CHICAGO – Chick-fil-A received high marks among quick-service restaurants for the company’s food, cleanliness and other attributes, according to recent consumer research from Technomic Inc.

Technomic found 91 percent of consumers ranked the food at quick-service restaurants to be an important or very important attribute, with 88 percent saying the same about cleanliness, 86 percent placing importance on service, 84 percent ranking value important, 78 percent seeing beverages as important and 61 percent believing the atmosphere is important.

Consumers believe Chick-fil-A, Culver’s, Golden Corral, Jamba Juice and Papa Murphy’s do the best in quick-service with their food, and Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone Creamery, Culver’s, In-N-Out Burger and Papa Murphy’s ranked the best on cleanliness. Chick-fil-A, Culver’s, In-N-Out Burger, Krispy Kreme and Papa Murphy’s did the best in service with Chick-fil-A, CiCi’s Pizza, In-In-Out Burger, Krispy Kreme and Papa Murphy’s doing the best in value.

A typical quick-service restaurant customer is male, Caucasian, between 25 and 34 years old, usually accompanied with a spouse or significant other and likely to dine in the restaurant. Overall, 82 percent of quick-service restaurant consumers said the food quality at their recent visits was good or very good, and quick-service patronage peaks with the 25 to 34 age group and then decreases with older ages.

Consumers also form opinions about products and services whether they have had a first-hand experience or not as 66 percent of consumers believe the average quick-service restaurant is good or very good at emotional connection and 58 percent of consumers saying the restaurants are good or very good with brand image. Consumers also give quick-service restaurants an average rating of 56 percent for advertising effectiveness, but that ranges from 69 percent of consumers who believe the top chain is good or very good to a low of 33 percent.