Gaining status by drinking coffee: Corporate identity design and customer experience of Starbucks Turkey

Acquiring an identity and status in society is essential to individual existence. Every healthy individual wants to give meaning to his presence and build an identity that will differentiate him/her from others. Alain de Botton (2019) states that in Anxiety for Status, the individual seeks signs that others respect him so that he can tolerate himself. In this sense, the individual's life in society is spent struggling to gain and protect that status. This struggle; varies according to place, time and socio-cultural conditions. Advertising professionals realized the individual's desire to gain status much earlier than disciplines such as psychology and sociology. The understanding of marketing in the post-capitalist period developed by consumer behavior experts in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century; focused on the customer's emotional feelings rather than rational inferences; tried to channel the efforts of individuals to gain status with concepts such as brand identity, brand positioning and brand loyalty. As a global brand, Starbucks Coffee Company has adopted different brand positionings and marketing strategies in the countries it serves. Starbucks in the United States (USA) is positioned as a chain of stores that offer coffee products to its customers at reasonable prices. Starbucks in Turkey, however, a different positioning arises from the country's unique socio-economic and cultural conditions. The benefits of coffee products, sold at a price high in Turkey according to income level, are consuming coffee products with the Starbucks logo, spending time in Starbucks venues, and socializing. The aim of this study, which is carried out from the perspective of the qualitative paradigm, is to examine the corporate identity design of Starbucks Turkey, the service offered by the brand to its customers, and the customer's experience in terms of consumption and status.