Thank you so much for your time in reading this!



Recently, Happy Pancake House restaurants have shifted from butter to margarine. Happy Pancake House claims that "this change... has had little impact on [their] customers." This claim is unfounded, though. The restaurant's business manager cites a low percentage of customer complaints, but the whole number of the studies done does not represent enough customers to justify agreement across an appropriate proportion of the Happy Pancake House franchise's customer base. Another concern is that the business manager has not explicitly stated what kind of format customers are being offered to voice their opinions on the matter. Whether or not customers are fully aware of the possible ramifications of the switch is also in question. In the conclusions that have been made by the business manager, there is little concrete evidence to support or disprove the success of this move.

According to the studies reported by the business manager, only 2 of 100 customers have complained so far in reference to the switch. However, this pool of people is a relatively small sample size in comparison with a majority of long-term studies done. With a sample size of 100 in relation to a small company that would possibly only see a relatively low number of customers in their restaurants, this would be as valid a study as could be achieved. Considering that Happy Pancake House has multiple restaurants, though, it seems completely feasible that this poll of 100 could have easily been expanded to a much higher number for accuracy of consumer opinions.

In addition, the reported complacency with this change is left largely vague. "Many servers have reported that a number of customers who ask for butter do not complain when they are given margarine instead," does seem to support the manager's argument. Yet what are the formats and methods available for customers to complain and how would they be accurately recorded or represented? The word of servers, though appreciated, could be biased based on social disposition and there's no way to tell if a customer is happy with the margarine unless the customer in question explicitly states that they have no problem with the switch.

Finally, it is presumptuous to assume that "either these customers do not distinguish butter from margarine or they use the term 'butter' to refer to either butter or margarine." There is always a chance that customers may not distinguish the taste between butter and margarine, but would definitely mind other properties of margarine. Margarine, though not as high in cholesterol, is a hydrogenated vegetable oil that can contain trans fats which are more apt to linger in the body. Customers with concerns about trans fats and chemically processed foods may not be aware of the difference in taste between butter or margarine enough to complain about this change.

Essentially what it boils down to is this: Happy Pancake House's methods of research are unclear and unregulated. Since this chain restaurant is capable of cultivating more information, the validity of their claims would be more supported if their pool of customers serveyed was higher. There needs to be more standardization and professionalism involved with the recording of customers who do or do not complain about the switch to margarine. Also, unless expressly stated and supported with evidence, Happy Pancake House cannot assert that customers do not mind the difference between butter and margarine. Overall, more research must be done before Happy Pancake House can make a hypothesis about the success of their use of margarine instead of butter.