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A study of brand image for Starbucks: a qualitative approach among

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한 국 기 업 경 영 학 회 논 문 접 수 일: 2012년 3월 9일
[기업경영연구] 제19권 제2호 최 종 수 정 일: 2012년 3월 22일
2012. 4. pp. 1-19 게 재 확 정 일: 2012년 3월 26일

A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks:

A Qualitative Approach among Taiwanese
and Korean Consumers
* ** *** ****
Paek, Soyon ⋅Lee, Hyerin ⋅Lin, Shuying ⋅Jou, Wei-Ting

ABSTRACT: This study addresses and identifies how Starbucks, a famous Western coffee brand,
is perceived by Asian consumers, particularly Taiwanese and Korean consumers, by providing qualitative
evidence to explain their concepts on brand association (i.e., attributes, benefits, and attitudes) of
Starbucks. Focus groups and in-depth interviews were conducted to examine how Asian consumers
perceive the brand image. A case study was conducted in Southern Taiwan for triangulation purposes.
Data were analyzed using a content analysis technique. The results indicated that most participants
perceived Starbucks as being expensive, but serving good quality coffee and service. The two countriesʼ
participants showed more similarities in the brand attributes dimension. In addition to the generic
attributes of products, social, political, cultural, and environmental attachments were found(Key Words:
Brand Association, Brand Attributes, Brand Benefits, Brand Attitudes, Starbucks).

C ontents

Ⅰ. Introduction Ⅳ. Results and Discussions

Ⅱ. Review of Literature 4.1 Attributes: Non-Product Related
2.1 Branding 4.2 Attributes: Product Related
2.2 Brand Image 4.3 Benefits: Functional, Symbolic, and
2.3 Brand Association Attributes Experiential
2.4 Studies of Starbucks 4.4 Attitudes: Cognitive, Affective, and
Ⅲ. Methodology Conative
3.1 Focus Groups Ⅴ. Conclusions
3.2 In-depth Interviews <References>
3.3 A Case Study <Abstract>

*
A Doctor Graduate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University(First author, 07300029g@polyu.edu.hk).
**
Assistant Professor, Hanyang Cyber University(Corresponding author, hrlee@hycu.ac.kr).
***
Assistant Professor, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism(shuying@mail.nkuht.edu.tw).
****
Instructor, I-Shou University(wjou5073@gmail.com).

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기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting
Ⅰ. Introduction
With more and more people consuming cof-
fee worldwide, people are getting more knowl-
edge about coffee and choosing coffee based
on their experiences and perceptions of the
coffee brand. The trend has led many coffee
sellers to focus on the issue of brand-building.
Brand is becoming a critical value-added fac-
tor as an intangible asset that can increase the
overall value of the company. Brand image refers
to consumers’ perceptions and encompasses a
set of beliefs that consumers have about the
brand (Nandan, 2005). Prior studies have pre-
sented that the intersection of global brands
and local cultures produces cultural heteroge-
neity (Thompson and Arsel, 2004). Individual
and shared experiences work on brand associ-
ation, brand personality, brand attitudes, and
brand image to shape a consumer-brand rela-
tionship (Chang and Chieng, 2006). The major
focus of branding research to date has been
consumers’ associations and their beliefs about
the attributes of the brand (Keller, 1993). Mean-
while, little work has examined the concept of
Western brand image in the minds of Asian
consumers.
Since many Western brands have extensively
expanded their businesses in Asian countries
as important markets in terms of size, profit-
ability, and global image building, understan-
ding how major Asian consumers perceive fa-
mous Western brands would produce meaning-
ful insights for practitioners seeking to build
their successful brand image as well as advance
the literature in terms of brand image percep-
tion among different cultures. Therefore, by using
Starbucks as an example and examining how
- 2 -
Asian consumers perceive the brand, this quali-
tative study aims to provide fundamental in-
formation for coffee markets selling Western
brands to Asian consumers in the East, by tak-
ing Starbucks as an example and examining
how Asian consumers perceived the brand.
Founded in 1971 and based in Seattle, Washing-
ton, in the United States, Starbucks Coffee Com-
pany now has 9,031 company-operated stores and
7,972 licensed stores worldwide. With more than
17,000 stores in 55 countries, Starbucks is one of
the most famous brands in the world. In 1996,
Starbucks opened its first overseas store in Tokyo,
Japan, followed by the first Starbucks coffee shop
in Taiwan in 1998, in Korea in 1999, and in Hong
Kong in 2000. Starbucks operates 249 shops in
Taiwan, 367 shops in Korea, 117 stores in Hong
Kong, and 935 shops in Japan (Starbucks Coffee,
2012).
Taiwan and Korea were chosen for the cur-
rent study because they both have a sufficiently
sized coffee market to represent the Asian mar-
ket while still having relatively short coffee his-
tory because of their long tradition of tea cul-
ture. In addition, the study of Taiwan is mean-
ingful because Starbucks chose Taiwan before
expanding into China, which has great potential
to be the biggest coffee market in the near
future. Starbucks successfully launched in both
Taiwan and Korea, and now both countries are
in an active developmental stage as a leader in
the coffee industry (Hwang, 2005). However,
Japan is not included in this study as the ma-
turity of its coffee market is too strong com-
pared to other Asian countries.
Therefore, the main purpose of the current
study is to address and identify how Starbucks,
a famous Western coffee brand, is perceived by

Asian consumers, in particularly Taiwanese
and Korean consumers. This study examines if
Starbucks-known for its worldwide popularity
and distinguished success in the US thanks to
a sound brand strategy-will obtain a similar
outcome in the Asian market thanks to con-
sumers’ perceptions of brand image. Specific
objectives of this research are to:
1) provide qualitative evidence to explain the
concept of brand association (i.e., attrib-
utes, benefits, and attitudes) in the case of
Starbucks in the minds of Asian consum-
ers; and
2) identify similarities and differences in brand
perceptions between Korean and Taiwanese
coffee consumers regarding the Starbucks
brand in terms of brand association (i.e.,
brand attributes, brand benefits, and brand
attitudes)
Keller’s (1993) three dimensions (i.e., attributes,
benefits, and attitude) and eight sub-dimensions
(i.e., non-product-related attributes, product-re-
lated attributes, functional benefit, symbolic ben-
efits, experiential benefits, cognitive attitudes,
affective attitudes, and conative attitudes) of
brand association are used as the primary theo-
retical framework.
Ⅱ. Review of Literature
2.1 Branding
Today, how consumers perceive brands is a key
determinant of long-term business success. Hence,
building a strong brand is the goal of many
companies (Hoeffler and Keller, 2002). Similarly,
brand is an important issue in the marketing
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A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks
literature. Doyle (1998) stated that brands are at
the center of marketing and business strategy.
Brands have attracted the greatest attention
within the marketing literature, and numerous
studies in the literature have been devoted to
explaining brands (Jones et al., 2002). Within
marketing, branding is typically defined as “a
name, term, sign, symbol, or design or a com-
bination of these intended to identify the goods
or services of one seller or a group of sellers
and to differentiate them from those of com-
petitors” (Kotler, 1991, p. 442).
Successful branding strategies establish a
positive product position, which is an intangible
value of a firm, and ultimately increase the mar-
keting effectiveness (Parkerson and Saunders,
2005). Brands serve several valuable functions.
For customers, brands can simplify choice, pro-
mise a particular quality level, reduce risk, and
engender trust. Brands reflect the overall ex-
perience of the customer associated with the pro-
duct, which plays a significant role for compa-
nies in establishing an effective advertisement
or distribution strategy. In the end, brands become
an asset. The value accrued by these various
benefits is often called brand equity (Keller and
Lehmann, 2006).
Branding inevitably becomes an issue of brand
equity, which is defined as “consumers’ different
response between a focal brand and an un-
branded product, when both have the same level
of marketing stimuli and product attributes”
(Yoo and Donthu, 2001, p. 1). In other words,
brand equity enhances and contributes to brand
loyalty among customers (Aaker, 1996). As such,
the majority of research results suggest that
strong brand equity is important (Ross, 2006).
Although sharing the same roots as the concep-
기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting
tual definition, the perspectives from which to
approach brand equity vary in research (Keller,
1993; Ross, 2006). Different conceptual frame-
works include different dimensions (Anselmsson
et al., 2007). Aaker (1996) and Keller (1993; 2001)
are two of the most renowned researchers of
brand equity. Aaker (1991; 1996) argued that aware-
ness, loyalty, perceived quality, and associations
are constituents of brand equity whereas Keller
(1993; 2001) suggested a multidimensional con-
struct of brand knowledge as the composition of
brand equity. In addition, Keller determined that
brand awareness and brand image are compo-
nents of brand knowledge. However, these two
authors propose different multi-dimensions con-
stituting brand, although many of the constructs
are quite similar (Low and Lam Jr., 2000).
Aaker (1991; 1996) proposed that brand iden-
tity is the core that forms a brand asset in the
establishment of brand strategy. This is an active
and strategic notion from the perspective of a
strategy deviser.
On the other hand, brand image relates to the
consumers’ perception of the brand (Nandan,
2005). From the consumers’ perspective, brand
image refers to how a brand is perceived by
consumers, which can be understood as passive
and critical. The current study purports to ana-
lyze how the brand Starbucks is perceived in the
minds of customers; it uses a customer-based
brand equity concept as the basic framework of
the study. Therefore, this study intends to focus
on brand image using Keller’s theoretical con-
cept as the foundation to the approach.
2.2 Brand Image
Brand image is no longer a marginal dimen-
- 4 -
sion of business; rather, it is at the very core
of business identity and strategy. Many schol-
ars have studied brand image along with brands.
In their classic article, Gardner and Levy (1995)
proposed that the concept of brand image was
that products have a social and psychological
nature as well as a physical one and that the
sets of feelings, ideas, and attitudes that con-
sumers have about brands-namely their “image”
of brands-were crucial to purchase choice.
In this context, Herzog (1963) identified that
brand image is the sum total of impressions
that consumers receive from many sources, all
of which combine to form brand personality.
Subsequent researchers like Ditcher (1985) re-
garded brand image as describing not indivi-
dual traits of the product, but the total im-
pression in the minds of the consumers. Kotler
(1988) defined brand image as “the set of be-
liefs held about a particular brand” (p. 197).
Since the 1990s, brand image has been defined
as the consumers’ mental construct consisting
of associations that consumers attach to a brand
(O’Cass and Lim, 2001; Low and Lamb, 2000).
Aaker (1991) defined brand image as the ag-
gregation of systemized associations, while Biel
(1992, p. RC-8) defined brand image as “that
cluster of attributes and associations that con-
sumers connect to the brand name.” Thus, brand
image defines how a consumer makes choices
among alternative brands (Ataman and Ulengin,
2003). Warlop et al. (2005) mentioned that high
levels of brand images are necessary to estab-
lish a successful brand. Brand image is also
described as the way in which a particular
brand is positioned in the market-that is, how
the consumer perceives the product (Nandan,
2005).

The most recent of these studies by Low and
Lamb (2000) used brand image to examine brand
association, although Biel (1992) had already
proposed brand image as the sum of brand asso-
ciations. Hence, it can be defined as perceptions
about a brand that reflect the “cluster of associa-
tions that consumers connect to the brand name
in memory” (del Rio et al., 2001, p. 411). Thus,
brand associations are the utmost important fac-
tor in enhancing brand image (Farquhar and
Herr, 1993; Keller, 1993). Hsieh (2002) also stated
in his research that brand associations create a
distinct image in the minds of consumer; im-
proving brand associations will enhance the brand
image (Keller, 1997). This study focuses on the
brand association component of brand image.
2.3 Brand Association Attributes
Consumers clearly form an image of the brand
based on the associations that they have re-
membered with respect to that brand (Nandan,
2005). James (2005) explained that brand im-
ages are formed by attributes and associations.
In addition, brand associations help to examine
the information (Van Osselaer and Janiszewski,
2001). Thus, when consumers perceive a brand in
a specific way, an image of the brand is created.
Consumers then develop perceptions based on
tangible and intangible associations of a brand
through various information sources such as
advertising and personal experience. They as-
cribe personal experience or an image to the
brand based on subjective perceptions of a set
of associations that they have about the brand.
Therefore, strong brand association can exercise
strong impacts on consumers’ brand-related deci-
sion making. For example, Lexus may be as-
- 5 -
A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks
sociated with luxury and status whereas BMW
may have safety associations in the mind of a
consumer. Brand association is considered to
have a connection with product experience, pro-
duct attributes, positioning of the brand in the
communication strategy, and product informa-
tion (Low and Lamb, 2000). Consequently, brand
association can be proposed as a key element
in brand management (Atilgan et al., 2005).
Keller (1993) proposed that brand associa-
tions can be classified into attributes, benefits,
or attitudes. Similarly, O’Cass and Lim (2001)
identified three types of brand associations dis-
tinguished by the amount of information sum-
marized or subsumed in a particular association.
Benefits are personal values to which consum-
ers attach, and from which they derive the pro-
duct or service attributes offered by the brand
in functional, experiential and symbolic dimen-
sions. Meanwhile, brand attitudes describe con-
sumers’ overall evaluations of a brand. Brand
attributes are brands’ descriptive features, and
include what a consumer thinks a product or
service is as well as what is perceived to be
involved with its purchases and consumption.
Attributes could be both specific and abstract.
Attributes such as size, color, and weight are
specific whereas brand personality attributes
such as “youthful,” “durable,” and “rugged” are
abstract in nature. Attributes could also be cate-
gorized as product-related and non-product re-
lated (Keller, 1993). While product-related at-
tributes would be unique to the type of prod-
uct and service, non-product-related attributes
would include packaging and user imagery as
well as usage imagery.
The second dimension of brand associations
is benefits, which refer to the consumers’ per-
기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting

<Table 1> Definition of Three Dimensions of Brand Association

Dimensions Sub-dimensions Definition

price; packaging or product appearance; advertising consumers’ experiences;
Non-product related
Attributes word of mouth
Product related type of product ingredients necessary for performing the product function
product related; basic motivations such as physiological and safety needs;
Functional
desire for problem removal or avoidance
non-product related; needs for social approval or personal expression and
Benefits Symbolic
esteem such as prestige, exclusivity, and fashion-ability
what it feels like to use the product or service and
Experiential
satisfy experiential needs such as sensory pleasure, variety
knowledge or belief about the brand and the functional and experiential
Cognitive
benefits
Attitudes
Affective emotion and feeling
Conative tendency for an action
Note: Brand association dimensions were adopted from Keller’s (1993) framework based on customer-based
brand equity.

ception of the needs being satisfied. Park et al.
(1991) outlined three categories of basic con-
sumer needs: functional, symbolic, and experi-
ential. For instance, products for hotels inter-
ested in environmental issues, including water
conservation items, recycling bins, and cards
asking guests to reuse towels and sheets-all
things that have an important symbolic meaning
of green hotels-cater to the demands of custom-
ers who are concerned about saving water, sav-
ing energy, and reducing solid waste.
The third dimension of brand associations is
attitudes. “An attitude is a learned predispo-
sition to behave in a consistently favorable or
unfavorable way with respect to a given ob-
ject” (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2000, p. 200). Accor-
ding to Lutz (1991), three components of brand
attitudes are cognitive, affective, and conative.
The cognitive component refers to the consu-
mer’s knowledge or belief about the brand, the
affective component relates to the emotions and
feelings, and the conative component describes
the likelihood or tendency of the consumer to
take specific action (e.g., buy) with respect to
a brand. <Table 1> presents the definitions of
the three dimensions of brand association from
previous research.
2.4 Studies of Starbucks
Many studies have examined the successful
factors of Starbucks from different perspectives.
Chang and Chieng (2006) used the standard
branding theory in their research to advance a
consumer-brand relationship framework. Using
an empirical analysis of Starbucks stores in
Shanghai and Taipei, they found that brand im-
age and the product-of-origin play important
roles in affecting consumer behavior. The expe-
rience of each individual presents a significant
impact on brand association, brand personality,
and brand attitudes. In their study, the consum-
er-brand relationship was proven to be critical
in building brand loyalty. In regards to brand

- 6 -

image, Harrison et al. (2005) pointed out that in
addition product quality within the “Starbucks
experience”-unified images of the brand were
important as the flagship of its entry into China.
Su et al. (2006) proved the impact of foreign
brands on consumer preferences. They meas-
ured perceived value of consumers using brand
image to obtain the results. Product-of-origin
and brand image have significant effects on con-
sumer behavior, and a superior brand has be-
come the most important factor for increasing
the value of goods. The notion that establishing
strong brands means an increase of the most
valuable assets for companies has been proven
through empirical analysis. Lyons (2005) sim-
ilarly declared Starbucks as a brand-based com-
pany whose success is largely due to brand image.
He claimed that advertising and trust are the
two most important factors in planting positive
images in consumers’ perception. This has a di-
rect link to the attributes and attitudes that form
brand image.
Although companies have begun to realize the
importance of investing in brands and the crea-
tion of favorable associations with regard to at-
tracting consumers, the process by which brand
associations are identified and measured is still
in the developmental stage (Ross et al., 2006).
Much of the literature supports the importance
of brand association and describes brand associ-
ation as the facilitator of image creation and
transformation (Faircloth et al., 2001). Starbucks
is known as a company drawing most of its
success from such a brand strategy.
Ⅲ. Methodology
Three qualitative research techniques-namely
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A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks
focus groups, in-depth interviews, and an onsite
case study-were used in the current study. Two
focus groups and eight in-depth interviews were
conducted in two countries, Korea and Taiwan,
in order to examine how Asian consumers per-
ceive brand image in the two regions. Subjects
who participated in this study were frequent
customers who were selected by a screening
questionnaire and agreed to be interviewees.
Traditionally, Asian countries, such as Korea
and Taiwan, have been dominated by a tea-
drinking culture. However, the typical consum-
ers of foreign brands who are the most suscep-
tible to Western trends are educated and young
people such as university students and office
workers (Harrison et al., 2005). In other words,
university students and white-collar professio-
nals are heavy users of the Starbucks brand.
Hence, they were chosen for the focus groups
and in-depth interviews in both countries.
In addition, a case study was also conducted
in Southern Taiwan for triangulation purposes
in order to compare the results with those of the
focus group and in-depth interview approaches.
The focus group discussion technique was
used because it allowed a panel of coffee users
to brainstorm and provide information about the
research problem. The majority of focus group
participants were young university students be-
cause many of them are heavy users and have
extensive knowledge about coffee brands. In or-
der to include responses from non-university
students, the individual in-depth interview tech-
nique was also used in this study. Finally, four
individuals participated in the in-depth inter-
views in each country, and many of them were
university professors; this professional group is
also regarded as heavy coffee users. Because
기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting
the purpose of the study is to identify the con-
cept of coffee brand image in the minds of Asian
consumers, it was important to utilize frequent
coffee users. Three questions were asked before
a participant was selected: drinking coffee hab-
its, the pattern of purchasing coffee in a coffee
shop, and the experience of purchasing coffee at
Starbucks. In addition, to select specific partic-
ipants from among the target interviewees for
sampling, a convenience sampling method was
used for the focus groups, in-depth interviews,
and case study.
A series of structured interview questions
based on Keller’s (1993) three dimensions (i.e.,
total eight sub-dimensions, as indicated in <Table
1>) of brand associations (including attributes,
benefits, and attitudes) were used to probe the
participants’ perceptions about brand, prefer-
ence, quality, price, feeling, and product of ori-
gin regarding Starbucks coffee. For structured
interviews, the eight sub-dimensions of brand
associations were re-structured into nine sub-
jects (i.e., dialogue topics). The contents of the
focus groups and in-depth interviews were re-
corded and transcribed. Dialogues were coded
and classified into three dimensions of brand
associations. Data were analyzed using a con-
tent analysis technique.
3.1 Focus Groups
Four focus groups were conducted in Korea
and Taiwan, between October 7 and 9, 2009.
Each focus group lasted for approximately one
and a half hours with a well-prepared agenda
in the eight sub-dimensions (see <Table 1>)
including with nine discussion topics. One fa-
cilitator conducted two focus groups in Korea;
- 8 -
another facilitator conducted two focus groups
in Taiwan. Focus group members included 17
university students and 15 white-collar pro-
fessionals, with 19 males and 13 females who
ranged from 20 to 52 years old.
3.2 In-depth Interviews
Eight in-depth interviews (i.e., four in Korea
and another four in Taiwan) were conducted
between October 7 and 9, 2009. The interviews
were conducted in the eight sub-dimensions of
brand association (see <Table 1>) using nine
dialogue topics. Interviewers asked questions
related to the participants’ experience about the
brand, preference, quality, price, feeling, and pro-
duct of origin regarding Starbucks coffee. Each
interview lasted approximately one hour. Inter-
viewees were also frequent coffee users, and
their ages ranged from 18 to 45. Among the
surveyed interviewees, 75% of them were college
instructors, with two males and six females.
3.3 A Case Study
A descriptive case study with on-site obser-
vation was conducted to observe how customers
act when they consume coffee in a Starbucks
coffee shop as well as for the purpose of con-
verging evidence related to the three different
research methods. A Starbucks coffee shop lo-
cated in Pingtung City, a small city of south-
ern Taiwan, was selected as the location for
the onsite observation and information collection.
This Starbucks coffee shop is located on the
first floor of a department store, and faces a
McDonald’s restaurant that is also located in the
same building. Pingtung City has a population

of approximately 300,000 and is recognized as
a center of farming and bio-technology indu-
stry. One researcher was assigned to conduct
the onsite observation from October 7 to 17,
2009. Interviews with 13 onsite customers were
also conducted to gain information about how
customers think about the coffee brand based
on their experience.
Ⅳ. Results and Discussions
The key comments from participants are pre-
sented in <Table 2>.
4.1 Attributes: Non-Product Related
Participants shared their opinions about the
following non-product-related attributes: price,
packaging or product appearance information,
interior, advertising exposure, user and usage
imagery, and brand personality attributes.
Price is one of the features reflecting what
a consumer thinks the product or service is or
has and what is involved with its purchase or
consumption (Keller, 1993). In regard to price
attributes, Starbucks is overall perceived as ex-
pensive. According to a participant of the in-
depth interview in Korea, the price of Starbucks
is high for its quality. In Taiwan, a case study
interviewee expressed that “Starbucks should
charge a lower price for carry-out items.” During
the focus group, several university students from
Taiwan and Korea described it as being “relaxed
but a bit expensive,” “expensive,” “I think the
price is not worth it,” and “good coffee but the
price is not cheap.” One college student from the
focus group in Taiwan further explained that
“chain coffee shops should provide lower pri-
- 9 -
A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks
ces than private home-made coffee shops.” These
results indicate that participants were not sat-
isfied with the price charged for the coffee in
Starbucks.
Packaging or product appearance information
as well as user and usage imagery are primary
types of non-product attributes that reflect what
a consumer thinks the product or service is or
has and what is involved with its purchase or
consumption (Keller, 1993). Participants indi-
cated that the user and usage imagery (e.g., con-
sumer’s experiences) play an important role in
their perception of Starbucks, describing it as
“attractive,” “personal characters,” “packages are
good,” “the logo was nice,” “Starbucks suc-
ceeded in making a good logo,” “nice and very
international coffee brand image,” “overall well-
designed for convenience,” “very special, espe-
cially the mermaid on the mark, the green theme
impresses people,” “customer oriented (very sweet),”
“abstract, artist, high quality,” and “follow with
the tradition, I like it.”
Participants also suggested that Starbucks
make some changes to its packages based on
their experiences: “Starbucks can provide a coffee
bean package as a gift,” “be more eco driven;
not environment driven,” “consider providing deli-
cate and reusable cups while keeping the same
price, make the cup collectable for people,” and
“have more of a local connection with pictures,
based on the origin of the coffee bean.”
In addition, participants shared their opinions
about the interior and atmosphere components
of Starbucks, which are classified into the aug-
mented product level in the hospitality products
(Kotler et al., 1999). They pointed out the green
interior, describing it as “the green light and
the sofa,” and “the green shop sign.”
기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting

<Table 2> Participants’ Comments Related to Brand Association

Dimensions Sub-dimensions Comments of Participants

“Expensive”; “chain coffee shops should provide lower prices than private
home-made coffee shops”; “personal character”; “good packages”; “the nice
logo”; “overall well-designed for convenience”; “very special, especially
Non-product related the mermaid on the mark, the green theme impress people”; “customer
oriented (very sweet)”; “abstract, artist, high quality”; “be more eco driven”;
“not environment driven”; “the green light and the sofa”; and, “the
appearance of Starbucks store is the advertising itself”
Attributes
“Strong coffee”; “cappuccino”; “not special”; “nothing but coffee”; “fresh
grounded coffee”; “not bad not good”; “so so”; “only help you to take the
order at the counter”; “I feel when they talk to customers, they are
Product related friendly”; “yes, I think they are professional but not very kind”; “the
employees are resourceful, also they provide samples for tasting”; “well-
trained staff members with standardized format, but it feels not hu-
manized, nor warm”; and, “friendly employees”
Functional “Strong coffee”; and, “enjoy the smell”
“Modern”; “trendy, stylish”; “I feel I would be upper class”; “upgraded”;
Symbolic “affluent”; “distinguished with other people”; “proud and self-confident”;
Benefits
“feel like being in a high class environment”; and, “feel superior”
“Higher class of enjoyment”; “enjoyable”; “makes me feel good”; “unique,
Experiential
young, fancy, colorful, modern”; and, “feeling of familiarity”
“Famous company; responsible in case there was a problem”; “taste good,
decoration and employees are good”; “high price, but high quality with
quality ingredients, a well-known brand”; “professional”; “another McDonald,
very standardized and same quality penetrating all over the world”;
“because of its mother company (with funds and resources), quality is
Cognitive
guaranteed”; “a large number of stores”; “Starbucks has a bad image
Attitudes because Starbucks supports Iraq”; “Starbucks has a bad image because
the company exploits young and poor workers at coffee farms in poor
countries; it is a human right problem”; and, “Starbucks image is to
squeeze from customers.”
Affective “Feel relaxed and enjoy when I am in Starbucks”
Conative “I like the Starbucks brand more than others”

Advertising exposure gives consumers noisy
signals about brand attributes; consumers use
these signals to update their expectations of
brand attributes (Erdem and Keane, 1996). Most
participants had never heard or seen any Star-
bucks advertising, although they occasionally
found Starbucks on the Internet or used birth-
day gift cards or coupons. One participant stated
that “the appearance of Starbucks store is the
advertising.”
Indeed, it was amazing to learn that a well-
known brand like Starbucks rarely used broad-
cast advertising to build its brand while remai-
ning a strong brand image among the public.
According to Hensley (2007, p. 30), “Jim Donald
insists on a consistent customer experience at

- 10 -

any Starbucks location and has gained top brand
reputation while spending virtually no adver-
tising dollars on brand.”
Regarding brand personality attributes from
user and usage image attributes, both Korean
and Taiwanese participants described Starbucks
as a prestigious, popular, and modern brand:
“many famous people drink Starbucks coffee,”
“American brand,” “extravagant; self-showing;
enjoying,” “luxurious; city life,” “popular and in-
ternational brand,” “another McDonald, very stan-
dardized and same quality penetrating all over
the world,” “unique, young, fancy, colorful, mo-
dern, feel superior,” and “feeling of familiarity.”
As such, regarding the non-product related
attributes, Taiwanese and Korean consumers
showed similar opinions throughout the attributes.
4.2 Attributes: Product Related
In the product-related attributes, participants
shared their thoughts about service (e.g., em-
ployees’ attitudes and behaviors) and coffee pro-
ducts. The study results indicated that service
is considered to be the most important attri-
bute.
Service was considered to be a combination
of benefits and attitudes to form a brand as-
sociation. Starbucks is recognized as a service
brand rather than a product brand due to the
nature of its business. Berry et al. (2002) dis-
cussed three categories of clues present in the
service experience: functional clues, mechanic
clues, and humanic clues. Further research de-
monstrated that customers’ assessment of em-
ployees’ effort and service performance has a
strong effect on satisfaction and customers’ swit-
ching behavior (Keaveney, 1995). Berry and Lampo
- 11 -
A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks
(2004) also argued that labor-intensive service
brands can be only as strong as the custom-
ers’ satisfaction with the people performing the
service as customers’ actual service experi-
ences are most influential in establishing brand
meaning. Although mechanic clues can play an
important role in influencing customers’ ex-
pectations and perceptions of service, humanic
clues typically have even stronger effects. In a
study of the source of services’ brand strength,
Berry and Lampo (2004) found that employee
behavior was the most influential factor shap-
ing customers’ perceptions of their high-and-
low-preference brands.
The current study’s results confirmed the
findings from the literature. Both Korean and
Taiwanese consumers viewed Starbucks’ service
as just average or “okay” due to its limited
service scale. According to participants, Starbucks’
service level is not high, but acceptable: “not
special,” “only help you to take the order at
the counter,” “so so,” “not bad not good,” “not
good compared to price,” and “just so so.” Some
Taiwanese and Korean participants thought that
the service provided by employees is effectively
standardized, describing it as follows: “I feel
when they talk to customers, they are friendly,”
“Yes, I think they are professional but not very
kind,” “The employees are resourceful, also they
provide samples for tasting,” “well-trained staff
members with standardized format, but it feels
not humanized, nor warm, nor cozy,” “friendly
employees,” “very polite,” and “most employ-
ees are nice.”
Regarding the company’s coffee products,
both countries’ participants indicated that the
coffee products are not special. They described
them as: “strong coffee,” “cappuccino,” “fresh
기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting
grounded coffee,” “nothing but coffee,” “not bad
not good,” and “so so.”
4.3 Benefits: Functional, Symbolic, and
Experiential
Participants expressed a feeling of prestige
or superiority when consuming Starbucks pro-
ducts. Several participants from the focus groups
in Korea: “I feel I would be upper class,” “up-
graded,” “affluent,” “distinguished with other peo-
ple,” and “proud and self-confident.” Likewise,
some participants from the case study in Tai-
wan commented that “feel like being in a high
class environment,” “feel superior,” “higher class
of enjoyment,” “enjoyable,” and “makes me feel
good.”
Interestingly, the study showed that Taiwa-
nese participants presented more experiential
benefits than Korean participants when con-
suming coffee in Starbucks. Meanwhile, Korean
participants showed more symbolic benefits when
they were in Starbucks. For example, several
Korean participants from both the focus group
and in-depth interviews described Starbucks
as “modern,” and “trendy, stylish.”
4.4 Attitudes: Cognitive, Affective, and
Conative
The issue of trust can also affect custom-
ers’ perceptions about a brand. Simoes and
Dibb (2001) argued that branding plays a spe-
cial role in service companies because strong
brands increase customers’ trust of the invisible,
enable them to better visualize and understand
the intangible, and reduce customers’ perceived
financial, social, and safety risks.
- 12 -
This study found an obvious difference be-
tween Taiwanese and Korean consumers when
they were asked to indicate which coffee brand
they trusted. Ten of the thirteen consumers
from the Taiwan focus group and in-depth in-
terviews replied that Starbucks was their pre-
ferred brand in terms of trustworthiness. Six
of the thirteen consumers in the case study in
Taiwan showed the same pattern. Customers
explained why they trust the Starbucks brand:
“Starbucks; famous company; QA is better?
responsible in case there was a problem,”
“Starbucks, taste good, decoration and em-
ployees are good,” “Starbucks, high price, but
high quality with quality ingredients, well-
known brand,” “Starbucks, well-known brand,
professional,” “Starbucks, because of its mo-
ther company (with funds and resources), quality
is guaranteed,” and “Starbucks, because it has
a well-known brand and a large number of
stores.”
Comparatively, only three out of twenty-
two Korean participants chose Starbucks as
their trusted brand when purchasing coffee.
Two Korean focus group members even gave
negative feedback: “Starbucks has a bad im-
age because Starbucks supports Iraq,” “Star-
bucks has a bad image because the company
exploits young and poor workers at coffee farms
in poor countries; it is a human right prob-
lem”; and “Starbucks image is to squeeze from
customers.”
Both Taiwanese and Korean participants
showed a positive attitude toward the Starbucks
brand. Cognitive, affective, and conative ques-
tions related to attitudes were asked of partic-
ipants-namely, What do you think about the
overall Starbucks quality? (cognitive); Do you

know where Starbucks comes from? (cognitive);
How do you feel when you drink coffee in
Starbucks? (affective); and, Which coffee brand
do you like? (conative). Participants thought
Starbucks’ overall quality was generally good;
the place was comfortable and the brand im-
age was clear and positive, although the price
was expensive. Most participants correctly knew
about the origin country of Starbucks, and
they felt relaxed and enjoyable when in Star-
bucks. Finally, many participants, especially
Taiwan consumers, considered Starbucks to be
their favorite coffee brand among other coffee
brands.
Ⅴ. Conclusions
This study attempted to address and identify
how Starbucks, a famous Western coffee brand,
is perceived among Taiwanese and Korean con-
sumers by employing qualitative approaches-
namely, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and
an on-site case study. The results of the focus
groups and in-depth interviews indicated that
most respondents perceived Starbucks to be ex-
pensive when the brand name came to their
mind. Most respondents perceived the origin of
the brand correctly (i.e., from the United States).
Starbucks’ services were generally considered to
be good, and its employees were perceived as
friendly and nice by both Korean and Taiwanese
customers. In addition, the results revealed that
the interviewees perceived more similarities in
attributes and fewer similarities in benefits and
attitudes towards Starbucks between their coun-
tries.
A case study aims to develop the under-
standing of the real world (McCutcheon and
- 13 -
A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks
Meredith, 1993) by gathering data from pri-
mary sources (e.g., direct observations or in-
terviews of people involved). As a result, it is
an objective and in-depth examination of a
contemporary phenomenon whereby the inves-
tigator has little control over events (Yin, 1989).
Using content analysis, this study first exami-
ned the transcripts obtained from focus groups
and in-depth interviews to extract three di-
mensions of brand association. These percep-
tions were then compared and confirmed with
the results of case study. Data collected from
a case study of 13 consumers in a Starbucks
shop in Southern Taiwan confirmed the re-
sults obtained through focus group discussions
and in-depth interviews in Korea and Taiwan.
This study makes several important con-
tributions to researchers and practitioners. The
study uses Keller’s (1993) three dimensions and
eight sub-dimensions of the brand association
framework. All eight dimensions were identi-
fied with participants’ comments, thereby con-
firming existing literature on brand association
and the fact that consumers build their own
brand image based on not only product-related
attributes but also extensive components of brand
association. Moreover, it was found that-al-
though Starbucks sells a tangible product (i.e.,
coffee)-the brand image is established in the
minds of consumers associated with intangible
components. For example, an individual’s so-
cial status linked with a price level and brand
image was mentioned.
The results further revealed that brand im-
age is not only connected with the brand it-
self, but also the origin country, the country’s
economic system, and the enterprise of the brand,
which may imply that brand image is not a
기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting
simple product of one single brand. Rather, brand
image is a product of its broad multiple stake-
holders (or attachments). For example, connec-
ting with other brands from the same origin
country indicates how extensively consumers
perceive brands.
Participants’ comments also demonstrated how
today’s consumers are well aware of modern
topics from around the globe. They showed their
social, political, cultural, and environmental con-
cerns regarding corporate responsibilities. They
mentioned the exploitation of capital-based glo-
bal companies, human rights, wars, and world
peace.
Similarities and differences in consumers’ per-
ceptions were found between Taiwanese and
Korean consumers. Among the three dimensions
(i.e., attributes, benefits, and attitudes), Taiwanese
and Korean consumers show very similar per-
ceptions in the dimension of attributes (e.g.,
price, product and service quality, packaging,
logo, and interior). However, regarding bene-
fits and attitudes, they showed some hetero-
geneity. Korean consumers commented on so-
cial status aspects, while Taiwanese mentioned
more experiential benefits in the benefits di-
mension; in the attitudes dimension, Taiwanese
showed a more positive attitude while Korean
consumers demonstrated their negative feel-
ings in general and concerns about social, hu-
man rights, and political matters.
With these results, the academia can devel-
op a clearer understanding of the brand asso-
ciation perceived by different countries’ con-
sumers when the brand is transferred to other
countries (or other cultural regions). Among
the three dimensions (i.e., brand attributes, ben-
efits, and attitudes), attributes would appear to
- 14 -
be transferred similarly among various coun-
tries whereas benefits and attitudes would ap-
pear to be transferred with a wider range of
differences among other countries.
This study also provides useful implications
to practitioners. Corporate managers can utilize
the results to understand differences and simil-
arities among different countries while expand-
ing their brands into other regions. Greater at-
tention should be focused on benefits and atti-
tudes dimensions rather than attributes. Now-
adays, consumer activism is growing, and much
stronger pressure is given to international (glo-
bal) corporations. Thus, corporate managers
should thoroughly evaluate the attitudes, per-
ceptions, and cultures of other countries’ con-
sumers when establishing a brand strategy for
business expansion.
This study also has some limitations. The
limited number of participants makes it diffi-
cult to generalize the results of the paper. In
addition, the selection of two countries (i.e.,
Taiwan and Korea) among other Asian coun-
tries results in limited findings.
Finally, some directions for future studies
emerged. The study could be extended by ex-
ploring additional regions, such as the Middle
East and the South East of Asia. In addition, a
comparison study between the origin country
and other countries would provide meaningful
results on how brand image is set up and trans-
ferred.
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기업경영연구 제19권 제2호(2012. 04) Paek, Soyon․Lee, Hyerin․Lin, Shuying․Jou, Wei-Ting

<요 약>1)

스타벅스의 브랜드 이미지 연구:

대만과 한국 소비자들의 인식에 대한 질적연구

백 소 연*․이 혜 린**․Lin, Shuying***․Jou, Wei-Ting****

오늘날, 소비자들이 브랜드를 어떻게 인지하느냐 하는 것은 비즈니스의 장기적 성공을 좌우하는 결정적
요인이다. Doyle(1998)은 브랜드가 마케팅과 비즈니스 전략의 중심이라고 했다. 이것은 브랜드가 회사의 전체적
가치를 높이는 무형자산으로서 중요한 부가가치 요인이라는 것을 지적하고 있는 것이다. 이 연구의 목적은
서양의 유명한 커피 브랜드인 스타벅스가 어떻게 아시아의 소비자들, 구체적으로 대만과 대한민국의 소비자
들에게 인식되고 있는지 살펴봄으로써 이러한 브랜드의 영향을 고찰해 보고자 하였다. 이를 위해서 기존의
브랜드와 관련된 선행 연구들이 검토되었고, Keller(1993)의 브랜드 연상 모형이 연구모형으로 적용되었다.
먼저, 선행연구 검토를 위해, 브랜딩, 브랜드 연상의 총합이라고 말해지는 브랜드 이미지, 브랜드 연상 속성,
그리고 스타벅스에 대한 기존의 연구들이 검토되었다. Keller(1993)는 브랜드 자산의 구성요소인 브랜드 지식의
구성차원으로서 브랜드 인지와 브랜드 이미지를 주장했으며, 브랜드 연상의 차원으로서 위에서 언급한 세 가지
차원을 제시하였다. 스타벅스에 대해서는 이미 여러 연구가 수행되었는데, 소비자와 브랜드 관계에 대한 연구,
스타벅스 경험에 속하는 상품품질과 브랜드 이미지에 대한 연구, 스타벅스의 긍정적 이미지에 있어서 가장
중요한 역할을 하는 광고와 신뢰에 대한 연구 등이 주로 이루어졌다. 한편, Keller의 브랜드 연상 모형은 세
가지의 차원과 여덟 가지의 하부 차원으로 구성되어 있는데, 먼저 세 차원으로는 브랜드 속성, 브랜드 편익,
그리고 브랜드 태도가 있다. 그리고, 이들 세 차원의 여덟 가지 하부 차원은, 브랜드 속성의 하부 차원으로서
상품관련 속성과 비상품관련 속성, 브랜드 편익의 하부 차원으로서 기능적 편익과 상징적 편익, 경험적 편익이
제시되었고, 마지막으로 브랜드 태도의 하부차원으로서 인지적 태도, 정서적 태도, 그리고 능동적 태도가
제시되었다.
본 연구는 위와 같은 연구모형을 토대로 질적연구방법을 수행하였다. 질적연구방법론으로서 세 가지 기술적인
질적연구방법 즉, 포커스그룹, 심층면접, 그리고 사례연구법의 세 가지 방법론이 적용되었다. 먼저, 대만과
대한민국 두 나라에서, 각각 두 번의 포커스그룹과 여덟 번의 개별심층면접이 진행되었다. 특히, 포커스그룹과
심층면접은, 이 연구의 목적인 아시아 소비자들이 서양의 유명한 커피 브랜드, 스타벅스를 어떻게 인지하고
있는지를 밝히고자 사용되었다. 그 후, 이와 같은 포커스그룹과 심층면접에서 나온 결과를 비교하고 확인하고
더불어 방법론 다각화의 일환으로서 사례연구가 수행되었다. 이와 같은 사례연구는 대만의 Pingtung시에 있는
스타벅스 매장에서 수행되었으며, 총 13번의 관찰과 면접이 시행되었다. 분석을 위해서, 포커스 그룹, 심층면접,
사례연구법에서 이루어진 모든 대화들은 앞에서 언급한 Keller의 세 가지 차원과 여덟 가지의 하부차원에 따라

*
홍콩 홍콩이공대학 호텔관광경영대학 박사졸업생(제1저자, 07300029g@polyu.edu.hk).
**
한양사이버대학교 호텔관광경영학과 조교수(교신저자, hrlee@hycu.ac.kr).
***
대만 국립가오슝대학 호텔관광대학 조교수(shuying@mail.nkuht.edu.tw).
****
대만 이수대학 관광호텔대학 강사(wjou5073@gmail.com).

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 A Study of Brand Image for Starbucks

먼저 부호화되고 분류되었다. 이어서, 분류된 내용들은 내용분석방법에 의해 분석되었다.

연구결과, 대부분 참여자들이, 스타벅스라는 이름을 들었을 때, 비싸지만 좋은 품질의 커피와 서비스를
제공하는 브랜드라고 인식하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 상품관련 브랜드 속성 차원에서는, 가격이 가장 중요한
요인으로 인식되고 있으며, 스타벅스 커피는 비싸다고 인식되고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 패키징과 상품 외관에
관한 요인들도 중요한 속성으로 인식되고 있는데, 대체로 편의성이 높고 소비자를 생각하는 고품질의 패키징과
외관을 갖고 있는 것으로 인식되고 있음이 나타났다. 또한, 스타벅스 브랜드는 광고를 거의 하지 않지만 매장
그 자체가 광고가 된다는 의견과 환경을 생각하는 패키징을 사용해야 한다는 의견도 보여졌다. 상품 관련 속성
차원에서는, 스타벅스 커피가 전반적으로 품질은 좋으나, 그다지 특별하다거나 가격에 비해 품질이 좋다고
인식되고 있지는 않다. 이러한 상품 관련 속성 차원에서 특히 눈여겨 볼 것은, 다른 환대상품에서와 마찬가지로
서비스 품질이 중요한 속성으로 인식되고 있으며, 이러한 서비스 품질은 대체적으로 만족스러운 것으로 인식되고
있고, 이는 체계적으로 잘 훈련된 종사원들의 전문적인 서비스 태도 때문인 것으로 인식되고 있었다. 브랜드
편익 차원을 보면, 먼저, 기능적 편익 차원 관점에서는 커피의 맛이 강하고 향이 좋은 것으로 인식되고 있으며,
상징적 편익 차원에서는, 스타벅스가 현대적이며 트랜드에 강하고, 자존감이 강하며, 상류층인 사람들이
소비하는 브랜드로 인식되는 것으로 나타났다. 마지막으로, 경험적 편익 차원에서는 친근하고 즐겁게 즐길 수
있는 브랜드라는 인식을 보이는 것으로 나타났다.
대만과 대한민국, 이 두 나라의 참여자들은 브랜드 속성 차원에서 비슷한 의견들을 보였으며, 브랜드 편익과
브랜드 태도의 두 차원에 대해서는 다소 다른 의견들을 나타내고 있다. 특히, 브랜드 태도에서, 두 나라의
소비자들은 가장 많은 차이를 보이는 것으로 나타났다. 대만의 소비자들은, 스타벅스의 브랜드 신뢰성에 대해
높은 신뢰도를 나타내는 반면, 한국의 소비자들은 스타벅스 브랜드 신뢰성을 아주 낮게 평가하였다. 예를 들어,
한국 소비자들은 브랜드 인지적 태도에서, 스타벅스가 이란에서의 비즈니스나 제 3세계의 커피농장의 어린이
노동력 착취 등을 통해서 유용함을 얻는 비즈니스를 계속 지지하고 행하는 브랜드로 인식되고 있었으며, 이로
인해 정치적 인권적인 면에서 신뢰성이 낮은 브랜드로 인식되고 있다는 의견들이 보여졌다. 또한, 스타벅스는
소비자를 착취하는 브랜드라는 한국 참여자들의 의견도 있었다. 이와 같이, 양 국가의 소비자들은 전반적으로
상품품질, 가격 서비스, 시설 같은 일반적인 속성 외에도, 사회적, 정치적, 문화적, 환경적 현상들과 연상된 브랜드
이미지에 관한 의견들도 보이는 것으로 나타나고 있다. 따라서, 마지막 결론에서는, 지금까지의 이와 같은
연구결과에 대한 논의, 의의점, 제한점, 그리고 미래연구에 대한 방향제시를 하였다.

핵심 주제어: 브랜드 연상, 브랜드 속성, 브랜드 편익, 브랜드 태도, 스타벅스

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