Think what your loyalty provides
March 27, 2013
While I'm not fond of Starbucks coffee, I do admire the Starbucks brand. (Overheard while walking the Freedom Trail in Boston last week: "I have to walk all this way with you and there won't even be a Starbucks.") Increasing evidence shows that it's not the products that we acquire but the experiences we acquire which make our lives worthwhile. So I think about this matter when planning my next computer. The Mac Air is really tempting, but my loyal dollars will produce better experiences with a Sony.
Huffington Post: Starbucks Brand Loyalty Keeps It Ahead Of The Artisanal Coffee Movement, 2013-Mar-7 by Rachel Tepper
...according to Priya Raghubir, a research professor of marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business. "Starbucks stands for coffee; it's converted that into an experience," ... This quality is in stark contrast to the reputation for snobbishness earned by some independent coffee shops,...
..."The enduring brand loyalty is about the core offerings, which is not just coffee," Raghubir explained. "It is the experience of going to Starbucks."