American Cultural Ethnography – Starbucks Essay Example

exceptionalism to the American culture, Gavin (44) argues that while Starbuck’s messaging system designates the presence of exceptionalism, there may be an occurrence of consumer fragmentation which makes exceptionalism less stronger than it were some few years ago. In the article “The American Image of Starbucks Coffee,” Hajarrahmah (17) asserts that Starbucks has image that identifies it with American culture of globalization. This is because in all parts of the world where the stores are situated, the image of the company is always a representation of the Americans during Starbucks coffee consumption. The coffee is a product of globalization in those individual countries symbolizing they part of the colonial citizenship (Hajarrahmah, 17).
The rise of coffee consumption is paralleled with the rise of capitalism. According to Roseberry (774), yuppie coffee consumption is now less entangled in its original market segmentation in that they are now widely available in shopping malls and supermarkets. Although there could be standardization as well concentration of marketing and production of gourmet coffee, the product may never become mass-marketed. This is because the continued success of the product largely depends on the process of cultural and social differences in the society despite the changes in social location.

Description

Founded in Seattle the year 1971, Starbucks Corporation is an American-based coffee company operating in more than 23,000 locations worldwide. The company is the cultural scene, which distinguishes itself from other venues through its differentiated taste, customer-experience and quality while at the same time popularizing its darkly roasted products. The specific cultural values identified during the study were exceptionalism, language, capitalism, social experience and the company image. The actors are Starbucks customers and the corporation employees.

The poor population was excluded while the stage was the Starbucks retail stores. The participants, who are the actors, use the coffee products produced by the company and the available space for their social experience. In almost all the geographical locations, participants communicate by speech and least by gestures. The most important imagery is the company logo drawn on top of their coffer product. One of the interviewed employees indicated that the symbol reminds them to deliver the brand promise.

As a company, Starbucks envisions inspiring nature and human spirit. This is as far as the logic of one person, one neighborhood and one cup at a time is concerned. It has a mission to establish itself as the prime provider of finest products of coffee in the whole world while maintaining the uncompromising spirt of Americans as it grows. The company tries as much to operate in stores and some neighborhood spot where people can easily take some breaks, relax and listen to jazz music while pondering the universal problems over a cup of coffee.
The most likely breakthrough for Starbucks is the manner in which the company manages to construct its own language. For a customer entering the coffee shop, he/ she never fails to notice the menu vaguely constructed in English under the influence of Italian. The language is clearly a hybrid of English and Italian. For instance, “Caramel Macchiato” is one of the most popularly liked drinks enlisted on the Starbucks menu. It is at this point that effectiveness of phonetics as taught in the American preschool academies meets its fulltime test. Out of the pronouncements, authenticity is generated in order to make

the even the less appealing products seem exciting. The customers at the company do not have to necessarily order drinks based on their best flavors but they would rather do it based on the implied sophistication of the foreign words.

Starbucks influence on people’s psychology does not only end in the company environs but features outside as well. It is very common for a regular customer to enter a different coffee shop and then orders the drinks with specifications similar to the ones featured at the Starbucks menu. Small coffee house operators would attest to this as they claim that most often, they receive orders requests synonymous with Starbucks such as the “Frappuccino drinks”.

Another observation made is how the company tries to influence capitalism. It is rare to find the lower class population using sophisticated plates that would rather just eat what they can afford and not what actually pleases their senses as the company would claim. The gourmet dining is typical for the upper class while the Donuts are for the lower class. During one of our informal conversations with one of the employees named Cliffex, she noted that “sensorial tastes would always vary depending on the income level of the customers.” While the lower income population liked sweet products with stronger scents, the upper class preferred bitter products with lighter scents.
Finally, social experience is one of the defining principles of the company. From every corner where the brand is situated, there is an alluring social experience enjoyed by the customers. It is not rare to find locals crowded at the Starbucks stores having their fun and socializing over a cup of coffee. Right from

their strategically located prime locations, the wireless internet connectivity, the uniquely designed by-products the customers enjoy the company’s brand experience all over.

Interpretation

Exceptionalism in the Starbucks Corporation is based on the concept that the fundamental location of the company and its products is uniquely different from the other similar coffeehouses. Just like any other corporation, Starbucks has a mission that specifically determines the global understanding of coffee, the consumer perceptions and the cultural undertakings of coffee industry. Specifically, Starbucks uniqueness emerges from how it progressed from being a single coffeehouse in the city’s marketplace to a globally recognized organization in the coffee industry. In the equal measure, Starbucks continues to reemphasize its specialty and novelty, aspects that fuel its expansion as a corporate entity.

An image is whatever impression reflected by an individual, a company or product to the public. An image that comes from a product or an organization is therefore important in realigning the consumer perceptions. Each company has its own unique image that produces whatever kind of product based on the demands in the market. For this reason, a cup of coffee may not only function as drink to make people alert but could also become a symbol of communicating, identifying and actualizing the perceptions of the consumers in the social groups. Through its image, Starbucks coffee has become an emblem of globalization and thus people may use the product attaining American experience through the company’s worldwide stores. Being one of the best fast food products in the US, Starbucks continues to lead the world’s global market due the big number of consumers and power in the global market.

Outside the US, Starbucks has mastered

on how to bring the US experience to the rest of the world. Although the products may seem more expensive in the foreign countries, most people would rather just consume what they really do not need. This creates the materialistic and consumerism culture of the US in the foreign countries. For this reason, it kills the basic purpose of consumption in the end (Hajarrahmah, p.18). One other fact that makes Starbucks exclusively American is its emphasis on capitalism. The company has created the gap between the able who can afford the drink and the less fortunate who are still in the cold of drinking Donuts. This division is a clear reminder that classism exists where there are those who can consume the luxury treats offered by the Starbucks and others who can just consume whatever they can just afford.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is indeed clear that other than just selling coffee products, Starbucks endeavors in driving its sophisticated image or rather its carefully constructed and planned sub-culture. This is demonstrated through ways in which the company uniquely drives exceptionalism, its global brand image, materialism, consumerism and capitalism. The research findings are important in understanding the effect Starbucks has on particular cultural values as addressed in the paper. Notably, the outcomes are some of the most challenging questions only answered through ethnography. Future studies should focus on the effects of these cultural values for the sake of understanding the most advantageous outcomes of the phenomena in the society.

Works Cited

1. Gavin, Diane. "Starbucks exceptionalism: An institutional ethnographic exploration of coffee culture in America." Journal of Psychological Issues in Organizational Culture 4.3 (2013): 44-58.
2. Hajarrahmah, Dini. The American Image
   

of Starbucks Coffee as Perceived by Its Consumers (Case Study: Starbucks Coffee Paragon Mall Semarang). Diss. DIPONEGORO UNIVERSITY, 2011