About Half View Tim’s image as positive, overall
But about two-fifths
say they visit less than they used to
Toronto, April
23rd – In a random sampling
of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1585 Canadian voters, (75%) say they consider themselves a customer of Tim Horton’s, with
one-quarter (25%) saying no.
Customers of Tim Horton’s are likely to include those aged 34 and
younger (80%), 35-44 (77%), or 45-54 (77%), earning $80,000-$100,000 (79%) or
the most wealthy (82%), living in Ontario (80%), the prairies (MB/SK)(82%), or
Alberta (80%), and supporting the Conservatives (79%) or Liberals (80%). English-speakers
(78%) are significantly more likely to consider themselves an occasional
customer than French-speakers (67%).
Frequency of purchase
A quarter (28%) of customers make a purchase less than once per month.
One-fifth (19%) say they make a purchase at Tim’s once per month, while a
quarter (26%) say they make a purchase several times per month.
1 in 10 (10%) say they make a purchase once per week, while the same
proportion (10%) says they make a purchase several times per week.
Fewer than 1 in 10 (6%) say they make a purchase almost every day, while
an equal proportion of customers say they either make a purchase everyday (1%)
or more than once per day.
Purchase behavior past versus present
The plurality of respondents (43%) say that their purchasing behavior
hasn’t changed, saying it’s about the same as it is now.
However, one-fifth (18%) say that they visit Tim’s a little less than
they did before, and the same proportion (18%) says they visit a lot less than
they did before.
About 1 in 10 say they visit a little less than before (11%), while a
similar proportion (8%) say they visit a lot more than before.
Few (1%) weren’t sure whether they visit more or less than they did
previously.
Half see Tim Horton’s brand image as favourable
Currently, about half (TOP3: 50%) see Tim Horton’s brand positively,
with 1 in 10 (10%) saying it’s excellent. About one-quarter (BTM3: 23%) see Tim
Horton’s brand negatively, with fewer than 1 in 10 (6%) saying it’s terrible.
About one-quarter (22%) say that Tim’s reputation is average, with few
(5%) saying they do not know.
Two-thirds (69%) of those that visit Tim’s almost every day see the
brand favourably.
More than three-quarters (79%) of those that say they visit a little
more than before, and a lot more than they did before (79%), view Tim Horton’s
favourably over all.
Almost a third (29%) of those that visit Tim’s several times per week
say that they see the chain unfavourably.
About half (49%) of those that say they visit a lot less than they did
before view the chain unfavourably.
“Generally, half of Canadians see the Tim Horton’s brand favourably,” said
Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “That’s the good news. The bad
news, however, is that more people say they are visiting Tim’s less often, than
more often. Of the people who are visiting less often, half said they view the
brand unfavourably. It seems plausible that the negative attention that Tim’s
has seen over the past few months has begun to affect their customers.”
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
