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For Immediate Release December 10, 2003
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Arlington, Texas (Dec. 10, 2003) - Barely an adult in the U.S. today has not succumbed to the combination of Italian taste and fast food convenience that is frozen pizza, according to a nationwide survey by Decision Analyst, Inc., a marketing research and marketing consulting firm. Yet despite near universal consumption (93 percent of respondents), the survey (conducted among a nationally representative sample of 15,007 adult consumers) found many Americans dissatisfied with their pizza choices.

The largest brands cannot complain of a lack of public exposure - more than half of survey respondents have eaten pizzas from Tony's, Di Giorno, Tombstone and Red Baron (Tombstone tops the list with 74 percent having sampled their products). Yet among these market leaders, only Di Giorno ranked among those pizzas consumers will likely purchase again. Specialist producers California Pizza Kitchen and Freschetta are, with Di Giorno, the most likely to be tried again (between 62 and 65 percent of respondents), while Tombstone and Red Baron struggle to attract half of the first-time users to return to their products.

"The data shows that no more than two in three consumers would try any frozen pizza brand again," said Decision Analyst, Inc. Vice President Bruce Crandall, who supervised the study. "In other words, at least one-third of consumers will switch to another brand or refuse to buy frozen pizza again."

The reasons why people buy pizza offer few consolations to the manufacturers. Taste is the number one factor affecting purchases (with 36 percent), followed by prior experience (23 percent) and value for money (15 percent).

"The pizza producers have a real challenge on their hands to persuade consumers to sample, or resample, their pizzas," said Crandall. "Consumers clearly want good prices, but they also want excellent taste, and that means it's back to the test kitchens if the manufacturers - especially some of the largest sellers - want to keep their customers satisfied."

Methodology:

The results are based on a nationally representative survey conducted online during August 2003 among 15,007 consumers, which was referenced with Census Bureau data for gender, age, geography, marital status, presence of children, and income. The study's margin of error is plus or minus one percent. Survey respondents were members of the American Consumer Opinion� online panel, one of the largest consumer panels in the world, which includes over 3.5 million consumers. The survey was open to adult consumers in the U.S.

Methodology

The results are based on a nationally representative survey conducted online during August 2003 among 15,007 consumers, which aligned with Census data for gender, age, geography, marital status, presence of children, and income. The study's margin of error is plus or minus one percent.

Survey respondents were members of the American Consumer Opinion� online panel, one of the largest consumer panels in the world, which includes over 3.5 million consumers. The survey was open to adult consumers in the U.S.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst, Inc. is a leading marketing research and marketing consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, retail, high technology, medical and pharmaceutical, utilities, and e-commerce industries. Decision Analyst operates American Consumer Opinion� Online, one of the world's largest Internet consumer opinion panels, with more than 3.5 million participants.

Detailed findings: More information from the study, including detailed data breakdowns, is available online.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1.800.ANALYSIS (262.5974)
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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