It has been 12 years since Starbucks starts its operations in Korea. Since Starbucks, which found a blue ocean in the global coffee market by bringing a new paradigm, opened its first store in Korea in front of Ewha Women's University in 1999, a large...
It has been 12 years since Starbucks starts its operations in Korea. Since Starbucks, which found a blue ocean in the global coffee market by bringing a new paradigm, opened its first store in Korea in front of Ewha Women's University in 1999, a large number of coffee brands have been created in Korea. As the market is so saturated that now it seems almost impossible to successfully introduce a new coffee franchise brand.
Consumer needs are constantly changing, and consumers try to express their personalities through brands. By simply buying a cup of coffee at Starbucks, the customers seem to feel like they own a luxury product and think that their value increases, thanks to the brand image of Starbucks.
Does brand personality in accordance with consumer's self-image affect brand attitude? Does brand personality affect brand attitude? The present study aims to answer these questions.
For the research, the study examined the brand personality of the world's biggest coffee franchise, Starbucks, and that of Korea's biggest coffee franchise, Caffebene, and explored the affects of the consistency of consumer's self-image and brand personality on brand attitude.
The methodology used in the study is as follows. Among those in their 10s to 40s, the major customer group of coffee franchises, a group of 200 people residing in Seoul and the metropolitan area was selected and surveyed. The questionnaire contained questions on demographic factors, purchase patterns of coffee franchise customers, consumers' perception of self-image, and brand personality. The variables related to brand personality were selected based on BSP developed by Aaker(1997). Five personalities, namely sincerity, vigorousness, competence, refinement and toughness were chosen to decide measurement items.
For the statistical analysis, SPSS(Statistic Package for Social Science) ver 15.0 was used for frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, variance analysis and multiple regression analysis, after data coding. As a result, the following conclusions were made.
Firstly, in analysis of brand personalities of the two coffee franchises, it was found that the brand personality of Starbucks was the highest with competence(fame, success, composure and sense of belonging), while that of Caffe Bene was the most noticeable with vigorousness(trend, youth and fun).
Secondly, in examination of the self-image of consumers who preferred coffee franchises, it was concluded that vigorousness(trend, youth and fun) was the most significant, while the other brand personalities were not as noticeable.
Thirdly, the present study analyzed the affects of the consistency of consumer's self-image and brand personality on brand attitude, and decided that brand attitude was higher with Starbucks. In addition, it was concluded that higher sincerity(sincerity, seriousness and gentleness) meant higher brand attitude.
In examination of the affects of the consistency of consumer's self-image and brand personality on brand attitude with Caffe Bene, it was found that the brand attitude was ordinary, and that brand attitude was higher with higher consistency with sincerity(sincerity, seriousness and gentleness) and refinement(gorgeousness and attractiveness).
In conclusion, the consistency of brand personality and self-image affected brand attitude. Brands with personalities easily appeal to consumers. Accordingly, companies are encouraged to recognize the importance of brand personalities, comprehend consumers' personalities and increase the consistency of them and brand personalities for further growth of the coffee franchise industry in Korea.