Garcia Gonzalez is ready to start a new career. After spending 30 years as a market researcher
and inspired by the success of Starbucks, he is ready to enter the coffee shop business.
However, before opening his first shop, he realizes that a great deal of research is needed. He
has some key questions in mind.
● What markets in the United States hold the most promise for a new coffee shop?
● What type of location is best for a coffee shop?
● What is it that makes a coffee shop popular?
● What coffee do Americans prefer?
A quick trip to the Internet reveals more previous research on coffee, markets, and related
materials than he expected. Many studies address taste. For example, he finds several studies
that in one way or another compare the taste of different coffee shop coffees. Most commonly,
they compare the taste of coffee from Starbucks against coffee from McDonald’s, Dunkin’
Donuts, Burger King, and sometimes a local competitor. However, it becomes difficult to draw a
conclusion as the results seem to be inconsistent.
● One study had a headline that poked fun at Starbucks’ high priced coffee. The author of
this study personally purchased coffee to go at four places, took them to his office,
tasted them, made notes and then drew conclusions. All the coffee was tasted black with
no sugar. Just cups of Garcia. He reached the conclusion that McDonald’s Premium
Coffee (at about $1.50 a cup), tasted nearly as good as Starbucks House Blend (at
about $1.70 a cup), both of which were much better than either Dunkin’ Donuts (at about
