Four in Ten (41%) Canadians Buy Lunch From Local Eateries At Least Once a Month; Two-Thirds (68%) of Those That Do Take Half Hour or Less for Lunch
Two-thirds (68%) of Canadians who buy lunch at a restaurant, food court, or other eating establishment take 30 minutes or less before going back to work. One-quarter (23%) 15 minutes or less, while nearly half (45%) take roughly half an hour. Another quarter (26%) take between 45 minutes (15%) to an hour (11%), while only 3% take more than an hour when eating out. 2% of Canadians say they work through lunch.
Two in ten (22%) Canadians who eat out at restaurants and other eateries say they've `increased' (14% a lot/7% a little) the time they normally have available for lunch compared to five years ago, while another two in ten (16%) say this time has `decreased' (4% a lot/11% somewhat) over the last five years. Six in ten (63%) Canadians who eat out for lunch say the time they have for lunch has `stayed about the same'. Ontarians (25%) are most likely to say that this time has increased over the last five years, followed by residents of British Columbia (23%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (22%), Alberta (19%), Quebec (19%), and Atlantic Canada (16%). Conversely, British Columbians (23%) and Atlantic Canadians (23%) are most likely to think their time for lunch has decreased over the last five years, followed by residents of Alberta (21%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (16%), Ontario (15%), and Quebec (8%).
Many who bring their lunch are often enticed by buying something they are craving. A slight minority (47%) of Canadians who prefer to bring a lunch from home at least sometimes wish they had decided to go out for lunch instead, while a majority (53%) of those bring their lunch `seldom' (41%) or `never' (12%) wish they decided to go out for lunch instead. Four in ten (38%) `sometimes' wish they had decided to go out for lunch instead, while one in ten (7%) say they wish they'd decided to go out for lunch `most of the time'. Only 2% of Canadians who bring their lunch say they wished they decided to go out for lunch instead `all of the time'. The craving for something not made at home is so intense that two in ten (17%, 6% bring a lunch someone packed for me but bought something instead/11% bring a lunch I packed myself but bought something else instead) have given in and bought lunch in the last month.
Canadians who decide to eat out at food courts, restaurants, and other establishments for lunch have a variety of reasons for doing so. The top two reasons for eating out at lunch is that there is a craving for a specific food (40%). Women (44%) are more likely to go out to eat because they craved something specific as opposed to men (35%). Three in ten (30%) Canadians also cite having time to socialize with their friends and co-workers in their top two reasons for eating out for lunch. More than one-third (35%) of women eat out for these reasons, compared to one-quarter (25%) of men. The following table lists the top two reasons why Canadians decide to eat lunch out when they do:
For many Canadians, having a hot lunch on a typical week day is important, especially as the winter weather starts rolling in. Six in ten (60%) Canadians believe it's at least moderately important to have a hot lunch on a typical week day (5% extremely important/19% very important/36% moderately important). Conversely, four in ten (40%) believe that having a hot lunch is only `somewhat important' (13%) or `not at all important' (27%).
Canadians also show great variety in what they decide to eat when going out for lunch. Three-quarters (77%) of Canadians who buy lunch at restaurants, food courts, etc. decide to sandwiches at least once in a given month, followed closely by hamburgers (74%). Six in ten (62%) select pizza at least once a month, while half of Canadians (50%) choose salad as their meal of choice at least once a month when deciding to eat out for lunch. The following table outlines what proportion of Canadians have eaten the following items when going out for lunch and approximately how many times in a given month each item was purchased:
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Loyalty poll conducted between October 23rd to 29th, 2012, on behalf of Tim Hortons. For this survey, a sample of 2,022 Canadians from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos's online polls are measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points of the entire Canadian population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Associate Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
416.572.4474
[email protected]
About Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.
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About Ipsos
Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. In October 2011 Ipsos completed the acquisition of Synovate. The combination forms the world's third largest market research company.
With offices in 84 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across six research specializations: advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, public affairs research, and survey management.
Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.
Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of e1,363 billion (1.897 billion USD) in 2011.
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