“Late night piz za is the bes t kind of piz za.�
Cara Hans on Elizabeth Harris Mag gie Heithaus Erin Golden Adrienne Gos s ett Kaley Langenderfer
Table of Contents Introduction: Preparing the Pizza........................................................ Page 2 Eating Statistics.................................................................... Page 2 Research Methodology.......................................................... Page 3 Qualitative Research............................................................. Page 4 Consumer Description.......................................................... Page 7 The Menu: Eaters Under the Influence............................................. Page 8 The “Lazy Twentysomething�.......................................... Page 8 The Peer Pressure Pizza Eater.......................................... Page 9 Consumer Demographics...................................................... Page 9 Consumer Psychographics.................................................... Page 10 Consumer Media Habits....................................................... Page 11 Five Consumer Insights........................................................ Page 12 Conclusion.......................................................................... Page 13 Bibliography....................................................................... Page 14
Introduction The summer before we left our childhood homes to attend college we were warned of the many lifestyle changes that occur in higher education: late-nights accompanied with either pizza or beer, or both. Late night pizza eating is a staple of college and young adult life. Whether that pizza provides the nourishment for a grueling 12 a.m. study-group, is the light at the end of the tunnel on a particularly long night out or satisfies late-night desires when cooking seems as demanding as rocket science. Yes, late-night pizza eating seems as though it was created for the college aged twenty-somethings. Late night pizza consumers have hidden in the dark of night silently munching on their greasy snack avoiding the scrutiny of a consumer profile; until now. We have a few questions we want to answer by creating this consumer profile. We want to know why these people are choosing to eat pizza at this, particularly late, time. What drives them to make this purchase? We also want to know who they are sharing the pizza with or if they are eating it alone.
Eating Statistics Pizza consumption continues to rise. According to a poll conducted by PizzaRev in February 2014, 41 percent of pizza consumers said they eat pizza once a week, compared to 26 percent of pizza consumers just two years ago. Additionally, according to a recent survey completed by Mintel, 93 percent of Americans who eat pizza, eat pizza at least once a month and 21 percent of 18-24 year olds who eat pizza, purchase pizza more than three times per month. According to a recent 2014 USDA study, 1 in 8 Americans who eat pizza, eat pizza on any given day. Of those Americans who eat pizza on a given day, 16 percent are males and 13 percent are females between the ages of 20-29. Pizza has become the ultimate college food. When college students want an easy, reasonably priced and convenient meal after 8 p.m., it only makes sense that they choose to order a pizza. Pizza is only a phone call away and gets delivered right to your door with no hassle of needing to leave your home. No matter where you are, weather it being a big city college campus or small rural college campus, there are always pizza restaurants that are open late at night. In 2014 the average college pizza joint is open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. during the
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week and from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekends. In a recent 2014 Culinary Arts study of 171 college students across four states, 21 percent of the college students said they order pizza after 11 p.m. due to the symptoms of late-night hunger caused by events such as consumption of alcohol, being too lazy to cook themselves, or because its what their peers are eating. According a poll done by Marco’s Pizza restaurants on college campuses, their busiest hours of operation was found to be after 10 p.m. where on average they sell a minimum of 200 pizza orders after that time. They also reported that their poll found that they serve the most pizza from Thursday to Sunday. A study recently conducted by GrubHub in 2014 analyzed the ordering habits of college student at more than 350 college campuses, and found that 1 in 4 orders placed by students occur after hours, which defined by GrubHub as being between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Overall, they found that college students are 87 percent more likely to order latenight pizza than for the average dinner and spend 10 percent less than the average dinner.
Percent
25 20 15*
15
Males
26* 18
15
11
All
2-5
6-11
12-19
16
13
20-39
11
9
40-59
Females
6
5
60 & Over
Age (years) Image 1: Percentage of U.S. population who consumed pizza on any given, WWEIA, NHANES 2007-2010
Research Methodology When first learning about the late-night college pizza consumer, what better way to see general trends than to observe? That is exactly what we did. For our qualitative data, we wanted to get a feel for the consumers we would be studying to then construct interceptive interview questions. Therefore, we sat in Domino’s, Courtside, Good Fella’s, and other uptown pizza joints in Athens, Ohio to simply observe who was coming into order pizza late at night. Then, within the next several days, we completed a series of interceptive
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interviews late at night at different pizza joints uptown. We chose to perform observations and interceptive interviews due to the fact purchasing pizza tends to be an impulsive act. Therefore, we believed that interviewing and observing people while they are actually in the act of purchasing pizza would lead to the most accurate responses. In addition to qualitative data, we analyzed previous quantitative research done by Mediamark, Mintel, Pew Research Center, and Nielsen.
Qualitative Research Domino’s Manager, Court Street location, a Monday night Observation: Only one student actually came to get his Domino’s pizza in an hour time period. He seemed to know the managers and seemed to be a regular of the pizza shop. He was not under the influence. Manager’s observations: Mondays - There is a busy “after dinner” rush (after 8 p.m.), mostly students or families not wanting to cook; they do a lot of deliveries that night. Wednesdays - During the middle of the week, there is a mix of intoxicated college students and families and students who do not want to cook. Fridays - Fridays are a mixture of students who do not want to cook before they go out as well as intoxicated students later in the night.
Courtside, Court Street location, Friday & Thurday evenings We interviewed people as they were either ordering their pizza or picking up their preordered food. This was after 8 p.m., which we consider late-night eating for this research. We asked three questions: “Why are you ordering pizza?” “Why are you ordering it now?” and “With who are you sharing the pizza?”
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Friday, September 19, 2014 Person One: Dine-In Why pizza? Boyfriend wanted it before going to the store. With who? Sharing it with my boyfriend. Person Two: Delivery Why pizza? Studying for an exam and no one has eaten dinner yet, plus it’s affordable. With who? Study group, five plus. Person Three: Delivery Why pizza? Hungry; coming from recruitment. With who? Group of friends. Person Four: Dine-In Why pizza? Starving and drunk. With who? Two friends. Person Five: Dine-In Why pizza? Because I’m drunk and it’s cheap. With who? Two friends. Thursday, September 25, 2014 Person One: Dine-In Why pizza? Comfort food and it’s cheap. Why now? Just got off work and started drinking some beers. With who? Some friends. Person Two: Dine-In Why pizza? Favorite food, nice treat and affordable. Why now? Just woke up from a nap and didn’t want to cook. With who? My girlfriend. Person Three: Delivery Why pizza? It’s good. Why now? Hungry, very hungry. With who? My roommate.
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Good Fella’s, Court Street location, a Friday night At the Court Street location of Good Fella’s, we spoke to 5 individuals who were purchasing pizza late on a Friday night. All of them had been out with friends/drinking. As with Courtside, we asked three basic questions to get an idea of the pizza eaters’ habits: “Why pizza?”, “Why now?”, and “Who are you getting pizza with?” Why pizza? “Good Fella’s is good and cheap, it’s the perfect midnight snack.” Why now? “It’s one of the places that’s open late.” With who? “My friends who I was out with.” Why pizza? “We just passed it and thought it sounded good, we’re hungry.” Why now? “We’re grabbing it before heading home.” With who? “My roommates.” Why pizza? “It’s good, and my friend wanted to get it.” Why now? “We were out and now we’re hungry.” With who? “My friend.” Why pizza? “It’s the best cheap late-night food.” Why now? “Hungry.” With who? “Girlfriend, a couple of our friends.” Why pizza? “Cheap and delicious, why not.” Why now? “I’ve been at the bars all night.” With who? “Friends.”
Delta Gamma sorority house, a Friday night Late night intoxicated pizza eaters: 1: Why: “Because I was hungry, it sounded good and it was the easiest thing to get” (she was by herself) 2: Why: “Because I am drunk and when you are drunk pizza always sounds good” (two girls)
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Group of 10 girls eating pizza at 10p.m. The general consensus was that one person said she wanted to get it because she was hungry. Since they were all together, the rest of the group then also wanted to get pizza as well. The girl who initially wanted the pizza also said “Guys someone else please order it with me I don’t want to be the only one eating pizza this late.” This leads to the “peer pressure factor.” In the end, three pizzas were ordered for 10 girls. Other girls who walked by wanted to grab a slice as well.
Consumer Description Pizza has always been a favorite late-night snack, especially when it comes to college aged twenty-somethings. Therefore, we wanted to look into what exactly motivates the latenight college pizza consumer to eat pizza after 8 p.m. After researching, we came across three general trends that help explain why many college students choose to eat pizza to get rid of their late night munchies. We have came to the conclusion there are “Eaters Under the Influence,” “The Lazy Twentysomethings,” and “Peer Pressure Pizza-Eaters.”
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The Menu Eaters Under the Influence Eaters Under the Influence, (especially in a college-aged setting) tends to also be the main reason for the Freshman 15. However, when looking at the late-night pizza eater, alcohol tends to be the culprit when it comes to those who order a pizza after they’ve already eaten their dinner. These eaters also tend to be eating even later than just 8 p.m. - they are dropping into their favorite pizza joint anywhere from 11 to 3 a.m. It makes for the perfect grab-n-go food for someone who wants food now, because pizza can be made in bulk and made quickly. Many of the Eaters Under the Influence categorize themselves as Image 2: Senior Jillian Hartmann who said, “starving.” Normally they are with friends, whether after a long night, she purchased a pizza because she was hungry and it was quick. that means they’re sharing an entire pizza with a group or they all stopped in together to grab a slice each. The “Lazy Twentysomething” Now, in general, college students have not been known for their cooking skills. And they certainly are not known for having a lot of spare time. As a result, students skip dinner time and then realize how hungry they are at 8 or 9 p.m. By then, taking the time to cook dinner seems out of the question and this creates the “Lazy Twentysomething.” What could be easier than just ordering a pizza? Image 3: Marissa Imondi is a junior studying health administration. She grabbed a slice of pizza for dinner because she didn’t feel like making food and it was a cheap alternative.
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The Peer Pressure Pizza Eater College is full of different peer pressures; and getting talked into splitting a pizza with a group of friends is one of them. The Peer Pressure Pizza Eater is the college student who wouldn’t normally stop in and order a pizza just for themselves - they are coerced and convinced by their peers. A lot of them are ordering a pizza in a large group before they go out at night or when they’re meeting later at night for a group project. The group of peers is also influential because usually pizza comes in large portions. Who could possibly eat a whole pizza by themselves? Friends are definitely necessary.
Image 4: Juniors Kiersten Richards and Hannah Bortz ordered pizza while studying. They both said they would only order pizza if the other would eat it as well. Peer pressure definitely played a role in their decision to order the pizza.
Consumer Demographics There is no average pizza consumer because people of a wide variety of ages, ethnicities, education levels, and income levels consume pizza on a regular basis. Generally, pizza consumers are typically 18 to 64 years old. In terms of digital media, however, that target age range narrows to 18 to 49 and more specifically to Millennials aged 18 to 34. According to Mintel, Millennials consume more pizza than any other age group. For our research, we looked at the millennial population, focusing specifically on late-night pizza eaters in college, ages 18 to 22.
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Consumer Psychographics General Overview of the Millennial Consumer According to Pew Research Center: Millennials are on track to become the most educated generation in American history, and according to census data, 39.6 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college. Politically, Millennials are the most likely of any generation to self-identify are liberals. However, they are still very detached from established political parties. 50 percent of Millennials describe themselves as political independents. Millennials are the least overtly religious American generation in modern times. 29 percent of Millennials are unaffiliated with any religion, a significantly higher number than older adults when they were ages 18 to 24. Millennials embrace self-expression and individuality. Nearly 40 percent of Millennials have a tattoo, and about 25 percent have a piercing somewhere other than an earlobe.
Millennials and their attitudes toward food service: Millennials are at the age in life where there a lot of major milestones – college, first jobs, marriage and kids. They are constantly in a state of flux, which leaves them very busy and always crunched for time. Millennial college students, the consumer segment we specifically focused on, are always looking for ways to save time. According to research from Mintel, when it comes to eating, 69 percent of college students said they value quick service when eating both on- and off- campus. Additionally, a percentage of college students make food choices based on if they can eat while they study, reflecting how the busy lifestyle of the college student calls for multitasking. Because of this busy lifestyle, Millennials also often get food on the go opposed to cooking for themselves. According to the Food Institute’s annual
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report about the demographics of consumer food spending, in 2012, consumers under the age of 25 spent 46.1 percent of their total food expenditures on food outside of the home, and consumers ages 25-35 spent 45.2 percent of their total food expenditures on food outside of the home.
Consumer Media Habits Because the Millennial generation was the first to come to age with cable TV, the Internet and cell phones, technology is essentially baked into every Millennial’s DNA. The media habits of Millennials reflect this reliance on technology, especially social media. Millennials connect with friends on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. According to Nielsen, 74 percent of Millennials feel that new technology has a positive impact on their life and makes it easier, and 54 percent feel that new technology helps them be closer to their family and friends. Millennials turn to television shows that reflect their interest in music and their appreciation of humor. Similarly to older generations, Millennials also watch a lot of sports on TV. According to Mediamark Reporter, 30 percent of Millennials have watched ESPN in the past 30 days, 27 percent of Millennials have watched MTV in the past 30 days, and 23 percent of Millennials have watched Comedy Central in the past 30 days. According to Nielsen, 11 percent of Millennials ranked “Music/Pop Culture� as the top variable that makes their generation unique.
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Five Consumer Insights The five consumer insights/conclusions that we come to, with short explanations: 1. Affordability is a key concern for college students regardless of the hour. Students make many of their food/purchasing decisions based on the quantity/quality they can get for the cheapest price. 2. Convenience is a key competent in decision making for the late-night eater. The easier the better. Late night eaters do not want to be troubled with inconvenience and will chose the most convenient option. 3. Impulse: not much planning is involved for the late-night lazy and drunk pizza eaters, their hunger is always what directs them. The late-night pizza eater decides where to eat quickly and as soon as they are hungry. 4. Pizza pushers always exist within groups that order pizza to share; other members easily sercombe to visions of the cheesy pie. Pizza is hard to resist when everyone else is eating it. 5. Pizza is a communal way to enjoy late eating - the late-night pizza eater is never alone. Pizza tradition quickly arises when a group, especially of friends, order pizza during a recurring event/meeting. For example: movie nights, weekly pregames and study groups.
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Conclusion It’s impossible to ignore that a lot of college-aged students consume pizza during late night. We are the first to delve in and explore what drives these late-night purchases. Our insights will help equip advertising professionals with key insights about late-night pizza eaters that were unknown before this study. Late night pizza eaters range from impulsive and lazy to social and extroverted. These consumers lives are constantly changing and in flux; yet their late-night pizza habit will always remain.
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