CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVES
In order to understand how our peers perceive Starbucks, we conducted a survey that gathered the responses of Stanford students. This survey highlights multiple important aspects of the Starbucks brand and its prominence in establishing a coffee shop of comfort, accessibility, and a strong presence. Our first question asked survey respondents to describe the Starbucks brand in one word. The graphic below demonstrates the responses, with the most prevalent and frequent responses depicted in larger font.
Overall, the majority of respondents had positive associations with Starbucks, that highlighted the omnipresence, accessibility, and convenience of the Starbucks coffee shop. Moreover, as we suggested when discussing how Starbucks built its brand around the idea of third-places and comfort, customers consider Starbucks as a "home" of "comfort," "warmth," and "consistency;" all words that Starbucks used when describing its intentions in establishing a specific form of coffee shop as a third place. The rest of the survey data is shown below!
The above data results demonstrate the fact that many students like Starbucks and its environment even though they may prefer the coffee from other competing coffee shops. Firstly, all of our respondents have both been to Starbucks and like Starbucks. Additionally, the vast majority of respondents go to Starbucks at least once a week and also enjoy working at the coffee shop. However, despite the overwhelming appreciation of Starbucks and its environment, only 50% of respondents actually prefer Starbucks coffee to its local competitors. Consequently, our results seem to corroborate our conviction that Starbucks' success lies in the way in which the company created a unique coffee shop experience of comfort and accessibility rather than by making the best coffee.