starbucks report_business research methodology

Word of Mouth of Starbucks Coffee

MGT3940 Business Research Methodology 1

Executive Summary

A background research was conducted to learn more about Starbucks which is the largest

coffeehouse company in the world. After three literature reviews we developed a conceptual

model for our topic of research ―Word-of-Mouth of Starbucks Coffee‖. In the model four

variables were used to determine the word of mouth namely interaction behaviors, store

perception, trust and authenticity.

We used exploratory and descriptive research and distributed 300 sets of questionnaires to

students at Assumption University, Suvarnabhumi Campus using convenience sampling. Our

main objectives were to study the attitude towards word of mouth of Starbucks, the effects of

interaction behaviors, store perception, trust and authenticity to word of mouth of Starbucks. The

important factors that affect people‘s decision to spread positive word of mouth about Starbucks.

To measure the level of word of mouth of Starbucks and to study the differences in word of

mouth of Starbucks among various demographic factors such as gender, nationality, monthly

allowance etc.

After we input the data and analyzed it, the main result we got was that the word of mouth of

Starbucks was significantly high among ABAC students. There were various other computations

for instance we learnt that consumers who liked American brands had a higher word of mouth of

Starbucks when compared to those who disliked American brands. People with higher monthly

allowances also tend to spend more per visit to Starbucks. Many such interesting findings have

been explained in detail in this report.

We concluded that only interaction behaviors, trust, and authenticity can significantly influence

word of mouth of Starbucks, we also recommended that Starbucks should focus on ―Interaction

behaviors‖ because it is the factor that has highest influence on ―Word-of- mouth of Starbucks‖.



Table of Contents

Page

Chapter1: Introduction 4

Company Background 4

Market Share 7

Current news, situation and activity of Starbucks Coffee 9

SWOT Analysis 13

Reasons for selecting Starbucks as our Research Topic 14

Chapter2: Literature Review and Research Problem 15

Literature Reviews 15

Conceptualization of Word of Mouth 22

Research Problem 23

Proposed Conceptual Model 25

Chapter3: Research Methodology 27

Research Design 27

Data Collection Methods 28

Sampling Plan 29

Scale and Measurement 30

Chapter4: Results and Data Analysis 31

Summary of Results 31

Sampling Profile 40

Important Tables of Results 42

Chapter5: Conclusion and Recommendations 62

Conclusions 62

Recommendations 64

Appendix 65



Company Background

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle,

Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 50

countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, and over 700 in the

United Kingdom.

The Founding of Starbucks

The story of Starbucks began in 1971, when it was founded by three people: an English Teacher,

Jerry Baldwin, a history teacher, Zev Siegl and writer Gordon Bowker. Back then they were the

roasters and retailers of whole beans, ground coffee, tea & spices. They had a single retail store

in Seattle‘s Pike Place Market.

Expansion

Entrepreneur Howard Schultz joined the company in 1982 as Director of Retail Operations and

Marketing, and after a trip to Milan, advised that the company should sell coffee and espresso

drinks as well as beans. The company then expanded rapidly in the 1990‘s, when they were

opening a new store almost every work day, a pace that continued into the 2000‘s. The first store

outside the United States or Canada opened in the mid-1990s, and overseas stores now constitute

almost one third of Starbucks' stores. The company planned to open a net of 900 new stores

outside of the United States in 2009, but has announced 900 store closures in the United States

since 2008.

Chapter1: Introduction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Schultz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espresso



Starbucks Mission and Goals

Their mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one

neighborhood at a time. They‘ve always believed in serving the best coffee possible. It‘s their

goal for all of their coffee to be grown under the highest standards of quality, using ethical

trading and responsible growing practices.

Folklore

Starbucks is named after the first mate in Herman Melville‘s Moby Dick. Their logo is also

inspired by the sea – featuring a twin-tailed siren from Greek mythology.

More than just Coffee

To say Starbucks purchases and roasts high-quality whole bean coffees is very true. That‘s the

essence of what they do – but it hardly tells the whole story. Their coffeehouses have become a

beacon for coffee lovers everywhere. Why do they insist on Starbucks? Because they know they

can count on genuine service, an inviting atmosphere and a superb cup of expertly roasted and

richly brewed coffee every time. Today, they are privileged to welcome millions of customers

through their doors every day, in more than16, 000 locations in over 50 countries.

Starbucks Products & Services

1. Coffee: They provide over 30 blends of premium Arabica coffee

2. Handcrafted Beverages: Includes fresh-brewed coffee, hot and iced espresso

beverages, coffee and non-coffee blended beverages, Vivanno smoothies & Tazo teas.

3. Merchandise: Their merchandise includes home espresso machines, coffee brewers and

grinders, coffee mugs and accessories, packaged goods, music, books & gift items.

4. Fresh foods: Include baked pastries, sandwiches, salads, oatmeal, yoghurt parfaits and

fruit cups.

Coffee Industry & Starbucks in Thailand

Thailand‘s domestic coffee market has been growing steadily in the recent years. 65% of the

world‘s coffee beans are produced in Central & South America, and Thailand imports large

amounts of coffee from the US each year. Starbucks Coffee Thailand is a wholly owned

subsidiary of Starbucks Corporation. Starbucks Coffee Thailand was founded with the idea of



bringing the Starbucks Experience to Thai consumers. Since the opening of the first store on July

17, 1998 at Central Chidlom, the company has expanded throughout the country (Pattaya,

Chiang Mai, Samui, Phuket, Huahin, Nongkhai, Korat, Krabi, Rayong, and KonKaen). With

constant rate of expansion As of January 2011, Starbucks has 137 stores in Thailand.

http://www.starbucks.co.th/en-US/_Our+Stores/_Community+Stores/



Situation Analysis

Market Share

Market Share of Starbucks in the Coffee Industry in US

By RT Cunningham (March 31, 2010)

The above pie chart shows the market share of popular brands in the coffee industry in the

United States. The brands include Folgers, Maxwell, Starbucks, Mc‘café, Maxwell House Master

Blend, and many others. As shown in the pie chart Starbucks in green has the highest market

share of 41.25% when compared to its competitors.

These brands compete on the bases of quality and taste of coffee and other beverages, services

provided location and atmosphere of the store, and price of the beverages.

Starbucks had $189.2 million in sales. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world

and it's the third largest overall coffee brand in the U.S. with a 41.25% percent market share.



Market Share of Starbucks in the Restaurant Industry in US

By Technomic Information Services. Media (2005)

This chart shows the market share and media spend numbers for the Top Ten Restaurant Chains

in the United States.

As a restaurant chain, Starbucks falls into the top ten list in the United States in terms of Market

Share. Starbucks spends very little on advertising, and if you compare the media dollars spent by

other restaurants to Starbucks, you will see that Starbucks spends less, and still maintains a

relatively high market share.

This is because Starbucks spends its advertising dollars on making better products and better

customer experiences rather than spending huge amounts on television commercials and other

media.



Current news, situation and activity of Starbucks Coffee

Who Will Drink to 40 Years of Starbucks?

By Stuart Elliot

Published: March 7, 2011, 1:00 am

Life begins at 40, a book once advised, and for Starbucks, a campaign to mark its 40th

anniversary begins on Monday. Below is a print ad from a campaign for Starbucks to promote its

40th anniversary The campaign is to be focused on what

Starbucks calls moments of connection with customers. It will

start in newspapers on Monday and be expanded to television

and in stores on Tuesday.

The anniversary celebration will also be an occasion for

Starbucks to show off its redesigned logo; a store in Times

Square will be the first to sport the new look on its exterior.The

anniversary is spawning a spate of new products, among them

two that will be sold for a limited time, Starbucks Tribute Blend

coffee and Starbucks Via Tribute Blend; Via is the Starbucks

instant coffee. Print advertisements will use this headline:

―Forty years of expertise. One-of-a-kind taste. Endless moments

to enjoy.‖

The anniversary will also be an occasion for Starbucks to bring

out a new line of food, called Petites, which are baked goods

and other treats less than 200 calories, and a new cocoa cappuccino. Starbucks will also join the

ranks of marketers that take the occasion of a corporate anniversary to tell consumers something

along the lines of ―It‘s our anniversary, but you get the presents.‖The Starbucks largess will

consist of giving away Petites items when customers buy drinks at stores on Thursday through

Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. A print ad will herald the promotion this way: ―For our 40th

anniversary, we got you something.‖ A television commercial will declare, ―We‘ve been

thinking about you,‖ and ―Without you, there is no us.‖



The anniversary ads will carry the theme that appears in regular ads for Starbucks: ―You and

Starbucks. It‘s bigger than coffee.‖ The anniversary ads will also bear the new logo. The

anniversary campaign, like the regular ads, is being created by BBDO New York, part of the

BBDO Worldwide division of the Omnicom Group.

Analysis

From the above news, we can analyze that the Starbucks ‗coffee is still one of the most

successful coffee shops even after 40 in the industry, because its 40th anniversary celebrations

were able to get a very good response from the customers. New customers become loyal, and

then these loyal clients spread positive word of mouth to others.

The campaign focus is on what Starbucks calls moments of connection with customers.

Starbucks will also show off its re-designed logo to the world. New products will be introduced

in the Anniversary, and they will be sold for a limited time, like new lines of food, and other

treats. Starbucks is also giving out gifts and using print ads and television commercials in order

to enhance their brand image and connect with their target audience.



A Starbucks Venture in Tea-Drinking India

By VIKAS BAJAJ

Published: January 13, 2011

MUMBAI — Starbucks, the coffee chain based in Seattle, wants to move with a ―sense of

urgency‖ to capitalize on the rising demand for coffee in fast growing India, its top executive

said Friday. Howard D. Schultz, chairman and chief executive of Starbucks, said the company

has had teams studying India and working on deals to set up an

operation here for the last 18 months. On Thursday, it announced

the first of several agreements — a deal to buy coffee beans from

Tata Coffee, an Indian company, and work with that firm‘s

affiliates to open stores in hotels and inside other retail stores.

―Given all the things that were going on domestically and the

success story in China, we didn‘t really have the resource to focus on‖ India, Mr. Schultz said by

way of explaining why the company had taken so long to come here. But, he added, the deal with

Tata ―is a turning point in our strategy for India.‖

In addition to the deal with Tata, Mr. Schultz said the company would announce other

partnerships to open stand-alone retail stores on streets and in malls in the ―coming months.‖ The

company will face stiff competition from established coffee chains like Café Coffee Day, which

is based in India and backed by American private equity and venture capital firms, and Barista,

which is owned by Italy‘s Lavazza. Other foreign chains like Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, the Los

Angeles-based chain, have recently expanded in India. The Tata announcement follows months

of speculation in the Indian media about Starbucks‘ plans. The company withdrew an application

to enter India three years ago amid uncertainty about whether it would receive government

approval to invest there.

India tightly regulates foreign-owned retail chains. Companies that sell only one brand of goods

can own 51 percent of their Indian operations while those that sell more than one brand cannot

have any foreign ownership. Policy makers have recently hinted that they might relax the

policies. In the telephone interview, Mr. Schultz said the company would move ahead regardless

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/vikas_bajaj/index.html?inline=nyt-per



of whether India eased those policies by establishing joint ventures with local partners to comply

with Indian restrictions. Tata Coffee, which owns and operates coffee plantations and is part of

India‘s largest business conglomerate, the Tata Group, could help Starbucks in numerous ways.

The Tata Group owns India‘s Taj hotel chain, and various retail chains that sell electronics,

watches, clothes and other goods. Mr. Schultz said he spent this week in India visiting coffee

plantations and having meetings with Indian government officials and business leaders. He is

hoping to capitalize on the increasing popularity of coffee in India, a country where many still

prefer tea.

Coffee, which traditionally has had a stronghold in south India, has gained a broader following

across the country in the last decade; new coffee chains appeal to young Indians who have more

disposable income than their parents did when they were young. Along with being one of the

world‘s fastest-growing countries, India is also one of its youngest. About half of Indians are

younger than 25. Starbucks has been buying coffee beans from other suppliers in India for its

stores for the last seven years. Mr. Schultz said its deal with Tata Coffee could help significantly

increase the reach of Indian coffee, which has traditionally been considered inferior to coffee

from coffee powerhouses like Indonesia and Africa. ―The opportunity to grow very, very high-

quality coffee in India is within reach in the near term,‖ he said. ―In many ways, there hasn‘t

been a market and demand from a customer like Starbucks.‖

Analysis

From the above news, we can analyze that Starbucks is planning to expand into the India, and is

planning to buy Coffee beans from Tata Coffee, an Indian company. Starbucks will face strong

competition from other coffee brands like Café Coffee Day, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf that have

recently expanded in India. The stiff competition will force Starbucks to improve & innovate

often. With the help of Tata Coffee, Starbucks is arranging to open its coffee shops, in hotels and

other retail stores. In addition Starbucks will open stand-alone retail stores on streets and in malls

in the ―coming months‖ with another partnership too. This shows that Starbucks strongly

believes that there is an opportunity to do good business in India, since the demand for coffee has

increased rapidly in the recent years, its large and fast growing population, and majority of

teenagers makes India an attractive prospect for Starbucks.



SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weakness

Starbucks has a strong brand

image associated with high

quality coffee & customer service.

It specializes in all things coffee;

its high buying volumes helps it

to achieve economies of scale.

Global reach: Starbucks is present in 55 countries

with over 17,000 stores.

Innovative business strategy, they make drinking

coffee an experience.

Expensive/ Premium Prices: Starbucks can be

undercut by lower price like Coffee World,

Mc‘café, and True Coffee.

Over dependence

on coffee & Coffee

related products

Reliance on the US Market, the lion‘s share of its

revenues comes from the US. (83% in 2005)

Overcrowding: Starbucks is opening even more

stores all over the world; this can lead to clustering

and boredom from target audience.

Opportunity Threat

Joint Ventures: Starbucks can have joint ventures

with local Thai companies to help reduce their

costs.

Greater Loyalty through

CRM, they provide

membership cards, refills.

Co-Branding with other Manufacturers: For

instance, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T

offer songs and technology that allow over-the-air

downloads for Starbucks‘ cafes.

Expand into Global Franchising: New markets

for coffee like India & other Pacific Rim nations

are beginning to emerge.

Criticism from Activist Groups: Many activist

groups maintain websites criticizing the company‘s

fair-trade policies, labor relations, & environmental

impact.

Possible Saturation in Coffee Market: growing

competition, aggressive marketing (price wars,

promotions), is putting pressure on profit margins

Uncertainty of Coffee Market: It is uncertain that

the market for coffee will grow or stay in favor

with customers or another type of beverage will

replace coffee in the future.

Many Competitors: Starbucks success

has led to the market entry of many

competitors and copycat brands that pose

potential threats, for example, Black

Canyon, Coffee World, True Coffee etc.



Reasons for selecting Starbucks as our Research Topic

There are many reasons why we chose Starbucks as the topic for our research project. Firstly,

some of our members are the coffee lovers .They often drink coffee, two three times a week, so

we though this project would provide an opportunity to learn more about coffee and the coffee

industry.

Secondly, Starbucks is the first brand that comes into our mind when we talk about a coffee

shop. Starbucks is also the brand we select when we would like to drink coffee

Thirdly, Starbuck is a well-known brand of coffee shop. It is a global and is often a topic of

discussion in our friend circles. So we thought it would be nice if we knew more about the brand

so that we can add to the discussions.

Lastly, Starbucks is a good place to hang out. It is also where many students read books and

spend time with friends; hence we decided it would be interesting to use Starbucks as our

Research Topic for the Business Research Methodology course.



Literature Review

Through this term project that we have been assigned we will get to learn more about the ―Word

of Mouth of Starbucks Coffee‖ In this particular section our task was to review and analyze

different research papers written by researchers in the past regarding the topic ―Word of Mouth‖.

We found so many factors/ variables that influence word of mouth among people. In order to get

a better understanding of the variables and our research topic we reviewed the definitions of

some of the variables and also reviewed the definition of word of mouth. We borrowed some of

the variables we found relevant to our topic from these research papers. Finally we have

proposed our own conceptual model of ―Word of Mouth of Starbucks Coffee‖.

First Literature Study:

Generating positive word-of-mouth communication through customer-

employee relationships 1

Gremler, Dwayne D and Gwinner, Kevin P and Brown,Stephen W. (2001).

Summary

This research was conducted to test how the relationships between customers and employees can

influence positive word of mouth. This was done by using data collected from bank‘s customers

and dental patients. In this study they looked at: trust, care, personal connection and familiarity.

Moreover, they found that as a customer's trust increases, positive WOM communication is also

more likely to increase. And rhat trust is a consequence of three other dimensions: a personal

connection between employees and customers, care displayed by employees, and employee

familiarity with customers.

1 Gremler, Dwayne D., Gwinner, Kevin P., and Brown, Stephen W. (2001). “Generating positive word-

of-mouth communication through customer-employee relationships” International Journal of Service Industry

Management. Vol. 12, No.1, pp.44-59.

Chapter2: Literature Review and Research Problems



Variables Studied in this Paper

There are 4 variables studied in this paper;

1. Familiarity – They define familiarity as the customer‘s perception that the employee has

personal recognition of the customer and knows specific details about his/her needs.

Familiarity is driven by the frequency of the interaction and the depth of the interaction.

2. Care – They define care as the customer‘s perception of the employee having genuine

concern for the customer‘s well-being.

3. Personal connection – They define personal connection as a strong sense of affiliation or

bond based on some tie. Connections are often based upon having some common attribute or

interests with another party.

4. Trust – They define trust as existing when one party has confidence in an exchange partner‘s

reliability and integrity.

Conceptual model of this paper

We have borrowed the variable “Trust” from the above model in this research paper.



Second Literature Study:

Interaction Behaviors Leading to Comfort in the Service Encounter2

Lloyd, Alison E. and Luk, Sherriff T.K. (2011)

Summary

The main objectives of this research paper are to investigate the service interaction behaviors that

create customer‘s sense of comfort or customer‘s emotional response after interaction with the

service providers in the service encounter, and then to investigate a comfort as the assessment of

service quality, customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth in fashion apparel retailing and

casual dining restaurants. They found two key groups of interaction behavior (service manner

and need identification) which create customer‘s sense of comfort, and this comfort positively

impacts both service quality & customer satisfaction, and these leads to positive word of mouth.


There are four variables in this paper that affect word of mouth.

1. Interaction Behaviors

There are two groups of interaction behaviors and they are as follows:

1.1. Service Manner (such as facial expressions, bodily gestures, tone of voice and language)

The service employee showed patience

The service employee was helpful

The service employee smiled at me

The service employee was polite

The service employee was relaxing to interact with

The service employee showed passion for their job

The service employee was cheerful

1.2. Need Identification (such as understanding and concern for customers)

The service employee asks for preferences

The service employee understands individual needs

2

Lloyd, Alison E. and Luk, Sherriff T.K.. (2011). ― Interaction Behaviors leading to Comfort in the

Service Encounter‖. Journal of Services Marketing. Vol.25, No.3, pp.176-189.



The service employee was knowledgeable

The service employees anticipate individual needs.

2. Comfort

The research paper defined the variable comfort as follows:

A feeling of anxiety or relaxation arising from the social interaction with the service

employee Butcher et al. (2001).

Paswan and Ganesh (2005) simply regard it as the level of comfort during interpersonal

social interaction.

3. Overall Service Quality (such as reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy)

Service quality is defined as ―the consumer‘s judgment of product‘s [service‘s]

overall excellence or superiority (Zeithaml, 1988).

Service Quality is divided into two stages service outcome & service process

- Reliability & assurance are mainly concerned with service outcome

- Assurance and empathy are concerned with service process

4. Customer Satisfaction

The interaction between the sales person and the customer is an important

determinant of the customer‘s satisfaction with the service.

Concern, civility & congeniality are three dimensions that are highly co-related

with customer satisfaction. (Winsted, 2000)

- Concern includes respect for the customer, being genuine, making small talk

- Civility means minimal accepted levels of behaviors or types of behaviors that

service providers should avoid in order to provide an adequate level of

service.

- Congeniality involves displaying a positive attitude and having a warm

temperament & personality.



Conceptual Model of this Paper

From the above conceptual model, we borrow two variables which are ―Overall Service

Quality” and “Interaction Behaviors” to use in our conceptual model.

Third Literature Study:

Making Your Online Voice Loud: The Critical Role of WOM Information3

Huang, Minxue and Cai, Fengyan and Tsang, Alex S.L. and Zhou, Nan. (2011).

Summary The paper studies word of mouth and its ripple effect, which means how word of mouth spreads

and diffuses in the market. The paper studied four dimensions/variables that affect word of

mouth and its acceptance; these variables are quality, authority, authenticity and interestingness.

The paper studies word of mouth in the online environment and how to control it, the researchers

consider this study to be important because word of mouth is difficult to control in an offline

environment. They conducted this research in China. The purpose of this research was to help

marketers to choose better online forums to create a more effective ripple effect.

3

Huang, Minxue and Cai, Fengyan and Tsang, Alex S.L. and Zhou, Nan. (2011). "Making Your Online

Voice Loud: The Critical Role of WOM Information". European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 45, Issue. 7/8.




This research paper studied four variables that help create a ripple effect. They also studied how

each variable can influence the acceptance of the word of mouth. The variables are as follows:

1. Quality:

In Rieh‘s (2002) study, information quality was operationally defined as the extent to which

users thought that the information was useful, good, current, and accurate. According to the

Elaboration Likelihood Model proposed by Petty, Cacioppo and Schumann (1983), the

quality of an argument is an important factor in determining the persuasive impact of a

message. They also found that argument quality influences a consumer‘s attitude towards a

product. Specifically, consumers are likely to have a more favorable attitude towards a

product when the product-related information has a high quality (strong) argument rather

than a low (weak) one.

2. Authority:

The research paper states that, cognitive authority can affect how people search and use

information. Authority makes consumers trust the information more, and that a sender‘s

expertise is one of the most important factors that influence a receiver‘s acceptance (Bansal

and Voyer, 2000).Rieh (2002) defined it as the extent to which users thought that the

information was credible, trustworthy, reliable, official, authoritative and amateurish. As

suggested by Mitra and Watts (2002), the online voice represented three aspects of

communication: ―Who is saying‖, ―What is being said‖ and ―How is it said‖. Consequently,

several standards could be used to evaluate an online voice. Among these standards, the

standard of authority was used to evaluate the speaker ―Who is saying‖.

3. Authenticity:

The standard of authenticity was used to evaluate what is being said and how. Mitra and

Watts (2002) argued that authenticity was one of the most important factors that influence

whether a reader believed online information. Credibility, Trustworthiness and reliability

refer to authenticity in the sense that the information is true and credible.

4. Interestingness:

Interestingness is another important factor that influences word of mouth. As people are

surrounded by vast amounts of information, the interestingness of the information is of



primary importance to attract people‘s attention. Furthermore, relevant advertising studies

(e.g. Olney, Holbrook and Batra, 1991) have proven that the perceived interestingness of an

advertisement directly affects its audience‘s viewing time. Derbaix and Vanhamme (2003)

found that eliciting surprise helps induce WOM activity. When one considers ―acceptance

towards WOM information‖ as a partial mediator, only the relationship between

―interestingness‖ and ―resending intention‖ is significant.

Conceptual Model of this Paper

From the above conceptual model, we will borrow one variable which is ―Authenticity”.



Conceptualization of Word-of-Mouth

The first literature which is about ―Generating positive word-of-mouth communication through

customer-employee relationships‖ defines Word-of-Mouth (WOM) as an informal

communications directed at other consumers about the ownership, usage, or characteristics of particular

goods and services and/or their sellers.

In the second literature whose topic is ―Interaction Behaviors Leading to Comfort in the Service

Encounter‖ Word-of-Mouth requires consumers to engage in attribution analysis, recall and

interpret events, communicate and share meaningful information with others. Word-of-mouth

can be positive, neutral or negative. Instances of positive word-of-mouth include relating

pleasant, vivid or novel experiences and recommendations to others.

From our last literature, ―Making Your Online Voice Loud: The Critical Role of WOM

Information‖ the definition of Word-of-Mouth is informal advice between people about goods,

services, and social issues.



Research Problem

Research Question

What are the factors affecting the word of mouth towards Starbucks?

Research Objectives

To study the attitude towards word of mouth of Starbucks.

To study the effects of interaction behaviors, store perception, trust and authenticity to

Starbucks.

To study the important factors that affect people‘s decision to spread positive word of mouth

about Starbucks.

To measure the level of word of mouth of Starbucks.

To study the differences in word of mouth of Starbucks among various demographic factors

such as gender, nationalities, and monthly allowance, etc.

Hypothesis

Hypothesis 1: Word of mouth of Starbucks can be predicted by interaction behaviors, store

perception, trust and authenticity

Hypothesis 2: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between gender

Hypothesis 3: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks among the 4 monthly

allowance groups

Hypothesis 4: There is a difference in word of mouth among people who visit Starbucks at

different rates

Hypothesis 5: There is a relationship between number of visits to Starbucks per month and

monthly allowance

Hypothesis 6: There is a relationship between getting updated information about Starbucks

and gender

Hypothesis 7: The level of word of mouth of Starbucks is high



Additional Hypothesis

Hypothesis 8: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between like and dislike

discussing the places you eat and drink at with people

Hypothesis 9: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks among beverage

preferred

Hypothesis 10: There is a relationship between average spending in Starbucks per visit and

gender

Hypothesis 11: There is a relationship between beverage bought at Starbucks and gender



Conceptual Model of Word of Mouth of Starbucks Coffee

The word of mouth of Starbucks is depending on 4 variables which are Interaction

behaviors, overall service quality, trust and authenticity. The dimensions in each factor are

specified in details as follows:

Interaction Behaviors

Politeness of staff

Sincerity of the staff

Decency of expressions and gestures used by staff

Ability of staff members to identify individual needs

Store Perception

Found in premium locations

Classy store decor

Good in-store atmosphere

Provides good facilities

Trust

Consumer confidence in the products

Assurance of product quality

High expectations from the beverages served

Consumer‘s perception of it as a responsible organization

Authenticity

Original in terms of products and services

Offering new flavors to consumers

Reliability of the brand

Customization of beverage to individual taste



Proposed Conceptual Model of Starbucks

- Politeness

- Sincerity

- Expressions &

gestures

- Need identification

Interaction Behavior

- Premium location

- Store Decor

- In-store Atmosphere

- Facilities provided

Store Perception

- Consumer Confidence

- Quality Assurance

- Consumer

Expectations

- Responsibility

Trust

- Originality

- New flavors

- Brand reliability

- Customization

Authenticity

Word of Mouth

toward Starbucks



1. Research Design

Three types of research design can be implemented namely exploratory research, descriptive

research and causal research. However, we have conducted only exploratory research and

descriptive research for our project.

1.1 Exploratory Research

When a problem has not been clearly defined we can use exploratory research to explore and

analyze the situation. This will help us to discover research problems. Exploratory research does

not give us an answer but it helps us to understand the situation better. Exploratory research

helps determine the data collection method and often relies on secondary research (such as our

literature review). The objective of exploratory research is to gather preliminary information that

will help define problems and suggest hypothesis. Exploratory research on its own is not

sufficient but it is essential for conducting descriptive or causal research.4

We have utilized secondary data analysis (conducted a literature review using past research

papers) to identify the factors that affect the word of mouth of Starbucks.

1.2 Descriptive Research

This research is used to describe answers to research problems in detail. The answers are usually

in the form of specific numbers and percentages. Even though this research can answer certain

question, it cannot explain what caused a situation. Descriptive research helps to determine the

independent and dependent variables and it also helps to explain the relationship between them.

Descriptive research is also often known as Statistical research.5

We used questionnaire survey as a method for collecting data about the population being studied.

It helps in obtaining information that will be used to provide solutions to the research problems.

4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploratory_research

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_research

Chapter3: Research Methodology



2. Data Collection

One of the most important steps in research methodology is data collection because it is essential

to gather and explain this data to interpret the research questions. There are several ways of

collecting data. However, we used questionnaire survey to gather information about word of

mouth of Starbucks from the sample of the total population who drink beverages of Starbuck.

We selected the survey method because it is an efficient, fast, accurate and inexpensive way of

collecting data.

After the questionnaires were designed, we sent in our draft to our professor. After certain

changes the final draft was created and approved. After all the recommended and required

changes were made the questionnaires were ready for data collection.

The real data collection began on 28th

July 2011, which was when we distributed our

questionnaires at Assumption University, Suvarnabhumi Campus. Before distribution we asked

the person whether they had ever tried beverages at Starbucks, if they said yes then only the

questionnaires were given to them. In the end by 5th

August 2011 we received 300 usable

questionnaires for analysis.



3. Sampling Plan

We distributed 300 sets of questionnaires to students at Assumption University, Suvarnabhumi

Campus. The questionnaire was about the word of mouth of Starbucks. We determined our

sampling plan as follows:

• Target population: Who are the people we collected data from?

We selected respondents by asking them whether they had tried beverages at Starbucks before.

One we made sure that they have been customers of Starbucks in the past, we gave them the

questionnaires to fill. These respondents were selected within Assumption University,

Suvarnabhumi Campus which was our convenience location.

• Sample size: How many respondents we selected to answer the questionnaires?

We selected the 300 respondents to distribute our questionnaires to.

• Sampling method: What was the method used to select respondents?

We used the non-probability sampling method; this is a non-randomization method. We selected

respondents based on convenience sampling or accidental sampling, whereby we chose

respondents who happened to be available at that particular time and place. We chose

respondents who were easy to find and were available around the researchers (our group

members), i.e. the students of Assumption University in Suvarnabhumi Campus.



4. Scale and Measurement

Question Level

of scale Type of Question

Part 1: General Information

1 Ordinal Ranking question

2 Nominal Determinant-choice


4 Nominal Frequency-determination

5 Nominal Frequency-determination


Part 2: Measuring Variables

7 Interval Attitude rating scale: Likert scale





Part 3: Personal Data

12 Nominal Simple dichotomy











Summary of Results

Part I: General Information

1. Please rank 1-6 the main factors that you consider important when buying coffee? (1 = most

important)

____Taste ____Brand

____Freshness ____Price

____Location ____Quality

Rank 1 Rank 2 Rank 3 Rank 4 Rank 5 Rank 6 Total Rank Rank Result

Taste 140 57 41 38 18 6 655* 1 Most important

Brand 48 50 29 53 59 61 1108 4

Freshness 17 49 58 57 68 51 1163 5

Price 36 53 57 55 43 56 1084 3 3rd

most important

Location 18 21 32 38 81 110 1373 6

Quality 41 70 83 59 31 16 917 2 2nd

most important

* Ranking calculation = 1x140 + 2x57 + 3x41 + 4x38 + 5x18 + 6x6 = 655

**Choosing minimum total = Most important

Conclusion:

The most important factor affects the decision to buy coffee is “taste”. The second and

third are quality and price respectively.

2. When we talk about coffee, which brand comes to your mind first? (Choose only one)

Starbucks Black Canyon

True Coffee Coffee World

Blue-Cup Mc Café

Descriptive Frequency Percent Brand that Comes First to Mind

Starbucks 191 63.67

Black Canyon 25 8.33

True Coffee 33 11.00

Coffee World 36 12.00

Blue-Cup 5 1.67

Mc Café 10 3.33

Chapter4: Results and Data Analysis



Conclusion:

The brand that first comes to respondents‘ mind when talking about coffee is Starbucks,

which is 63.67%.

3. What kind of beverage do you usually drink at Starbucks? (Choose only one)

Coffee Tea

Juice Hot/Iced Chocolate

Mocha Blended Cream

Descriptive Frequency Percent Beverage Usually Consumed

Coffee 145 48.33

Tea 34 11.33

Juice 15 5.00

Hot/Iced Chocolate 67 22.33

Mocha 21 7.00

Blended Cream 18 6.00

Conclusion:

At Starbucks, the most respondents usually drink coffee, which is 48.33%.

4. How often do you go to Starbucks per month? (Choose only one)

Less than once 1-3 times

4-5 times More than 5 times

Descriptive Frequency Percent Number of Visits per Month

Less than once 120 40.00

1-3 times 120 40.00

4-5 times 41 13.67

More than 5 times 19 6.33

Conclusion:

The most respondents usually go to Starbucks less than once a month, which is 40% and

1-3 times a month, which is 40% also.



5. On average how much do you spend in Starbucks in one visit? (Choose only one)

Less than 80 Baht 80-150 Baht

151-300 Baht More than 300 Baht

Descriptive Frequency Percent Average Spending

Less than 80 Baht 23 7.67

80-150 Baht 170 56.67

151-300 Baht 84 28.00

More than 300 Baht 23 7.67

Conclusion:

The most respondents spend 80 – 150 Baht a time when they visit Starbucks, which is

56.67%.

6. How do you get updated information about Starbucks? (Choose only one)

Newspaper/ Magazine Radio/Television

Friends/Family Social networks

Website/Blogs Posters/Brochures

Descriptive Frequency Percent Source of Information

Newspaper/ Magazine 35 11.67

Radio/Television 9 3.00

Friends/Family 96 32.00

Social networks 89 29.67

Website/Blogs 27 9.00

Posters/Brochures 44 14.67

Conclusion:

The most respondents get updated information about Starbucks by friends or family,

which is 32%.



Part II: Measuring Variables

Variables and Statements Strongly Agree<-->Strongly Disagree

5 4 3 2 1

7. Interaction Behavior

7.1 Starbucks‘s staff is polite. 5 4 3 2 1

7.2 Starbucks‘s staff serve sincerely 5 4 3 2 1

7.3 Starbucks‘s staff use decent expressions or gestures 5 4 3 2 1

7.4 Starbucks staff members can identify my needs. 5 4 3 2 1

Interaction Behavior Mean Rank 7.1 Politeness 4.16 1

7.2 Sincerity 4.06 2

7.3 Expression & Gestures 4.04 3

7.4 Need Identification 3.99 4

Conclusion:

The strength of Starbucks‘s interaction behavior is “politeness”.

The weakness of Starbucks‘s interaction behavior is “low need identification”

than customers‘ expectation.


5 4 3 2 1

8. Store Perception

8.1 Starbucks is found in premium locations 5 4 3 2 1

8.2 Starbucks has a classy store decor 5 4 3 2 1

8.3 Starbucks has a good in-store atmosphere. 5 4 3 2 1

8.4 Starbucks provides good facilities 5 4 3 2 1

Store Perception Mean Rank 8.1 Premium Locations 4.25 1

8.2 Store Decor 4.13 3

8.3 In-store Atmosphere 4.20 2

8.4 Facilities Provided 4.05 4

Conclusion:

The strength of Starbucks‘s store perception is “premium locations”.

The weakness of Starbucks‘s interaction behavior is “low facilities provided”

than customers‘ expectation.




5 4 3 2 1

9. Trust

9.1 I have confidence in Starbucks products 5 4 3 2 1

9.2 I feel assured of Starbucks‘s product quality 5 4 3 2 1

9.3 I have high expectations from Starbucks‘s beverages 5 4 3 2 1

9.4 I believe Starbucks is a responsible organization 5 4 3 2 1

Trust Mean Rank 9.1 Consumer Confidence 4.14 2

9.2 Quality Assurance 4.13 3

9.3 Consumer Expectations 4.23 1

9.4 Responsibility 4.01 4

Conclusion:

The strength of Starbucks‘s trust is “consumer expectations”.

The weakness of Starbucks‘s trust is “low responsibility” than customers‘

expectation.


5 4 3 2 1

10. Authenticity

10.1 Starbucks is original in terms of products & services 5 4 3 2 1

10.2 Starbucks offers new flavors to customers 5 4 3 2 1

10.3 Starbucks is a reliable brand 5 4 3 2 1

10.4 Starbucks can customize its beverage to my taste 5 4 3 2 1

Authenticity Mean Rank 10.1 Originality 4.03 2

10.2 New Flavors 3.79 4

10.3 Brand Reliability 4.24 1

10.4 Customization 3.86 3

Conclusion:

The strength of Starbucks‘s authenticity is “brand reliability”.

The weakness of Starbucks‘s authenticity is “low new flavors” than customers‘

expectation.




5 4 3 2 1

11. Word-of-Mouth

11.1 I intend to tell others good things about Starbucks 5 4 3 2 1

11.2 I will encourage others to know and try Starbucks 5 4 3 2 1

11.3 I will recommend people to buy Starbucks‘s products 5 4 3 2 1

Word-of-Mouth Mean Rank 11.1 Tell others good things 3.99 1

11.2 Encourage others 3.84 3

11.3 Recommend others 3.93 2

Conclusion:

The strength of Starbucks‘s word-of-mouth is “keep telling other good things”

by customers.

The weakness of Starbucks‘s word-of-mouth is “low chance to encourage

others” to know and try Starbucks than company‘s expectation.

Part III: Personal Data

12. Gender

Male Female

Descriptive Frequency Percent Gender

Male 144 48.00

Female 156 52.00

Conclusion:

The most respondents are Female, 52%.

13. Nationality

Thai Non-Thai

Descriptive Frequency Percent Nationality

Thai 249 83.00

Non-Thai 51 17.00

Conclusion:

The most respondents are Thai, 83%.



14. Academic Year

Freshman Sophomore

Junior Senior

Descriptive Frequency Percent Academic Year

Freshman 63 21.00

Sophomore 74 24.67

Junior 68 22.67

Senior 95 31.67

Conclusion:

The most respondents are Senior, 31.67%.

15. Monthly Allowance

Less than 10,000 10,001 – 15,000

15,001 – 20,000 More than 20,000

Descriptive Frequency Percent Monthly Allowance

Less than 10,000 87 29.00

10,001 - 15,000 134 44.67

15,001 - 20,000 61 20.33

More than 20,000 18 6.00

Conclusion:

Most respondents have a monthly allowance of 10,001 – 15,000 Baht, 44.67%.

16. What kind of beverage do you prefer to drink? (Choose only one)

Coffee Tea

Juice Carbonated drinks

Descriptive Frequency Percent Beverage Preferred

Coffee 131 43.67

Tea 67 22.33

Juice 63 21.00

Carbonated drinks 39 13.00

Conclusion:

The most respondents prefer coffee, 43.67%.



17. Where do you like to spend your free time? (Choose only one)

Department Store Beauty Salon

Home Sports field

Descriptive Frequency Percent Where They Spend Their Free Time

Department Store 127 42.33

Beauty Salon 12 4.00

Home 108 36.00

Sports field 53 17.67

Conclusion:

The most respondents spend most of their free time at department store, 42.33%.

18. Do you like American Brands?

___Yes ___No

Descriptive Frequency Percent Liking for American Brands

Yes 238 79.33

No 62 20.67

Conclusion:

The most respondents like American brands, 79.33%.

19. Do you like to discuss the places you eat and drink at with people?

___Yes ___No

Descriptive Frequency Percent Discussion About Places to Eat & Drink

Yes 229 76.33

No 71 23.67

Conclusion:

The most respondents like to discuss about places to eat and drink, 76.33%.



20. Do you like to hang out with friends in coffee shops?

___Yes ___No

Descriptive Frequency Percent Hanging Out with Friends in Coffee Shop

Yes 197 65.67

No 103 34.33

Conclusion:

The most respondents like to hang out with friends in coffee shop, 65.67%.



Sample Profile (or Respondent profile)

Descriptive Frequency Percent

Gender

Male 144 48.00

Female 156 52.00

Nationality

Thai 249 83.00

Non-Thai 51 17.00

Academic Year

Freshman 63 21.00

Sophomore 74 24.67

Junior 68 22.67

Senior 95 31.67

Monthly Allowance

Less than 10,000 87 29.00

10,001 - 15,000 134 44.67

15,001 - 20,000 61 20.33

More than 20,000 18 6.00

Beverage Preferred

Coffee 131 43.67

Tea 67 22.33

Juice 63 21.00

Carbonated drinks 39 13.00

Where They Spend Their Free Time

Department Store 127 42.33

Beauty Salon 12 4.00

Home 108 36.00

Sports field 53 17.67

Liking for American Brands

Yes 238 79.33

No 62 20.67

Discussion About Places to Eat & Drink

Yes 229 76.33

No 71 23.67

Hanging Out with Friends in Coffee Shop

Yes 197 65.67

No 103 34.33



Most respondents are female represented by a higher frequency and a higher percentage of 52%.

A majority of them are Thai national (83%) in their senior year at Assumption University

(31.67%) and have a monthly allowance of 10,001-15,000 Baht. Also most of them selected

coffee as their preferred beverage to drink (43.67%) and enjoy spending their free time at

department stores (42.33%). Lastly most of our respondents like American Brands (79.33%),

enjoy discussing places they eat and drink at with people (76.33%) and also like hanging out

with friends at coffee shops (65.67%).



Important Tables of Results

Contingency Tables or Cross-tabs:

The tables present important results of cross-tabs or relationships based on the research

objectives.

Cross-tab 1: (Q.3) beverage usually consumed at Starbucks * (Q14) Academic year cross

tabulation

The relationship between beverage usually consume at Starbucks and academic year

Table of Beverage usually consumed by Academic Year

Academic Year Total

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Beverage usually consumed

Coffee Frequency 29 35 36 45 145

Col Pct 46.03 47.30 52.94 47.37

Tea Frequency 5 9 5 15 34

Col Pct 7.94 12.16 7.35 15.79

Juice Frequency 4 2 5 4 15

Col Pct 6.35 2.70 7.35 4.21

Hot or Iced Chocolate Frequency 18 14 10 25 67

Col Pct 28.57 18.92 14.71 26.32

Mocha Frequency 3 5 9 4 21

Col Pct 4.76 6.76 13.24 4.21

Blended Cream Frequency 4 9 3 2 18

Col Pct 6.35 12.16 4.41 2.11

63

74

68

95

300 Total Frequency

Conclusion:

Respondents from all academic years; freshman, sophomore, junior and senior usually

consume coffee; however the junior consume coffee at a higher percentage than the rest at

52.94%.



Cross-tab 2: (Q.5) Average spending in Starbucks in one visit * (Q15) Monthly allowance

cross tabulation

The relationship between average spending in Starbucks in one visit & monthly allowance

Table of Average spending by Monthly Allowance

Monthly Allowance Total

Less than 10,000

10,001 - 15,000

15,001 - 20,000

More than 20,000

Average spending Less than 80 Baht Frequency 11 7 3 2 23

Col Pct 12.64 5.22 4.92 11.11

80-150 Baht Frequency 59 77 28 6 170

Col Pct 67.82 57.46 45.90 33.33

151-300 Baht Frequency 16 38 24 6 84

Col Pct 18.39 28.36 39.34 33.33

More than 300 Baht Frequency 1 12 6 4 23

Col Pct 1.15 8.96 9.84 22.22

87

134

61

18

300 Total Frequency

Conclusion:

Most respondents, who have monthly allowance no more than 20,000 baht, have the

average spending in Starbucks in one visit equal to 80-150 baht. Other respondents, who have

monthly allowance more than 20,000 baht, spend 80-300 baht on average in Starbucks per visit.

Cross-tab 3: (Q.6) Source of information* (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between source of information and gender

Table of Source of information by Gender

Gender Total

Male Female

Source of information

Newspaper or Magazine Frequency 17 18 35

Col Pct 11.81 11.54

Radio or Television Frequency 3 6 9

Col Pct 2.08 3.85

Friends or Family Frequency 54 42 96

Col Pct 37.50 26.92

Social networks Frequency 41 48 89

Col Pct 28.47 30.77

Website or Blogs Frequency 11 16 27

Col Pct 7.64 10.26

Posters or Brochures Frequency 18 26 44

Col Pct 12.50 16.67

144

156

300 Total Frequency



Conclusion:

For most male respondents, they get updated information about Starbucks from their

friends or family, while most female get the information from social networks.

Cross-tab 4: (Q.2) Brand that comes first to mind * (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between brand that comes first to mind and gender

Table of Brand that comes first to mind by Gender

Gender Total

Male Female

Brand that comes first to mind Starbucks Frequency 96 95 191

Col Pct 66.67 60.90

Black Canyon Frequency 11 14 25

Col Pct 7.64 8.97

True Coffee Frequency 15 18 33

Col Pct 10.42 11.54

Coffee World Frequency 15 21 36

Col Pct 10.42 13.46

Blue-Cup Frequency 1 4 5

Col Pct 0.69 2.56

Mc Cafe Frequency 6 4 10

Col Pct 4.17 2.56

144

156

300 Total Frequency

Conclusion:

Starbucks is the first brand which comes to most male and female respondents‘ mind

when they talk about coffee.



Cross-tab 5: (Q.2) Brand that comes first to mind * (Q18) Liking for American Brands

cross tabulation

The relationship between brand that comes first to mind and liking for American Brands

Table of Brand that comes first to mind by Liking for American Brands

Liking for American Brands Total

Yes No

Brand that comes first to mind

Starbucks Frequency 167 24 191

Col Pct 70.17 38.71

Black Canyon Frequency 18 7 25

Col Pct 7.56 11.29

True Coffee Frequency 22 11 33

Col Pct 9.24 17.74

Coffee World Frequency 25 11 36

Col Pct 10.50 17.74

Blue-Cup Frequency 4 1 5

Col Pct 1.68 1.61

Mc Cafe Frequency 2 8 10

Col Pct 0.84 12.90

238

62

300 Total Frequency

Conclusion:

Most respondents, who both like and dislike American Brands, have Starbucks first to

their mind when talking about coffee.

Cross-tab 6: (Q.5) Average spending in Starbucks in one visit * (Q14) Academic year cross

tabulation

The relationship between average spending in Starbucks in one visit and academic year

Table of Average spending by Academic Year

Academic Year Total

Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior

Average spending

Less than 80 Baht Frequency 6 6 7 4 23

Col Pct 9.52 8.11 10.29 4.21

80-150 Baht Frequency 36 31 37 66 170

Col Pct 57.14 41.89 54.41 69.47

151-300 Baht Frequency 19 27 16 22 84

Col Pct 30.16 36.49 23.53 23.16

More than 300 Baht Frequency 2 10 8 3 23

Col Pct 3.17 13.51 11.76 3.16

63

74

68

95

300 Total Frequency



Conclusion:

Most respondents in all academic year have 80-150 Baht on average spending in

Starbucks in one visit.

Cross-tab 7: (Q4) No. of visits per month. * (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between no. of visits per month and gender

Table of No# of visits per month by Gender

Gender Total

Male Female

No# of visits per month

Less than once Frequency 60 60 120

Col Pct 41.67 38.46

1-3 times Frequency 57 63 120

Col Pct 39.58 40.38

4-5 times Frequency 16 25 41

Col Pct 11.11 16.03

More than 5 times Frequency 11 8 19

Col Pct 7.64 5.13

144

156

300 Total Frequency

Conclusion:

Most male respondents visit Starbuck less than once a month, while most female

respondents visit Starbucks 1-3 times a month.

Cross-tab 8: (Q5) Average spending. * (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between average spending and gender

Table of Average spending by Gender

Gender Total

Male Female

Average spending

Less than 80 Baht Frequency 13 10 23

Col Pct 9.03 6.41

80-150 Baht Frequency 84 86 170

Col Pct 58.33 55.13


Col Pct 26.39 29.49

More than 300 Baht Frequency 9 14 23

Col Pct 6.25 8.97

144

156

300 Total Frequency



Conclusion:

From our survey questionnaire, most of our male and female respondents have average

spending lie between 80-150 Baht on a visit to Starbucks.

Cross-tab 9: (Q3) Beverage usually consumed. * (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between beverage usually consumed and gender

Table of Beverage usually consumed by Gender

Gender Total

Male Female

Beverage usually consumed Coffee Frequency 78 67 145

Col Pct 54.17 42.95

Tea Frequency 12 22 34

Col Pct 8.33 14.10

Juice Frequency 9 6 15

Col Pct 6.25 3.85

Hot/Iced Chocolate Frequency 26 41 67

Col Pct 18.06 26.28

Mocha Frequency 11 10 21

Col Pct 7.64 6.41

Blended Cream Frequency 8 10 18

Col Pct 5.56 6.41

144

156

300 Total Frequency

Conclusion:

Coffee is the most popular beverage that both male and female usually consume at

Starbucks, however more male tend to consume coffee when compared to female.



Data Analysis for Hypothesis Testing (Inferential Analysis)

Multivariate Analysis

In this section, we have conducted Multiple Regression for our proposed conceptual

model. We included 4 independent variables namely Interaction behaviors, Store perception,

Trust, Authenticity and the dependent variable Word of Mouth from our conceptual model into

the Multiple Regression test.

Multiple Regressions

Analysis of Variance

Source DF Sum of Squares

Mean Square

F Value Pr > F

Model 4 51.88833 12.97208 39.65 <.0001

Error 295 96.51908 0.32718

Corrected Total 299 148.40741

Root MSE 0.57200 R-Square 0.3496

Dependent Mean 3.92222 Adj R-Sq 0.3408

Coeff Var 14.58355

Parameter Estimates

Variable Label DF Parameter Estimate

Standard Error

t Value Pr > |t| Standardized Estimate

Intercept Intercept 1 0.12183 0.31324 0.39 0.6976 0

Interaction

Behavior

Interaction

Behavior

1 0.44323 0.06954 6.37 <.0001 0.33982

Store Perception Store Perception 1 0.01588 0.06694 0.24 0.8126 0.01382

Trust Trust 1 0.21883 0.08240 2.66 0.0083 0.17410

Authenticity Authenticity 1 0.25910 0.07026 3.69 0.0003 0.21488

Ho: Word of mouth of Starbucks cannot be predicted by Interaction behaviors, Store

perception, Trust and Authenticity

Ha: Word of mouth of Starbucks can be predicted by Interaction behaviors, Store perception,

Trust and Authenticity

H1: Word of mouth of Starbucks can be predicted by Interaction behaviors, Store




Decision: Reject Ho (Pr or p value –at Analysis of Variance Table is <0.0001 which is less

than 0.05)

Conclusion: Out of 4 factors, only Interaction behaviors, Trust and Authenticity could

significantly influence Word of Mouth of Starbucks. And the Interaction behaviors could

influence Word of Mouth of Starbucks higher than Trust and Authenticity because of higher

Standard Estimate (0.33982).

Steps:

From Analysis of variance table, the Pr or p value is <0.0001 which is less than 0.05.

Therefore, Word of mouth of Starbucks can be predicted by Interaction behaviors, Store


According to table, Adjusted R-Square = 0.3408. It means that Interaction behaviors, Store

perception, Trust and Authenticity can influence Word of mouth of Starbucks by 34.8%.

According to Parameter Estimates, Pr or p value of Interaction Behaviors, Trust and

Authenticity are <0.0001, 0.0083 and 0.0003 that are less than 0.05. Hence, we got the above

decision and conclusion.

According to Parameter Estimates in Standardized Estimate column Interaction Behavior

has Standardized Estimate higher than Trust and Authenticity so Interaction behaviors could

influence Word of Mouth of Starbucks higher than Trust and Authenticity.



Bivariate Analysis

We conducted hypothesis testing based on Hypothesis test of relationship and test of difference

in our research hypothesis proposed.

T-test for independence (Independent Samples T-test)

Gender N Mean Std Dev Std Err Minimum Maximum

Male 144 3.8773 0.6915 0.0576 1.6667 5.0000

Female 156 3.9637 0.7160 0.0573 2.6667 5.0000

Diff (1-2) -0.0864 0.7044 0.0814

Method Variances DF t Value Pr > |t|

Pooled Equal 298 -1.06 0.2896

Satterthwaite Unequal 297.38 -1.06 0.2889

Equality of Variances

Method Num DF Den DF F Value Pr > F

Folded F 155 143 1.07 0.6741

Ho: There is no difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between male and female µ1 = µ1

Ha: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between male and female µ2 ≠ µ2

Decision: According to Equality of Variance, Pr or p value is 0.6741 which is more than

0.05. Then we look at “Equal Variance assumed” and Pr or p value is not significant (0.2896).

Fail to reject Ho (Pr or p-value 0.2896 is more than 0.05)

Conclusion: Therefore, there is no significant difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between

male and female. Both males and females have same world of mouth of Starbucks.

H2: There is a difference in Word of Mouth of Starbucks between gender



One-way ANOVA

Source DF Sum of Squares Mean Square F Value Pr > F

Model 3 5.1427690 1.7142563 3.54 0.0151

Error 296 143.2646384 0.4840022


R-Square Coeff Var Root MSE WOM Mean

0.034653 17.73746 0.695703 3.922222

Source DF Anova SS Mean Square F Value Pr > F

Monthly Allowance 3 5.14276898 1.71425633 3.54 0.0151

Means with the same letter are not significantly

different.

Duncan Grouping Mean N Monthly Allowance

A 4.1148 61 15,001 - 20,000

A

B A 3.9478 134 10,001 - 15,000

B A

B A 3.9444 18 More than 20,000

B

B 3.7433 87 Less than 10,000

Ho: There is no difference in word of mouth of Starbucks among the 4 monthly allowance

groups µ1 = µ2= µ3= µ4

Ha: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks among the 4 monthly allowance groups

Not all µ1 , µ2, µ3, µ4 are equal

Decision: Reject Ho (Pr or p-value is 0.0151 that is less than 0.05)

Class Level Information

Class Levels Values

Monthly Allowance 4 Less than 10,000

10,001 - 15,000

15,001 - 20,000

More than 20,000

H3: There is a difference in Word of Mouth of Starbucks among the 4 Monthly allowance

groups



Conclusion: There is a significant difference in the word of mouth of Starbucks among the 4

monthly allowance groups.

According to Duncan’s multiple-range test, the group that is different is the group who earns

―15,001 – 20,000‖ (it is under Grouping A) and the group who earns ―Less than 10,000‖ (it is

under Grouping B). So the group with income of ―15,001 – 20,000‖ significantly has higher

word of mouth of Starbucks than the group with income of ―Less than 10,000‖.


Model 3 20.7029133 6.9009711 16.00 <.0001

Error 296 127.7044941 0.4314341



0.139501 16.74654 0.656836 3.922222


No# of visits per month 3 20.70291328 6.90097109 16.00 <.0001


Class Levels Values

No# of visits per month 4 Less than once

1-3 times

4-5 times

More than 5 times

Means with the same letter are not significantly different.

Duncan Grouping Mean N No# of visits per month

A 4.3333 19 More than 5 times

A

A 4.2439 41 4-5 times

A

A 4.0528 120 1-3 times

B 3.6167 120 Less than once

Ho: There is no difference in word of mouth of Starbucks among people who visit Starbucks at

different rates µ1 = µ2= µ3= µ4

H4: There is a difference in word of mouth among people who visit Starbucks at different rates



Ha: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks among people who visit Starbucks at

different rates. Not all µ1 , µ2, µ3, µ4 are equal


Conclusion: There is a significant difference in the word of mouth of Starbucks among people

who visit Starbucks at different rates.

According to the Duncan’s multiple-range test, the group who visit Starbucks ‗less than once‘

(it is under Grouping B) is different from other three groups which are the groups who visit

Starbucks ‗more than 5 times‘ (it is under Grouping A), ‗4 – 5 times‘ (it is under Grouping A)

and ‗1 – 3 times‘ (it is under Grouping A). So the group who visit Starbucks less than once a

month significantly has lower word of mouth of Starbucks than other groups.

Chi-square test for contingency table (Chi-square test of independence)

To test a relationship (from a contingency table) between number of visits to Starbucks per

month and monthly allowance

Table of No# of visits per month by Monthly Allowance

Monthly Allowance

Total

Less than 10,000

10,001 - 15,000

15,001 - 20,000

More than 20,000

No# of visits per month

Less than once

Frequency 50 49 17 4 120

Expected 34.8 53.6 24.4 7.2

Col Pct 57.47 36.57 27.87 22.22

1-3 times Frequency 29 61 22 8 120

Expected 34.8 53.6 24.4 7.2

Col Pct 33.33 45.52 36.07 44.44

4-5 times Frequency 4 17 16 4 41

Expected 11.89 18.313 8.3367 2.46

Col Pct 4.60 12.69 26.23 22.22

More than 5 times Frequency 4 7 6 2 19

Expected 5.51 8.4867 3.8633 1.14

Col Pct 4.60 5.22 9.84 11.11

87

134

61

18

300 Total Frequency

H5: There is a relationship between number of visits to Starbucks per month and

monthly allowance



Statistic DF Value Prob

Chi-Square 9 28.8566 0.0007

Likelihood Ratio Chi-Square 9 28.5694 0.0008

Mantel-Haenszel Chi-Square 1 20.0392 <.0001

Phi Coefficient 0.3101

Contingency Coefficient 0.2962

Cramer's V 0.1791

Ho: There is no relationship between number of visits to Starbucks per month and monthly

allowance

Ha: There is a relationship between number of visits to Starbucks per month and monthly

allowance


Conclusion: There is a significant relationship between number of visits to Starbucks per month

and monthly allowance.



To test a relationship (from a contingency table) between getting updated information about

Starbucls and gender

Ho: There is no relationship between getting updated information about Starbucks and gender.

Ha: There is a relationship between getting updated information about Starbucks and gender.

Decision: Fail to Reject Ho (Pr or p value 0.4174 is more than 0.05)

Table of Source of information by Gender

Gender Total

Male Female

Source of information Newspaper or Magazine Frequency 17 18 35

Expected 16.8 18.2

Col Pct 11.81 11.54

Radio or Television Frequency 3 6 9

Expected 4.32 4.68

Col Pct 2.08 3.85

Friends or Family Frequency 54 42 96

Expected 46.08 49.92

Col Pct 37.50 26.92

Social networks Frequency 41 48 89


Col Pct 28.47 30.77

Website or Blogs Frequency 11 16 27


Col Pct 7.64 10.26

Posters or Brochures Frequency 18 26 44


Col Pct 12.50 16.67

144

156

300 Total Frequency


Chi-Square 5 4.9876 0.4174


Mantel-Haenszel Chi-Square 1 1.2894 0.2562



Cramer's V 0.1289

H6: There is a relationship between getting updated information about

Starbucks and Gender



Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between getting updated information about

Starbucks and gender.

Univariate Analysis

T-test for one sample (One Sample T-test)

To test a significant level of word of mouth of Starbucks

Null Hypothesis Ho =‖3‖ is based on the neutral or middle point of the 5 point scale

DF t Value Pr > |t|

299 22.67 <.0001

44 PROC TTEST

45 DATA = WORK.TMP0TempTableInput

46 PLOTS=NONE

47 ALPHA=0.05

48 H0 =3

49 CI = EQUAL;

Ho: µ = 3 The level of word of mouth of Starbucks is neutral.

Ha: µ ≠ 3 The level of word of mouth of Starbucks is high.

Decision: Reject Ho (Pr or p value <.0001 is less than 0.05)

Conclusion: The level of word-of-mouth of Starbucks is significantly high. Most respondents

have word of mouth of Starbucks.

N Mean Std Dev Std Err Minimum Maximum

300 3.9222 0.7045 0.0407 1.6667 5.0000

H7: The level of word of mouth of Starbucks is high



Additional Hypothesis

T-test for independence (Independent Samples T-test)

Discussion about places to eat a N Mean Std Dev Std Err Minimum Maximum

Yes 229 4.0146 0.6824 0.0451 2.3333 5.0000

No 71 3.6244 0.6968 0.0827 1.6667 5.0000

Diff (1-2) 0.3901 0.6858 0.0932


Pooled Equal 298 4.19 <.0001

Satterthwaite Unequal 114.71 4.14 <.0001



Folded F 70 228 1.04 0.8024

Ho: There is no difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between like and dislike discussing

the places you eat and drink at with people µ1 = µ1

Ha: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between like and dislike discussing the

places you eat and drink at with people µ2 ≠ µ2

Decision: According to Equality of Variances, Pr or p value is 0.8024 which is more than

0.05. Then we look at “Equal Variances assumed” and Pr or p value is significant (<.0001).

Reject Ho (Pr or p-value <.0001 is less than 0.05)

Conclusion: Therefore, there is significant difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between

like and dislike discussing the places you eat and drink at with people.

H 8: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between like and dislike

discussing the places you eat and drink at with people



One-way ANOVA


0.027518 17.80289 0.698269 3.922222


Beverage Preferred 3 4.08393973 1.36131324 2.79 0.0407


Class Levels Values

Beverage Preferred 4 Coffee

Tea

Juice

Carbonated drinks

Ho: There is no difference in word-of-mouth of Starbucks among beverage preferred.

Ha: There is a difference in word-of-mouth of Starbucks among beverage preferred.

Decision: Reject Ho (Pr or p value 0.0407 is less than 0.05)

Conclusion: There is a significant difference in word-of-mouth of Starbucks among beverage

preferred.

According to Duncan’s multiple-range test, the group that is different is the group that prefers

coffee (it is under Grouping A) and the group that prefers tea (it is under Grouping B). So the


Model 3 4.0839397 1.3613132 2.79 0.0407

Error 296 144.3234677 0.4875793



Duncan Grouping Mean N Beverage Preferred

A 4.0280 131 Coffee

A

B A 3.9312 63 Juice

B A

B A 3.8889 39 Carbonated drinks

B

B 3.7264 67 Tea

H9: There is a difference in word of mouth among beverage preferred



group that prefers coffee significantly has higher word of mouth of Starbucks than the group that

prefers tea.


To test a relationship (from a contingency table) between average spending in Starbucks

per visit and gender

Ho: There is no relationship between average spending in Starbucks per visit and gender.

Ha: There is a relationship between average spending in Starbucks per visit and gender.



Gender Total

Male Female

Average spending Less than 80 Baht Frequency 13 10 23


Col Pct 9.03 6.41


Expected 81.6 88.4

Col Pct 58.33 55.13



Col Pct 26.39 29.49



Col Pct 6.25 8.97

144

156

300 Total Frequency


Chi-Square 3 1.7866 0.6179





Cramer's V 0.0772

H10: There is a relationship between Average spending in Starbucks per visit and

Gender



Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between average spending in Starbucks per

visit and gender.


To test a relationship (from a contingency table) between beverages bought at Starbucks and

gender

Ho: There is no relationship between beverage bought at Starbucks and gender.

Ha: There is a relationship between beverage bought at Starbucks and gender.


Gender Total Male Female

Beverage usually consumed Coffee Frequency 78 67 145

Expected 69.6 75.4

Col Pct 54.17 42.95



Col Pct 8.33 14.10


Expected 7.2 7.8

Col Pct 6.25 3.85

Hot or Iced Chocolate Frequency 26 41 67


Col Pct 18.06 26.28



Col Pct 7.64 6.41


Expected 8.64 9.36

Col Pct 5.56 6.41

144 156 300 Total Frequency


Chi-Square 5 7.5358 0.1837





Cramer's V 0.1585

H11: There is a relationship between beverage bought at Starbucks and gender




Conclusion: There is no significant relationship between beverage bought at Starbucks and

gender.



Conclusions

Conclusion from Descriptive Analysis

Our survey questionnaire had some interesting findings and they have been concluded below:

Taste was ranked as the most important factor to be considered when purchasing

coffee, by a majority of our respondents followed by quality and price respectively.

Starbucks was the brand that came first in the minds of most of the respondents when

we talk about coffee. Also most of our respondents prefer drinking coffee at Starbucks

than other beverages and visit the store 3 times or less in a month.

From a crosstab to determine the relationship between brand that comes first to mind and

liking for American Brands we concluded that Starbucks is the first brand that comes

to mind of most of our respondents whether they like or dislike American brands.

From a crosstab to determine the relationship between source of information and gender

we concluded that most male respondents, they get updated information about

Starbucks from their friends or family, while most females get updated information

from social networks.

Conclusions about Strengths and Weaknesses

This section comes from the tables of mean, where we identified Starbucks‘ strengths and

weaknesses (based on the highest and lowest mean) in each of the four variables namely

interaction behaviors, store perception, trust and authenticity

According to the table of mean for interaction behaviors Starbucks‘ consumers are

pleased with the politeness of its staff while they are not very pleased that the staff

members are unable to identify their individual needs very well.

According to the table of mean for store perception Starbucks‘ consumers are happy that

the stores are found in premium locations around town. They are however not happy

that Starbucks provides fewer facilities than their expectations

According to the table of mean for trust Starbucks‘ consumers have high expectations

from them, however the consumers don‘t perceive Starbucks to be a very responsible

organization

Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations



According to the table of mean for authenticity Starbucks‘ consumers are content with

the brand‘s reliability however they are not content that Starbucks provide fewer new

flavors than their expectations.

According to the table of mean for word-of-mouth Starbucks‘ strength is that their

customers will keep telling others good things about Starbucks. Their weakness however

is that their consumers are not able to encourage others to visit and try Starbucks very

effectively.

Conclusion from Hypothesis Testing

Out of 4 factors, only 3 factors Interaction behaviors, Trust and Authenticity could

significantly influence Word of Mouth of Starbucks. And the Interaction behaviors could

influence Word of Mouth higher than Trust and Authenticity

Word of mouth of Starbucks is the same among Assumption University students,

whether they are male or female.

The group with a monthly allowance of‘15,001 – 20,000‘ has a higher word of mouth of

Starbucks than the group with a monthly allowance of ‗Less than 10,000‘.

The group who visit Starbucks less than once a month significantly has lower word of

mouth of Starbucks than other groups who visit Starbucks once or more than once a

month.

The level of word-of-mouth of Starbucks is high among Assumption University Students



Recommendations

Starbucks should emphasize on...

Starbucks should focus on ―Interaction behaviors‖ because it is the factor that has highest

influence on ―Word-of- mouth‖

Starbucks should maintain...

Starbucks should continue to train their staff to be polite, because the consumers are

pleased with the politeness of the staff at Starbucks.

They should also continue opening and maintaining their store in premium locations

around town, because they consumers are happy with this aspect of the store.

Starbucks should continue to carry out programs to maintain the high level of

expectations that consumers have from Starbucks.

They should also try to maintain their brand’s reliability because consumers like their

reliable, authentic beverages.

Lastly, Starbucks should maintain the positive perception of their brand so that their

consumers will keep telling others good things about Starbucks.

Starbucks should improve...

Starbucks should try to improve the staff by training them to identify individual customer

needs because currently the customers are not pleased with this aspect of the staff at

Starbucks.

Starbucks should improve the facilities they currently provide and try to provide more

facilities to match their customer‘s expectations

They need to carry out some programs to improve the perception of consumers of

Starbucks being a responsible organization because consumers don‘t perceive Starbucks

to be a responsible organization.

Starbucks should add new flavors to their menu to improve the variety of beverages they

are providing to their consumers

Lastly, they should try to give some incentives to their customers so that they encourage

others to know and try Starbucks because currently they are not encouraging others to

know or try Starbucks.



APPENDIX



Questionnaire about Starbucks Coffee ―Factors affecting the Word-of-Mouth of Starbucks Coffee among people‖ We are the undergraduate

students studying the course MGT3940: Business Research Methodology in semester 1/2011 at

Assumption University. This questionnaire has been developed under the purpose of education only and

the information will be treated with high confidentiality. Please answer the following question by mark ―√‖

in the space given below and do kindly answer truthfully and complete all questions.

Part I: General Information

1. Please rank 1-6 the main factors that you consider important when buying coffee? (1 = most

important)

____Taste ____Brand

____Freshness ____Price

____Location ____Quality

2. When we talk about coffee, which brand comes to your mind first? (Choose only one)

Starbucks Black Canyon

True Coffee Coffee World

Blue-Cup Mc Café

3. What kind of beverage do you usually drink at Starbucks? (Choose only one)

Coffee Tea

Juice Hot/Iced Chocolate

Mocha Blended Cream

4. How often do you go to Starbucks per month? (Choose only one)

Less than once 1-3 times

4-5 times More than 5 times

5. On average how much do you spend in Starbucks in one visit? (Choose only one)

Less than 80 Baht 80-150 Baht

151-300 Baht More than 300 Baht



6. How do you get updated information about Starbucks? (Choose only one)

Newspaper/ Magazine Radio/Television

Friends/Family Social networks

Website/Blogs Posters/Brochures

Part II: Measuring Variables

Please mark ―X‖ on the number that describes you the most

5=Strongly Agree 4=Agree 3=Neutral 2=Disagree 1=Strongly Disagree


5 4 3 2 1

7. Interaction Behavior

7.1 Starbucks‘s staff is polite. 5 4 3 2 1

7.2 Starbucks‘s staff serve sincerely 5 4 3 2 1

7.3 Starbucks‘s staff use decent expressions or gestures 5 4 3 2 1

7.4 Starbucks staff members can identify my needs. 5 4 3 2 1

8. Store Perception

8.1 Starbucks is found in premium locations 5 4 3 2 1

8.2 Starbucks has a classy store decor 5 4 3 2 1

8.3 Starbucks has a good in-store atmosphere. 5 4 3 2 1

8.4 Starbucks provides good facilities 5 4 3 2 1

9. Trust

9.1 I have confidence in Starbucks products 5 4 3 2 1

9.2 I feel assured of Starbucks‘s product quality 5 4 3 2 1

9.3 I have high expectations from Starbucks‘s beverages 5 4 3 2 1

9.4 I believe Starbucks is a responsible organization 5 4 3 2 1

10. Authenticity

10.1 Starbucks is original in terms of products & services 5 4 3 2 1

10.2 Starbucks offers new flavors to customers 5 4 3 2 1

10.3 Starbucks is a reliable brand 5 4 3 2 1

10.4 Starbucks can customize its beverage to my taste 5 4 3 2 1



Part III: Personal Data

12. Gender

Male Female

13. Nationality

Thai Non-Thai

14. Academic Year

Freshman Sophomore

Junior Senior

15. Monthly Allowance

Less than 10,000 10,001 – 15,000

15,001 – 20,000 More than 20,000

16. What kind of beverage do you prefer to drink? (Choose only one)

Coffee Tea

Juice Carbonated drinks

17. Where do you like to spend your free time? (Choose only one)

Department Store Beauty Salon

Home Sports field

18. Do you like American Brands?

___Yes ___No

19. Do you like to discuss the places you eat and drink at with people?

___Yes ___No

20. Do you like to hang out with friends in coffee shops?

___Yes ___No

---------- Thank you ----------

11. Word-of-Mouth

11.1 I intend to tell others good things about Starbucks 5 4 3 2 1

11.2 I will encourage others to know and try Starbucks 5 4 3 2 1

11.3 I will recommend people to buy Starbucks‘s products 5 4 3 2 1



Additional Statistical Analysis

A.) Cross-tab 1: (Q5) Average spending. * (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between average spending and gender



Average spending

13

10

23 Less than 80 Baht Frequency

Col Pct 9.03 6.41


Col Pct 58.33 55.13


Col Pct 26.39 29.49


Col Pct 6.25 8.97


Conclusion:

Both male and female‗s average spending in Starbucks per visit lie between 80-150 Baht

B.) Cross-tab 2: (Q3) Beverage usually consumed. * (Q12) Gender cross tabulation

The relationship between beverage usually consumed and gender



Beverage usually consumed

78

67

145 Coffee Frequency

Col Pct 54.17 42.95


Col Pct 8.33 14.10


Col Pct 6.25 3.85

Hot/Iced Chocolate Frequency 26 41 67

Col Pct 18.06 26.28


Col Pct 7.64 6.41


Col Pct 5.56 6.41




Conclusion:

Coffee is the most popular beverage that both males and females usually consume at Starbucks

C.) T-test for independence (Independent Samples T-test)

Hypothesis: There is a difference in “Word-of-Mouth” between nationalities.

Nationality N Mean Std Dev Std Err Minimum Maximum

Thai 249 3.9465 0.6916 0.0438 1.6667 5.0000

Non-Thai 51 3.8039 0.7606 0.1065 2.3333 5.0000

Diff (1-2) 0.1425 0.7037 0.1082


Pooled Equal 298 1.32 0.1886

Satterthwaite Unequal 67.973 1.24 0.2202



Folded F 50 248 1.21 0.3509

Ho: There is no difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between Thai and Non-Thai µ1 = µ1

Ha: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between Thai and Non-Thai µ2 ≠ µ2

Decision: According to Equality of Variance, Pr or p value is not significant (0.3509) which

is more than 0.05. Then we look at ―Equal Variance‖ and the Equal Variance is not significant

(0.1886) either. Fail to reject Ho (Pr or p-value 0.1886 is more than 0.05)

Conclusion: There is no significant difference in Word-of-Mouth between Thai and Non-Thai.

Both Thai and Non-Thai have equality in Word-of-Mouth of Starbucks.

D.) T-test for independence (Independent Samples T-test)

Hypothesis: There is a difference in “Word-of-Mouth” between liking American brands.

Liking for American Brands N Mean Std Dev Std Err Minimum Maximum

Yes 238 4.0224 0.6768 0.0439 2.3333 5.0000

No 62 3.5376 0.6811 0.0865 1.6667 5.0000

Diff (1-2) 0.4848 0.6777 0.0966


Pooled Equal 298 5.02 <.0001

Satterthwaite Unequal 94.795 5.00 <.0001





Folded F 61 237 1.01 0.9176

Ho: There is no difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between people who like American

brands and people who dislike American Brands µ1 = µ1

Ha: There is a difference in word of mouth of Starbucks between people who like American

brands and people who dislike American Brands µ2 ≠ µ2

Decision: According to Equality of Variance, Pr or p value is not significant (0.9176) which

is more than 0.05. Then we look at ―Equal Variance‖ and the Equal Variance is significant

(<.0001). Reject Ho (Pr or p-value <.0001 is less than 0.05)

Conclusion: There is a difference in word-of-mouth between people who like American brands

those who dislike American brands. The group that likes American brands has a higher word of

mouth of Starbucks than the group who dislike American brands.

E.) One-way ANOVA

Hypothesis: There is a difference in word-of-mouth between four academic years


Model 3 3.0152904 1.0050968 2.05 0.1075

Error 296 145.3921171 0.4911896



0.020318 17.86868 0.700849 3.922222


Academic Year 3 3.01529035 1.00509678 2.05 0.1075


Class Levels Values

Academic Year 4 Freshman

Sophomore

Junior

Senior




Duncan Grouping Mean N Academic Year

A 4.0833 68 Junior

A

B A 3.9123 95 Senior

B A

B A 3.9054 74 Sophomore

B

B 3.7831 63 Freshman

Conclusion:

Ho: There is no difference in word-of-mouth of Starbucks between 4 academic years

Ha: There is a difference in word-of-mouth of Starbucks between 4 academic years


Conclusion: There is no difference in word-of-mouth of Starbucks between beverages preferred.

According to Duncan’s multiple-range test, the group that is different is junior (it is under

Grouping A) and freshman (it is under Grouping B). So juniors have a higher word of mouth of

Starbucks than freshman.



Graphs

Part 3: Personal Data

Gender

The most respondent are female, 52%.

Nationality

The most respondent are Thai, 83%.

48%

52%

46%

47%

48%

49%

50%

51%

52%

53%

Male Female

Per

cen

t

Q12 Gender

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Thai Non-Thai

Per

cen

t

Nationality

Q13 Nationality



Academic Year

The most respondent are senior student, 31.67%.

Monthly Allowance

The most respondents have monthly allowance between 10,001 - 15,000 baht, 44.67%.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Less than

10,000

10,001 -

15,000

15,001 -

20,000

More than

20,000

Per

cen

t

Q15 Mothly Allowance

Q15 Mothly

Allowance

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%P

erce

nt

Academic Year

Q14 Academic Year



Part 1: General Information

Brand that Comes First to Mind

The first brand that comes to respondents‘ minds is Starbucks, 63.67%.

Beverage Usually Consumed

The most respondents usually consume coffee, 48.33%.

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

Per

cen

t Brand that Comes First to Mind

Q2 Brand

that…

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Per

cen

t

Q3 Beverage Usually Consumed

Q3 Beverage

Usually

Consumed



Number of Visits per Month

The most respondents usually visit Starbucks less than once and 1-3 times per month, 40% each.

Average Spending

The most respondents usually spend 80-150 baht on average in one visit, 56.67%.

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

40.00%

45.00%

Less than

once

1-3 times 4-5 times More than

5 times

Per

cen

t Number of Visits per Month

Q4 Number of Visits

per Month

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

Less than

80 baht

80-150 baht 151-300

baht

More than

300 baht

Per

cen

t

Q5 Average Spending

Q5 Average

Spending



Source of Information

The most respondents usually get information about Starbucks from their friends & family, 32%.

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

35.00%

Per

cen

t Q6 Source of Information

Q6 Source

of

Information



Data View



Variable View



References

We would like to acknowledge the sources from which we received information for our analysis:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks

www.starbucks.com

www.starbucks.com/about-us/company-information

www.starbucks.com/aboutus/company_profile.pdf

http://www.aseanaffairs.com/coffee_industry2

http://www.wikinvest.com/wiki/Starbucks_(SBUX)

http://www.starbucks.co.th/en-US/_About+Starbucks/Starbucks+Coffee+Thailand.htm

http://marketingteacher.com/swot/starbucks-swot.html

http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/business-resources/swot-analysis-database/starbucks-

swot-analysis/

Gremler, Dwayne D. and Gwinner, Kevin P. and Brown, Stephen W. (2001). ―Generating

positive word-of-mouth communication through customer-employee relationships‖

International Journal of Service Industry Management. Vol. 12, No.1, pp.44-59.

Lloyd, Alison E. and Luk, Sherriff T.K.. (2011).―Interaction Behaviors leading to

Comfort in the Service Encounter‖. Journal of Services Marketing. Vol.25, No.3,

pp.176-189.

Huang, Minxue and Cai, Fengyan and Tsang, Alex S.L. and Zhou, Nan. (2011). "Making

Your Online Voice Loud: The Critical Role of WOM Information". European Journal

of Marketing. Vol. 45, Issue. 7/8. pp.1-23.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploratory_research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_research

http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/company_profile.pdf

http://www.aseanaffairs.com/coffee_industry2

http://www.wikinvest.com/wiki/Starbucks_(SBUX)

http://www.starbucks.co.th/en-US/_About+Starbucks/Starbucks+Coffee+Thailand.htm

http://marketingteacher.com/swot/starbucks-swot.html

http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/business-resources/swot-analysis-database/starbucks-swot-analysis/

http://www.businessteacher.org.uk/business-resources/swot-analysis-database/starbucks-swot-analysis/

starbucks report_business research methodology

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