s a choice of the brand of coffee. Consumers can buy coffee on almost any corner in any business district. They consciously seek out Starbucks, however, to satisfy desires for both identification and coffee.
The Starbucks coffeehouse chain is little more than 30 years old, but it has become a social institution in the United States. Starbucks is a cultural icon that purports to sell coffee primarily. Some observers, however, believe that coffee is simply a stalking horse and that following the stalking horse is the marketing of a cultural phenomenon (Jung, 2002). Jung (2002) contends that the company is marketing the ôStarbucks experienceö (p. 1). The ôStarbucks experienceö is a surrogate living room where customers the company attempts to instill what Starbucks executives refer to as a ôclub mentalityö (Jung, 2002, p. 1). Starbucks executives say that customers want the company to ôsurprise and delight themö in this club atmosphere (Jung, 2002, p. 1). Cynics contend that Starbucks uses the Starbucks experience to persuade customers to pay $3 for a 50-cent cup of coffee. That charge may or may not be true. What is true, however, is that sales at Starbucks are increasing while coffee sales generally are declining (Jung, 2002; ôBrand Health Check: How Can Nescafe Fight off Real coffee Cultureö? 2002). This study examined the Starbucks phenomenon to determine what it is and whether it matters.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the marketing strategy of Starbucks to determine whether the companyÆs primary focus is selling coffee or selling a cultural concept. The time-frame focus of the study was the fall of 2002.
The study investigated one research question, as follows:
Within the context of the perceptions of consumers, what is the relative importance of culture and product in the Starbucks phenomenon?
If the marketing of the ôStarbucks experienceö is promoting addiction ù either to a su...