Market structures of fast food industry within the context of the firms competitiveness

Abstract

The global fast food industry is characterized by monopolistic competition. The fast food industries in many countries are generally made up of large number of independent firms. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the implications of the market structure of fast food firms and how firms in the industry can operate competitively given the structure of the market in which they operate. The paper examines some proactive, practical and result oriented tools that will enhance marketing practices in the fast food industry. The study concludes that marketers in the fast industry must adopt and manipulate the tenets of the marketing mix namely product, price, promotion, place, physical evidence, people and process to differentiate their products/brand in order to gain competitive advantage increase their market share.