% 100%
Steak ’n Shake 46% 51% 73%
Shake Shack 41% 39% 46%
Culver’s 30% 37% 73%

Education

Response HS or less Some college/2-yr degree 4-yr/post-graduate degree
Burger King 81% 79% 75%
McDonald’s 79% 78% 78%
Wendy’s 77% 74% 69%
Sonic Drive-In 65% 68% 56%
Five Guys 59% 65% 58%
Hardee’s 58% 60% 50%
Jack in the Box 58% 63% 57%
Steak ’n Shake 48% 50% 49%
Carl’s Jr.  47% 55% 52%
In-N-Out 46% 58% 56%
Whataburger 46% 55% 50%
Culver’s 32% 35% 34%
Shake Shack 32% 43% 47%

Party ID

Response Dem/lean Dem Ind Rep/lean Rep
McDonald’s 80% 77% 76%
Burger King 79% 75% 79%
Wendy’s 71% 75% 74%
Sonic Drive-In 59% 63% 65%
Five Guys 58% 57% 64%
Jack in the Box 58% 56% 61%
In-N-Out 53% 46% 55%
Hardee’s 52% 55% 59%
Carl’s Jr.  50% 45% 54%
Whataburger 48% 43% 54%
Steak ’n Shake 46% 47% 53%
Shake Shack 44% 32% 40%
Culver’s 32% 25% 39%

4 Have Eaten in the Following Restaurants

Which of the following restaurants have you eaten at in the past year? Select all that apply. (N = 2,963)
Item Selected
McDonald’s 64%
Burger King 54%
Wendy’s 46%
Sonic Drive-In 23%
Five Guys 18%
Jack in the Box 16%
In-N-Out 14%
Hardee’s 14%
Whataburger 14%
Culver’s 13%
Steak ’n Shake 12%
Carl’s Jr.  11%
Shake Shack 8%

4.1 Crosstabs

Age

Response 18-29 30-49 50-64 65+
McDonald’s 67% 66% 65% 58%
Burger King 49% 56% 57% 49%
Wendy’s 39% 47% 50% 45%
Sonic Drive-In 20% 26% 24% 18%
Jack in the Box 20% 20% 12% 13%
Five Guys 20% 22% 16% 14%
Whataburger 17% 17% 11% 8%
In-N-Out 15% 17% 12% 11%
Steak ’n Shake 14% 18% 7% 8%
Culver’s 13% 13% 11% 14%
Shake Shack 13% 12% 4% 4%
Hardee’s 11% 16% 15% 12%
Carl’s Jr.  11% 14% 7% 9%

Income

Response < $50,000 $50,000-$99,999 $100,000 - $149,999 > $150,000
McDonald’s 66% 65% 63% 57%
Burger King 56% 54% 52% 47%
Wendy’s 48% 48% 40% 41%
Sonic Drive-In 25% 22% 21% 22%
Jack in the Box 15% 15% 24% 17%
Hardee’s 14% 13% 17% 13%
Five Guys 14% 21% 21% 22%
Whataburger 11% 12% 21% 17%
Culver’s 9% 14% 15% 15%
Carl’s Jr.  9% 10% 15% 14%
Steak ’n Shake 8% 13% 16% 15%
In-N-Out 8% 15% 21% 20%
Shake Shack 4% 8% 14% 17%

Gender

Response Male Female Other
McDonald’s 62% 66% 84%
Burger King 56% 52% 58%
Wendy’s 45% 46% 39%
Sonic Drive-In 22% 24% 7%
Five Guys 20% 16% 3%
Jack in the Box 18% 15%
Hardee’s 16% 12% 31%
In-N-Out 16% 13%
Whataburger 15% 12%
Steak ’n Shake 14% 10% 39%
Culver’s 12% 13%
Carl’s Jr.  12% 10% 7%
Shake Shack 11% 6%

Education

Response HS or less Some college/2-yr degree 4-yr/post-graduate degree
McDonald’s 65% 63% 64%
Burger King 54% 52% 54%
Wendy’s 48% 46% 44%
Sonic Drive-In 24% 22% 22%
Five Guys 13% 19% 24%
Hardee’s 12% 14% 16%
Jack in the Box 11% 18% 21%
Culver’s 10% 14% 15%
Whataburger 10% 15% 17%
Steak ’n Shake 10% 11% 15%
In-N-Out 8% 14% 20%
Carl’s Jr.  7% 11% 14%
Shake Shack 3% 6% 16%

Party ID

Response Dem/lean Dem Ind Rep/lean Rep
McDonald’s 66% 60% 64%
Burger King 55% 49% 54%
Wendy’s 45% 46% 47%
Five Guys 20% 12% 19%
Sonic Drive-In 20% 25% 25%
Jack in the Box 19% 13% 15%
In-N-Out 15% 11% 14%
Whataburger 14% 11% 15%
Culver’s 13% 8% 14%
Carl’s Jr.  13% 8% 9%
Steak ’n Shake 12% 10% 12%
Hardee’s 11% 13% 17%
Shake Shack 10% 5% 8%

5 Favorite

Which of the following restaurants is your favorite? Select all that apply. (N = 2,863)
Item Selected
McDonald’s 31%
Burger King 25%
Wendy’s 20%
Five Guys 10%
Sonic Drive-In 9%
In-N-Out 8%
Whataburger 8%
Culver’s 8%
Jack in the Box 7%
Steak ’n Shake 5%
Hardee’s 5%
Shake Shack 5%
Carl’s Jr.  5%

5.1 Crosstabs

Age

Response 18-29 30-49 50-64 65+
McDonald’s 43% 37% 23% 18%
Burger King 24% 31% 20% 21%
Wendy’s 17% 23% 21% 18%
Jack in the Box 10% 9% 3% 3%
Five Guys 10% 12% 7% 10%
Sonic Drive-In 10% 11% 9% 6%
Whataburger 10% 10% 6% 3%
Shake Shack 8% 7% 2% 2%
Culver’s 8% 7% 7% 9%
In-N-Out 7% 9% 8% 8%
Hardee’s 7% 7% 3% 3%
Carl’s Jr.  6% 6% 3% 3%
Steak ’n Shake 5% 9% 2% 3%

Income

Response < $50,000 $50,000-$99,999 $100,000 - $149,999 > $150,000
McDonald’s 30% 27% 36% 36%
Burger King 27% 19% 27% 33%
Wendy’s 20% 21% 18% 23%
Sonic Drive-In 11% 8% 7% 10%
Five Guys 8% 12% 8% 12%
Whataburger 7% 6% 11% 13%
Jack in the Box 7% 5% 8% 11%
Culver’s 6% 9% 7% 9%
Hardee’s 5% 5% 5% 8%
In-N-Out 5% 10% 9% 13%
Carl’s Jr.  4% 4% 6% 8%
Steak ’n Shake 3% 6% 7% 8%
Shake Shack 2% 5% 6% 11%

Gender

Response Male Female Other
McDonald’s 31% 30% 8%
Burger King 27% 23%
Wendy’s 21% 19% 31%
Five Guys 11% 9% 3%
Whataburger 9% 6%
Sonic Drive-In 8% 10%
In-N-Out 8% 8%
Jack in the Box 7% 6%
Culver’s 7% 8%
Hardee’s 7% 4%
Shake Shack 6% 4%
Steak ’n Shake 6% 5% 39%
Carl’s Jr.  5% 5% 7%

Education

Response HS or less Some college/2-yr degree 4-yr/post-graduate degree
McDonald’s 33% 23% 34%
Burger King 25% 17% 30%
Wendy’s 21% 18% 21%
Sonic Drive-In 11% 6% 9%
Five Guys 8% 10% 12%
Culver’s 6% 8% 8%
Jack in the Box 6% 6% 8%
Whataburger 5% 8% 10%
In-N-Out 5% 9% 11%
Hardee’s 5% 5% 6%
Steak ’n Shake 5% 4% 7%
Carl’s Jr.  4% 4% 6%
Shake Shack 2% 3% 9%

Party ID

Response Dem/lean Dem Ind Rep/lean Rep
McDonald’s 35% 29% 27%
Burger King 28% 21% 23%
Wendy’s 21% 19% 20%
Five Guys 11% 7% 10%
Sonic Drive-In 8% 9% 10%
Culver’s 8% 4% 8%
Jack in the Box 8% 5% 6%
In-N-Out 8% 7% 9%
Whataburger 8% 6% 8%
Shake Shack 6% 3% 4%
Carl’s Jr.  6% 3% 4%
Steak ’n Shake 6% 5% 5%
Hardee’s 5% 5% 6%

6 NPS

On a scale from 0-10, how likely are you to recommend each of the following to a friend or family member? Note: A 0 indicates not at all likely and a 10 indicates extremely likely.
Brand Detractor Passive Promoter NPS N
In-N-Out 13% 22% 65% 52 420
Culver’s 13% 24% 63% 50 371
Five Guys 14% 27% 59% 45 594
Whataburger 16% 26% 58% 42 444
Shake Shack 19% 24% 57% 38 309
Steak ’n Shake 17% 32% 51% 34 423
Wendy’s 23% 33% 44% 21 1396
Sonic Drive-In 23% 35% 42% 19 687
Carl’s Jr.  29% 23% 48% 19 351
Burger King 27% 29% 44% 17 1657
Hardee’s 29% 27% 44% 15 439
Jack in the Box 26% 35% 39% 13 505
McDonald’s 30% 28% 42% 12 1975

7 Survey Details

The January 2023 Verasight’s Burguer Industry Tracker Survey was conducted by Verasight from January 09 - February 08, 2023. The sample size is 3,260 respondents. All respondents were recruited from an existing Verasight panel, composed of individuals recruited via both address-based probability sampling and online advertisements.

The data are weighted to match the Current Population Survey on age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status, as well as to population benchmarks of partisanship and 2020 presidential vote. The margin of error, which incorporates the design effect due to weighting, is +/- 2.3%.

To ensure data quality, the Verasight data team implemented a number of quality assurance procedures. This process included screening out responses corresponding to foreign IP addresses, potential duplicate respondents, potential non-human responses, and respondents failing attention and straight-lining checks.

 
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