Temple Professor Says Starbucks Sells People a Lifestyle

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)