Bill Darden opened the Green Frog restaurant in his hometown of Waycross, GA, in the late 1930s. From that humble beginning, the Darden Restaurant Group grew and now consists of thousands of dine-in restaurants across the U.S. including The Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Cheddars, the Yard House, and many more. Two strategic issues face Darden and similar restaurant groups these days:

1. Trends toward "eating out."
2. International expansion.

Data suggests that Americans spend slightly more of their food dollar on food and drink outside of the home. However, grocers, meal kits, and other restaurants are capitalizing on a trend, to in one way or another, deliver restaurant quality food into the customer's kitchen. Some of these efforts are facilitated by ride-share efforts including Uber Eats. However, what constitutes "eating out" to the consumer? Is delivered food from Olive Garden considered eating out? The question of redoing or purchasing facilities to capitalize on any potential trends toward "eating out" at home could require major investment.

The same data indicate that Americans go to restaurants more than most other countries' citizens. French and other Europeans eat meals at restaurants about half as often as an American. Thus, an expansion into Europe with the Olive Garden or Red Lobster brand, among other potential brands, may not have as receptive an audience as greater expansion with new brands in the U.S.

Suppose you were asked to provide an opinion on the viability of the two strategic options, pursuing more food delivered to the home within the U.S. or international expansion with its top brands.

1. How might each orientation for qualitative research be used to do the exploratory research needed?
2. What qualitative tool seems most useful in trying to define what "eating out" constitutes in the U.S. and in continental Europe?
3. Check out social media sites for some of Darden's top brands. Do you think anything in the Tweets or posts might constitute qualitative data relevant to the decision issue?
4. Suppose you were going to do at least two focus groups, one on each issue. The U.S. focus group will be conducted in an Orlando, FL, focus facility. The European group will be conducted using crowd-sourced participants—all English speaking.
5. Prepare a focus group outline for each interview
6. Would the results for the two interviews be of equal validity?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

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