Starbucks Exceptionalism: An Institutional Ethnographic Exploration of Coffee Culture in America

Abstract

Over a 5-year period, from 2008 to 2013, Starbucks locations across the United States were visited and revisited to understand the growing cultural phenomenon that took hold in American society regarding consumers and Starbucks's coffee products. Written in an enhanced ethnographic style, in which presentational techniques are drawn from creative nonfiction and immersion journalism, the purpose of the current study is to apply a political theory lens in American culture, Seymour Lipset's (1966/1996) theory of American exceptionalism, to an American corporation, Starbucks Coffee. As with any ethnographic study, field work comes from a blend of immersion in the field and secondary data sources. For this study, the researcher visited more than 100 individual Starbucks locations across the United States, spoke with hundreds of individuals in these locations, and conducted a one-word, quick-survey response with 200 participants who were criterion selected based on their visiting a Starbucks on the day of being asked the question. The participants were randomly asked on the street as well as through Facebook. Descriptive and thematic coding processes were conducted on the participants' responses. The results indicated that while Starbucks Corporation messaging indicates the presence of Starbucks exceptionalism, fragmentation in consumers' minds may be occurring and Starbucks exceptionalism may not be as strong as it was a few years ago. As Starbucks moves into the Far Asian and Southeast Asian marketplaces, further study is needed to determine whether Starbucks exceptionalism will stay intact or shift to reflect other cultural influences.