by KYW's Pat Loeb
A Temple University professor has released a book about Starbucks, based on years of research at outlets all over the world.
The author concludes Starbucks is not really selling coffee, but a lifestyle image:
"If you read the signs at Starbucks and if you read their own advertisements, this is a lot of what they're selling is all these different things, in the cup."
History professor Bryant Simon (right) spend 15 hours a week in Starbucks. He visited 425 of its stores in nine countries, but mostly in Philadelphia, and he concluded that people go for much more than coffee:
"For instance, we had this real need for community, we had a real need for safety, we had this real need for predictability, we had this need to give ourselves treats."
Simon's book "Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks," explores what our purchases say about us.
Starbucks, he says, provides a cheap status symbol and the illusion of community, though he believes true connection cannot be found in an international chain.
(Photo by Glennis London Pagano)
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