Relative perceived product quality: Increasing the effectiveness of restaurant planning through a more effective integration of the competitive environment

The concept of competing for the customer, like many concepts, appears deceptively simple. A problem with some restaurants' analyses of customers and competitors is that they are often viewed as isolated events, decreasing the effectiveness with which information is incorporated in the firm's research, planning, and implementation efforts. The concept of relative perceived product quality not only synthesizes the customer and competitor analyses, but it provides management with a means of ingraining the new relevant information into the marketing planning process. As important as this concept is, it has received virtually no coverage in general business and hospitality research.