• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, August 16, 2010

According to recent Scarborough Research analysis of breakfast diners and the fast food establishments they patronize, 37% of adults have eaten breakfast at a fast food restaurant in the past month. McDonald's holds the top spot among fast food (or quick service) breakfast diners... 46% of adults dined at the Golden Arches for breakfast in the past month. Dunkin Donuts (19%), Starbucks (19%) and Burger King (12%) round out the top four national fast food chains for breakfast diners.

Fast food breakfasters are 16% more likely than the average adult to be a member of the Y Generation (ages 18-29). Adults who live in households with annual incomes of $100K+ and those who have a college education or advanced degree are more likely to breakfast at fast food restaurants than consumers from lower or less-affluent income brackets. Fast food restaurant diners are 13% more likely to be African-American and 11% more likely to be Hispanic.

56% of Greensboro NC (the top local market for fast food restaurant breakfast diners) adults have eaten breakfast at a quick service restaurant during the past month.. Other leading cities for fast food breakfast diners include:

•  Boston (55%)
• Raleigh, NC (51%)
•  Charlotte, NC (49%)
• Greenville, SC (49%)
•  Providence, RI (49%)

Alisa Joseph, vice president of advertiser marketing services, Scarborough Research, says "... fast food brands have evolved their product offerings to better compete for share... major restaurant chains... (understand) the importance of localism and... adapt marketing, menu options and promotional efforts to suit... "

Quick service breakfast diners are heavy Internet users. In addition to being 18% more likely than the average adult to spend 20+ hours online per week, they are more likely than the average adult to engage in a wide variety of internet behaviors such as:

• Fantasy sports (35% more likely than total adults to have played fantasy sports online during the past month)
•  Social networking sites like Facebook (26% more likely)
•  Instant messaging (24% more likely)
•  Blogging (21% more likely)

Obtaining news and information, such as:

• Weather information (15% more likely)
•  Sports scores (23% more likely)
• News (16% more likely)

Downloading material, such as:

•  Music (25% more likely)
• Video games(21% more likely)
• Coupons (22% more likely)
• Movies (28% more likely)

Ms. Joseph concludes "Whether targeting a student working on a research project or a professional catching-up on email, some fast food chains have added wi-fi to their restaurants to create a café environment so patrons can relax... "

To learn more from Scarborough, or access the PDF file, please visit here.