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February 27, 2007
Fascinating Taste3 Talk on Starbucks
Last night I came across this fascinating talk on Starbucks, given by Temple University History Professor Bryant Simon at the Taste3 Conference:
It was fascinating to hear Bryant deconstruct how he believes Starbucks works, and how our patronage of Starbucks reflects our culture. He discusses three aspects: the functional, emotional and expressive aspects of Starbucks.
"What we drink has meaning — it says something about who we are."
Bryant talks about the high caffeine content of Starbucks coffee (about twice other coffees), the emotional reasons why we buy (self-gifting, ordering language use and predictability) and the expressive aspects of Starbucks (being part of the performance, and showing our ability to afford the luxury of a fancy coffee).
Bryant's talk was both fascinating and disturbing, which for me is a good thing.
Technorati Tags: starbucks, taste3, culture
February 27, 2007 9:05 AM | Food & Drink | 
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Rohdesign is the site of designer Mike Rohde, who writes about design, sketching, writing, mobile computing, technology, travel, cycling, books, music and more.
