I just read another article in the financial media praising Starbucks and its cutting edge sales methodology and products. In truth, I think that too many people just like to be seen holding their coffee in a Starbucks cup.
In order to test this theory, I did a non-scientific test. I bought coffee from Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and my local gas station. The Starbucks coffee cost nearly three times as much as the gas station brew with Dunkin a little closer to Starbucks than the low priced gas station coffee. I put the three beverages in unmarked containers and asked six people to rate them each on taste. In fairness, you should know that all three coffees were served without any sugar or cream/milk, so that the coffee taste was not masked. While I realize that six people is far from a scientific sample, the results were still interesting. Three people prefered the Dunkin Donuts coffee; two selected the brew from the gas station and only one picked the Starbucks offering.
After that, I gave the same six people the identical coffee. This time, however, I put the gas station coffee into a Starbucks cup, the Dunkin in the gas station "unmarked" cup, and the Starbucks in the Dunkin cup. Once again, it was the same black coffee as before (although it was not quite as hot). This time, three people prefered the gas station coffee in the Starbucks cup and two chose the Starbucks coffee in the Dunkin cup and one picked the Dunkin coffee in the unmarked cup.
I know that many people who buy at Starbucks do not just drink coffee; nevertheless, it is interesting that Starbucks coffee came in last when there was no way to tell which brew was which. Only once the Starbucks cups appeared did the contents come in first (and, of course, it was the inexpensive brew from the gas station.)
In order to test this theory, I did a non-scientific test. I bought coffee from Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and my local gas station. The Starbucks coffee cost nearly three times as much as the gas station brew with Dunkin a little closer to Starbucks than the low priced gas station coffee. I put the three beverages in unmarked containers and asked six people to rate them each on taste. In fairness, you should know that all three coffees were served without any sugar or cream/milk, so that the coffee taste was not masked. While I realize that six people is far from a scientific sample, the results were still interesting. Three people prefered the Dunkin Donuts coffee; two selected the brew from the gas station and only one picked the Starbucks offering.
After that, I gave the same six people the identical coffee. This time, however, I put the gas station coffee into a Starbucks cup, the Dunkin in the gas station "unmarked" cup, and the Starbucks in the Dunkin cup. Once again, it was the same black coffee as before (although it was not quite as hot). This time, three people prefered the gas station coffee in the Starbucks cup and two chose the Starbucks coffee in the Dunkin cup and one picked the Dunkin coffee in the unmarked cup.
I know that many people who buy at Starbucks do not just drink coffee; nevertheless, it is interesting that Starbucks coffee came in last when there was no way to tell which brew was which. Only once the Starbucks cups appeared did the contents come in first (and, of course, it was the inexpensive brew from the gas station.)
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