Chinese Starbucks
1. Many of the same environmental factors, such as cultural factors, that operate in the domestic market also exist internationally. Discuss the key cultural factors Starbucks had to consider as it ex-panded into China.
Starbucks has found success in the USA because of marketing towards “20-40 year old men and women who are concerned with social welfare” thus creating the coffee house atmosphere-Heather Karr Employee of Starbucks in Madison, WI. The coffee house in the US includes college students studying, young professionals having casual meetings, “Soccer Moms” grabbing a cup of Joe after dropping the kids off at school, etc. All-in-all Starbucks is selling not coffee but the idea of a “coffee break”, a time during the day that one can sit back, relax, and forget about the daily grind. Starbucks had to consider this as part of their main success and research China’s culture to see this same possibility existed for them there. Luckily they found that it did. Due to China’s communistic government implementing a “One Child Law” the same age demographic surprisingly existed: 20-40 year old men and women who want a place to socialize and take a break from their lives. The Family Planning Law in China was implemented to control the growing population in China, has many exceptions, and began in 1978 (enforced in 1979). Learning about this law in a history class previously, I never considered it in a marketing aspect. These individuals have grown up as single children and may have a sense of entitlement. They are well educated as the US media is always reporting on their countries’ amazing international grade reports. So, this group of “Little Emperors” are more aware of western culture than generations previous and Starbucks had to of discovered that they could give these people a taste of the western world. Lastly, Starbucks had to consider China’s tea consumption before expanding. While the US likes their coffee, China prefers tea in their social
Starbucks has found success in the USA because of marketing towards “20-40 year old men and women who are concerned with social welfare” thus creating the coffee house atmosphere-Heather Karr Employee of Starbucks in Madison, WI. The coffee house in the US includes college students studying, young professionals having casual meetings, “Soccer Moms” grabbing a cup of Joe after dropping the kids off at school, etc. All-in-all Starbucks is selling not coffee but the idea of a “coffee break”, a time during the day that one can sit back, relax, and forget about the daily grind. Starbucks had to consider this as part of their main success and research China’s culture to see this same possibility existed for them there. Luckily they found that it did. Due to China’s communistic government implementing a “One Child Law” the same age demographic surprisingly existed: 20-40 year old men and women who want a place to socialize and take a break from their lives. The Family Planning Law in China was implemented to control the growing population in China, has many exceptions, and began in 1978 (enforced in 1979). Learning about this law in a history class previously, I never considered it in a marketing aspect. These individuals have grown up as single children and may have a sense of entitlement. They are well educated as the US media is always reporting on their countries’ amazing international grade reports. So, this group of “Little Emperors” are more aware of western culture than generations previous and Starbucks had to of discovered that they could give these people a taste of the western world. Lastly, Starbucks had to consider China’s tea consumption before expanding. While the US likes their coffee, China prefers tea in their social