• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, October 16, 2012

CiCi’s Pizza was voted favorite fast-casual pizza chain in a restaurant preferences survey conducted by Market Force.

The survey of more than 7,600 U.S. consumers, conducted in August, found Papa John’s and Papa Murphy’s ranking #2 and #3, followed by Sbarro, Pizza Hut, Godfather’s, Domino’s and Little Caesars. 

Market Force first calculated favorites based on the total number of votes, then indexed them by factoring in the number of locations for each chain.

CiCi’s won on a votes-per-location basis. Pizza Hut (6,000 locations) garnered the largest total number of favorite votes.

Looking at specific attributes, survey respondents ranked Papa Murphy’s #1 in food quality/taste, followed by Godfather’s, Papa John’s, CiCi’s, Little Caesars, Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Sbarro.

Papa Murphy’s also ranked first on overall value, followed by CiCi’s, Little Caesars, Papa John’s, Godfather’s, Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Sbarro.

CiCi’s led in service and atmosphere, followed by Papa Murphy’s in both of those attribute categories. Papa Murphy’s led on cleanliness, followed by Little Caesars.

By region, CiCi’s ranked #1 in the Northeast, Midwest and West, while Papa Murphy’s was the favorite in the South. 

In the Northeast, #s 2 to 4 were Sbarro, Papa John’s and Pizza Hut. In the Midwest, #s 2 to 4 were Papa John’s, Papa Murphy’s and Pizza Hut. In the South, #s 2 to 4 were CiCi’s, Papa John’s and Sbarro. And in the West, #s 2 to 4 were Godfather’s, Papa John’s and Papa Murphy’s. 

Survey respondents represented a broad range of income levels, with half reporting household incomes of more than $50,000 a year. Respondents’ ages ranged from 19 to over 65. Approximately one-quarter were men and 75% were women, and 73% reported working full or part time. Half of the respondents have children at home and more than two-thirds are married.

Market Force’s site will show the survey’s full results, including charts, by Oct. 17.