Customer Satisfaction on Service Provided by Tim Hortons

Introduction
Tim Hortons also was known as Tim Hortons Café, and Bake Shop is a Canadian based
multinational fast food best known for its coffee and donuts. Established in 1964 and serving
coffee, Tim Hortons has now merged with many other companies to get the current status in
Canada. It is one of North America’s largest international brands of chain restaurants. Removing
the country barriers, it has been well known to some other countries as well. As stated in their
slogan “Always fresh” they can deliver the belief to their customers. After Canada Tim Hortons
serves in these countries: Qatar, Philippines, Spain, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, China, Ireland,
United Kingdom, United, States, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. The reason for people
being attracted by Tim Hortons is the fast service it provides and the drive-thru.
Tim Hortons is not only the profit-seeking company, but they are also dedicated to
change life for better and sponsor community outreach programs such as free skating,
swimming, community clean-up project, etc. It also has an organization called Tim Hortons
Children’s Foundation (1975) which the store promotes itself. This organization serves youth
from poor and privileged families across Canada and USA. They believe investing in childhood
is a valuable way to support communities. Tim Horton gets its coffee from several of the
renowned coffee-producing regions and uses a premium blend of 100%Arabic Beans.
Varieties of Coffee served by Tim Hortons are:
• Original Blend
• Dark Roast

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 3

• Decaf

COFFEE VARIETIES

Original BlendDark Roast3rd Qtr

Fig 1. Pie Chart of Coffee Varieties at Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons not only provides coffee service, but it also sells its freshly baked donuts such as:
• Chocolate Dip
• Maple Dip
• Strawberry Vanilla
• Canadian Maple etc.

50%
50%
%

25%
25%

25%

25% 25%

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 4

Fig
2.
Pie

Chart for the services offered at Tim Hortons
Tim Hortons has expanded their menu offering breakfast items recently from 25th July
2018 all across Canada. Classis sandwiches, English muffins, fruit smoothies, wraps, soups, etc.
are the new items which are being served; and are committed to offering the customers the best
restaurant and quality product experience.
History
Tim Hortons was originated in 1964 in Hamilton Ontario by Canadian hockey athlete
Tim Horton and Jim Charade. Horton combined with investor Ron Joyce in 1967 that enlarged
the chain into a multimillion-dollar franchise. This expansion of the business made a significant
impact on many independent donut shops and small chains as they were all driven out of
business. The per capita ratio in Canada of donuts shops exceeded that of all other countries. Tim
Hortons in the mid-90s created a logo and is still used as the chains most common outdoor sign.

COFFEE SERVIVES AT HORTON

Chocolate DipMaple DipStrawberry VanillaCanadian Maple

25%

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 5

Tim Hortons changed the company name to the TDL Group Ltd which was an effort to
extend the business as consumers taste widened. Tim Hortons in 1992 settled to merge with
Wendy’s and run the new outlet for both Tim Hortons and Wendy’s Restaurants in town
Montague. In 1995, the Canadian newspaper had a column casting on Tim Hortons selling out to
Wendy’s with Timbit (Chocolate coconut cream filled duchies glazed cruller).
In 2003 Tim Hortons accepted Interface debit payment system and also allowed Master
card and Pay pass in 2007 and was extended in most of the Hortons stores by 2010. Later they
also began receiving Visa American Express card in 2013.Tim Hortons expanded twice as many
outlets in Canada as Mc Donald’s by 2005. By Set 28, 2009 it became a Canadian public
company.
Burger king an American chain of hamburger fast food restaurant agreed to acquire Tim Hortons
for the US $11.4 billion on August 26, 2014, and the chain became supplementary of the
Oakville based holding company known restaurant International Brand on December 15, 2014,
majority owned by Brazilian Investment Firm. In 2018, Tim Hortons was involved in a
controversy after the rise of the minimum wage in Ontario from $11.60 to $14:00 per hour. It
hurt the chain's reputation and dropped from 4th place in 2017 to 50th in 2018 in the research
poll for top 10 companies.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 6

The objective of the Study
The main aim of the study is to find out the customer satisfaction with the service
provided by Tim Hortons. The specific goals can be listed below;
• To analyze the effect of the price of coffee on customer’s satisfaction.
• To examine the impact of employee’s behavior on customer satisfaction.
• To determine the role of varieties of coffee on customer satisfaction.

Hypothesis
For finding some evidence about our results, we came up with the following explanation;
• H1: There is a negative relationship between the price of coffee and customer satisfaction.
• H2: There is a positive relationship between a variety of product and customer satisfaction.
• H3: There is a positive relationship between employee’s behavior and customer satisfaction.
Price is the amount of money we pay for getting something. It is the value that will buy
some quantity or some measure of goods and services. Price is the criteria which are set for the
products and services. Economic theory believes that an increase in price leads to a decrease in
demand for any product. Variety refers to the strategy where the retailer serves a large number
and ranges of different products and services to the customers. It is used to attract the customer’s
attention towards the services. A company or organization which provides a variety of product
can draw customers in large scale. Behavior is the way in which one acts in response to a

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 7

particular situation. It is the range of action made by any individuals especially towards other and
their environment. Every customer seeks polite language and rational behavior from the
employees of any organization.
Methodology
This study used several approaches to carry out the design. There were systematic
planning and arrangements that were put in place to cover the relevant areas of the study. In this
section, there was the determination of the design that the research would take, the area the study
would be conducted and the sample population as well as the sample population. The sampling
techniques were equally determined in this section and the various instruments for data
collection (Mackey, 2015). The methods of data analysis were similarly determined in this
section conclusively.
The research design applied here was the simplest and the most appropriate. It
exhaustively provided the required answers to the research questions aimed at meeting the
objectives of the study. The target population in this study were those who subscribe to the
services of Tim Hortons. The attendants in this firm were also partially involved in the process to
get some relevant information from them and make appropriate conclusions. The sample
population chosen in this study was small so that all the people who were in the study were
involved entirely (Mackey, 2015). It was necessary to avoid the use of large population sizes to
ease the process of data analysis.
The primary sampling technique that was involved in this study was the random
sampling. This technique was very significant because it gives a fair and equal representation of
the variables that are included in a particular study. Therefore this sampling technique proved to

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 8

be very helpful. The essential instruments for data collection were questionnaires and interviews.
The customers were interviewed while some filled a structured questionnaire. The statistical
software, STATA then analyzed the data that was collected. The statistically weighted mean was
very useful in providing answers to the research questions to meet the objectives.
Findings
From the study, several results were clear and which have a great significance on the future of
this Tim Hortons.
i) Effect of Prices on Customer Satisfaction
The study reveals that there is a negative correlation between the increase in coffee prices
and the level of customer satisfaction. As the prices increased, many customers sought to buy
coffee from the independent shops other than Tim Hortons. The increase in pricing of the coffee
sent more customers away than it brought many in. This study equally indicated that the analysis
of structural price promotion in Hortons resulted into desirable effects on the evaluation of the
consumers regarding quality and it positively influenced their intentions to make purchases.
The Consumer characteristics were moderated correctly with the proper adjustments of
the prices. In as much as some variables in the study could not indicate a significant moderating
effect of the characteristics of the consumer, the frequency of consumption, however,
demonstrated this very clearly (Fornell, 2016). These outcomes of the study show clearly that the
consumers of Tim Horton’s products could see the price promotion by this company as an
incentive or a reward and therefore it might result into positive effects of the consumers
increasing their favorable evaluations.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 9

The table below represents the number of customers and their response to increase in the
prices.
CARTEGORY STATISTICS
Satisfied 160
Not Sure 20
Not Satisfied 320

CUSTOMERS

SatisfiedNot SureNot Satisfied

Fig 4. Pie Chart of The customers and their response to increase in prices
These findings indicate a new perspective which might increase the individuals who are
involved in the marketing of the coffee chains stores to properly contain the promotion in the
prices in a manner that is more strategic by putting into consideration the characteristics of the

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 10

customer. The results of the increase in prices of the various products is still a matter of serious
controversies, and it might be a variable in several other categories. This study is one among the
first studies to properly examine the effects that come with price promotions and the roles of the
consumer in moderating the prices appropriately.
ii) Impact of employee’s behavior on customer satisfaction
The Participants who were interviewed confirmed that the encounters between the
customers and the employees are critical. The participants constantly implied that they would
wish to be served with smiling faces and not frowns. The study proved that the happier the
employees as they serve the customers, the more satisfied the customers became. There was also
the aspect of the employees using polite gestures and making eye contacts as they helped the
customers. Such resulted in a feeling of happiness in the customers. The participants were
equally asked why they had varied responses to different employees which they responded to by
saying that such reactions depended on the level of sincerity from the side of the customers and
the amount of cheerfulness that they have as they serve the customers.
The table below shows the reactions of the customers at different states of the employees.
EMPLOYEE STATUS SATSFIED NOT SURE NOT SATISFIED
HAPPY 400 20 80
UNHAPPY 50 10 440
CARING 100 5 395
NOT CARING 350 15 155

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Happy EmployeesUnhappy EmployeesUncaring EmployeesCaring Employees
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
LEVEL OF SATISFACTION OF THE CUSTOMERS
AT DIFFERENT EMPLOYEE STATES

Satisfied Don't KnowNot Satisfied

Fig. 5 Line graph representing the reaction of customers to different states of the employees
According to the results which were obtained from the semi-structured interviews
administered to the participants, there are several patterns which were indicated to make the
consumers happy. The behaviors that were identified to make the consumer happy in Tim
Hortons are; cheerful and polite, making the customer feel very special for example addressing
the clients by their names and offering them services which are individualized. Such initiatives
proved to boost customer satisfaction in Tim Hortons (Dong, 2015). The participants who are
customers in this hotel agreed that the employees at Tim Hortons are very neat and therefore they
usually encourage the clients to subscribe to their services even more.
The participants had opinions that were varying when it came to the point of the attitudes
that were underlying the behaviors which were thought to make the customers glad. While
addressing the issues that are considered to have impacts on the customer positively, the
participants indicated that the reasons were not due to the employees. Some ideas could be the

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 12

results from without such as from the management or the work environment. It also came out
clearly from the participants that empowerment could also be an issue to consider while gauging
the extent to which the employees can make the customers feel happy. The structured
questionnaire administered to the Tim Horton Employees revealed that the employees in this
firm are properly empowered, and they have everything that it takes to handle the customers as
they come (Dong, 2015). They have been trained to be emotionally intelligent, and therefore,
they know what to say and when to tell it to the customers. This boosts the satisfaction of the
customers in the long run.
According to this study, there are some behaviors which are mostly encountered by the
customers which do not make them happy. These cases, however, are very few in Tim Hortons.
Such actions which don’t make customers happy are; not being cheerful and not being able to
respond to the questions as asked by the customers. The worst is giving of negative answers to
questions which are very straight and require positive responses. These behaviors make the
customers unhappy and thereby minimizing their satisfaction levels with the services offered.
According to the structured questionnaires administered to the employees, such attitudes do not
just spring up from nowhere, but they result from other factors such as stress, workload, and lack
of authority, fatigue and emotional state of the employee at that particular time. However, Tim
Hortons is doing great work in ensuring that such cases are minimized as much as possible. The
employees, therefore, find a good working environment and are hence at a position to offer the
best services to the customers.

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iii) Role of varieties of coffee on customer satisfaction
This study revealed that majority of the consumers were interested in trying something
different all the time. The participants indicated that they did not desire to stick to something for
an extended period especially coffee. Therefore the fact that Tim Hortons offered a variety of
brands made them feel better and more satisfied. The study indicated that the presence of variety
positively influenced the satisfaction level of the customer. According to the customers who
were interviewed in the course of the study, the higher the type, the more they had a full range of
making a selection of the products that they would wish to consume and this, in turn, boosts their
level of satisfaction.
It is therefore clear from this study that the variety of the product service that a firm
offers affects the satisfaction of the consumers effectively (Chen, 2014). As for the case of Tim
Hortons, the fact that they have more than one brand of coffee that they offer together with a
variety of the other products, several customers feel more satisfied subscribing to their products
because they have time and opportunity to switch between types.
The table below represents the level of satisfaction of the number of customers and their
feelings on varieties.
CATEGORY STATISTICS
Found Everything they wanted and happy 400
Found a Few things they wanted but happy 60
Found nothing they wanted but happy 40

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CUSTOMERS

Found Everything they wantedFound a few things they wantedFound Nothing they wanted

Fig 6. Pie Chart representing the employees and their feelings after they visited the coffee shops
Tim Horton has a series of coffee brands, and for this reason, therefore, many consumers
prefer it because they are sure that by getting here, they are at a position to obtain everything
they want without having to move from place to place. However, the consumers mentioned that
when it comes to the aspect of snacks, this corporation is doing poorly as they don’t have variety.
Therefore from this study, it can be concluded that when there are a variety of products offered
by a particular corporation, then such boosts the satisfaction of the consumers. As for the case of
Tim Hortons, the customers have a high level of comfort.

Research Limitations and Implications
Several limitations affected this study, and their impacts could be visible in the results
obtained and the conclusions made at the end of this study. The sample size that was used to

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 15

represent the customers was small compared to the number of the clients that are served at Tim
Hortons on average. In a way, this could result in Bias on the conclusions that were made from
this study. This study mainly relied on the primary data because no much work had been done in
line with this area of research. Therefore regarding past statistics, there was a severe limitation.
The measures used to collect data were not very much useful. Some participants were not very
comfortable to be interviewed in the process. There are others who were not willing to fill in the
questionnaires while others gave false information to be safe. These resulted into severe effects
in the output that were obtained after analysis. Among other limitations in the course of this
study, these are the significant limitations which had severe impacts on the whole process. Other
restrictions were negligible.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the study had confirmed quite a number of the hypothesis that was there
before the survey was conducted. From this study, it can be concluded that an increase in the
price of coffee negatively affects customer satisfaction. However is such initiatives are
accompanied by incentives and thorough explanations of the reasons why there is a rise in the
prices then that could be seen as an incentive by the customers. If done appropriately, then the
purchase of the goods by the customers can be adequately improved by the organization.
Generally, an increase in price has a negative correlation to customer satisfaction.
It can also be concluded that the behaviors of the employees towards the customers have
a severe impact on the level of satisfaction by the customers. When the employees are happy and
jovial as they offer the services to the customers, then the satisfaction level of the customers is
appropriately improved. However in a case where the employee is unhappy and not giving the

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ON SERVICE PROVIDED BY TIM HORTON 16

expected answers to the questions asked by the customer, then this can negatively affect the
satisfaction level of the consumer. Therefore, the behavior of the employees towards the
customers has a negative correlation with the level of satisfaction by the customers.
Varieties is another element that organizations and corporations should keenly look at
especially those who deal with food beverages. Most customers prefer to find all that they need
in one place without having to move from one location to the next. For this reason, companies
which offer varieties make their customers have a high level of satisfaction with regards to the
products and services which they enjoy. The type of the products gives the consumers a wide
range from which to make selections thereby making them feel more satisfied. Therefore,
Variety positively impacts the level of customer satisfaction.

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References

Chen, C. X., Matsumura, E. M., Shin, J. Y., & Wu, S. Y. C. (2014). The effect of competition
intensity and competition type on the use of customer satisfaction measures in executive annual
bonus contracts. The Accounting Review, 90(1), 229-263.
Dong, Y., Liao, H., Chuang, A., Zhou, J., & Campbell, E. M. (2015). Fostering employee service
creativity: Joint effects of customer empowering behaviors and supervisory empowering
leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 100(5), 1364.
Fornell, C., Morgeson III, F. V., & Hult, G. T. M. (2016). Stock returns on customer satisfaction
do beat the market: gauging the effect of a marketing intangible. Journal of Marketing, 80(5),
92-107.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Tim Hortons Official Website
Wikipedia