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Drawing upon the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) model, the purpose of this study is to examine how perceptions of young customers towards the green image of trendy coffee cafés affect their environmental and product attitudes, and subsequently their citizenship behaviour as well as intention to re-patronage. The mediating effect of customer citizenship behaviour (CCB) is also assessed.

The instrument was developed by adapting measurement from the past studies. Using the purposive sampling technique, data were collected online from 207 young customers in Malaysia who frequented the cafés. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to perform path modelling and mediation analyses.

The findings show that green image stimulates both customers’ environmental attitude and product attitude. Although product attitude is found to have a dominant effect on CCB, the impact of environmental attitude on CCB and re-patronage intention is worth noting. Moreover, advocacy and tolerance significantly mediate the relationship between product attitude and re-patronage intention.

This study advances the consumer behaviour literature by determining the influence of green image on two forms of attitudes as well as the mediating role of the multi-dimensional CCB between attitudes and intention to re-patronage trendy coffee cafés among young customers. While the findings confirm the importance of product attitude and the relevance of advocacy and tolerance in relation to re-patronage, the study also highlights the growing awareness of green image among young customers and its implications on knowledge and practice.

The purpose of this study is to propose and empirically test a framework encompassing self-congruity with its antecedents and consequences. This study also aims to test the mediating role of perceived value and its dimensions.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted using a purposive sampling technique. In total, 310 useable responses were collected and data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling.

A majority of hypotheses were supported. Avoidance of similarity and status consumption positively influenced self-congruity, replicating an earlier study. Self-congruity positively influenced overall perceived value and its dimensions, as well as revisit intention. Overall perceived value and its dimensions positively influenced revisit intention. Finally, overall perceived value and its dimensions were found to have a mediating effect on the relationship between self-congruity and revisit intention.

This study provides empirical evidence for the antecedents and consequences of self-congruity with a service and expands understanding of the mediating role of overall perceived value and its dimensions in predicting intention.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of perceived quality on intention to revisit coffee concept shops among regular and irregular consumers. Specifically, the framework developed by Pine and Gilmore (2000) is adopted to look into the effect of product, service and experience qualities on intention to revisit.

The explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used to articulate the intention of consumers to revisit coffee concept shops. A preliminary study was conducted to define regular and irregular consumers. Self-administered questionnaire was first administered before using interview to elicit more insights and triangulate the findings.

The combination of both quantitative and qualitative findings show that the experiences of regular consumers at coffee concept shops include personal routine activities, while the experiences of irregular customers are composed of occasions with specific and collective purposes. While the intention to revisit of the former is related to the product and service quality, the intention of the latter is largely affected by its service and experience quality.

Given the rapid rise of coffee concept shops in the developing markets, the use of a mixed-methods design provides more insights into the intention to revisit of the regular and irregular consumers. It underscores the importance for the organisations to know what really matters to the diverse consumers.

At midnight on Thursday, 26 March 2020, the South African government ordered a three-week lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequently extended this lockdown for a further two weeks until the end of April 2020. Among other measures, businesses not classed as “essential” had to cease operation. This meant that Jonathan Robinson, founder of the Bean There Coffee Company had to close his trendy Cape Town and Milpark coffee shops, as well as the company’s hospitality and corporate business. At the same time, Bean There’s costs increased by 25%, as the rand: dollar exchange rate worsened substantially. A glimmer of hope was that the company was able to continue roasting coffee and supplying its retail clients. Unlike most captains of industry, Robinson was not driven by the bottom line and clamouring shareholders. His corporate strategy was driven by a single, simple purpose: to achieve ethical sustainability aspirations while still running a profitable business. The question for him now, however, was how to ensure that his company could survive in the short term, so that it could achieve these goals in the longer term, and whether he could take this opportunity to think about whether his business was best positioned to achieve these goals when things returned to normal.

The learning outcomes are as follows: conduct a thorough analysis of a specific company and its industry, including its markets, competitors, and other aspects of the internal and external business environment, using a range of tools, including a Business Model Canvas (BMC), SWOT analysis and PESTLE analysis; analyse and explain the market outlook of a company; identify and analyse a company’s competitors; discuss and explain a detailed implementation plan showing the way forward for a company, considering its current challenges, including integrating a range of conceptual and analytical fields of knowledge to assess a management dilemma, and arrive at a creative and innovative management solution; and be able to present information and defend substantial insights and solutions to a management dilemma in oral and written modes, appropriate in standard for both the academic and business communities to analyse and appreciate.

Postgraduate Diploma in Management, MBA, Masters in Management, Executive Education.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Identify the advantages and disadvantages of being first-to-market with a new product in a new environment. Explain the differences between business-to-business (B2B) and B2C markets, how they are interconnected in the speciality consumer good category and the challenges of developing a balanced strategy for both. Assess the competitive positions of different market players within both B2B and B2C. Analyse the role of brand in a niche market and how brand perception influences consumer behaviour. Identify and assess the different strategies for growth in an evolving niche market.

Origin Coffee is an artisan coffee roaster in South Africa grappling with rising competition, evolving consumer tastes and brand management concerns. As an early entrant, Origin largely created the niche market for speciality coffee across the country as both a retail coffee shop and a wholesale supplier to independent shops and businesses. This case follows founder Joel Singer 15 years later, in August 2020, as he contemplates how to scale the business, which has cultivated a brand synonymous with quality and excellence. Repeated efforts to expand the Origin footprint have met with disappointment and the business is still operating exclusively from its original roastery-café in Cape Town. Yet, the customer perception is that Origin is an industry giant – an established player that has outgrown its plucky upstart status. Origin also faces an increasingly crowded competitive landscape of local artisan roasters and larger chains. The case showcases the power of entrepreneurial innovation to cultivate a new niche market, as well as the risks of playing in a market that is very narrow and immature. Students are left to determine what Origin’s place in the future of South African coffee can and should be.

This case is appropriate for students enrolled in postgraduate programmes such as Master of Business Administration and Executive Education programmes. Although the case learnings are transferrable, this case will be particularly useful to students with interests in entrepreneurship, B2B and B2C market strategies and niche market strategy.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between organizational culture and brand identity in the retail food and beverage industry and also to explore how independent retail coffee shops and cafes build their brands. The evolution of coffee drinking in many new markets is following a pattern similar to the one witnessed in New Zealand.

A qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews, field notes, photographs and empirical material was carried out with 15 independent coffee shops and nine franchise coffee shops in Christchurch, New Zealand. In total five different approaches were adopted to provide diverse observations to compliment every angle of the research setting by using triangulation.

The findings from this research reveal that an appropriate brand name helps to ease the process of brand identity creation. The personality of the market leader strongly influences organizational culture, and a constant flow of updated business intelligence plays an important role in creating a distinctive brand identity. Internal marketing and personal values are key to constructing internal culture while the acculturation process plays an important role in developing internal culture and building brand identity.

Difficulty in getting participants was a major limitation because many employees/owners declined to take part in the research due to the nature of their work which required full attention to serve customers when the outlet is operating.

In previous years, research has focused on interaction between the organization and their customers (Hoeffler, 2003). This study extends previous research by investigating the internal culture of the organization and its relation to brand identity building within the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to determine hidden drivers of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) by modeling attributes of self-relevant and quality-relevant values. This is a meaningful extension of previous consumer behavior research regarding the association of eWOM and self-constructs.

An on-site survey was conducted to collect data. Statistical analyses, including structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis, were used to empirically examine which factors significantly influence café customers to engage in eWOM.

The study found significant drivers of eWOM intentions by examining self-relevant values connected with the café, such as conveying reflected appraisal of self, conspicuous presentation and self-image congruity beyond the simple evaluation of service quality. The moderating effect of consumer opinion leadership on the relationships between those drivers and eWOM intentions was also investigated.

The results demonstrated that consumers’ self-construal value was a salient diver of eWOM intentions rather than service quality value itself. However, the findings showed that these service qualities positively influenced opinion leaders’ eWOM intentions to generate information. This makes an important contribution by providing practical messages for foodservice operators to develop more effective marketing strategies.

The present research extends our understanding of the drivers of eWOM beyond the idea that eWOM simply reflects perceived quality evaluations. The authors found that consumers can construct a self-identity and present themselves to others in the virtual world by showing “what they eat or experience”.

Coffee is among the primary products that attract the public attention to the social and environmental responsibilities of companies. Coffee shops have a big carbon footprint because of their daily operations. With the rising consciousness about sustainability in developing countries, online disclosure of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly important for not only multinational but also local coffee chains. The purpose of this study is to analyze the extent to which coffee chains include CSR on their websites.

Turkey, which is a large emerging economy with an expanding coffee chain market, is selected as the research context. The CSR disclosure on the websites of coffee chains is examined by content analysis according to CSR dimensions. A sample of 27 coffee chains with more than ten stores is included in the analysis.

Foreign coffee chains disclose more information on the environment and fair trade than local coffee chains. On the other hand, CSR content in websites of foreign and local coffee chains does not differ significantly in human resources and community dimensions. Foreign coffee chains have comparatively longer brand history, more rooted brands and larger networks than local coffee chains.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first that used a content analysis about CSR on the websites of coffee chains in Turkey. Findings contribute to the understanding of CSR disclosure in the coffee chain industry and can be beneficial for researchers and managers in other emerging markets.

This study aims to investigate the effects of servicescape on customer satisfaction and loyalty – centered on social interaction and service experience in the café setting.

Data for this study were collected from approximately 1,800 customers at 185 coffee stores located in the three largest cities in Vietnam through the self-administered questionnaires.

The research findings pointed out the significant impacts of café servicescape on social interaction quality, including customer-to-employee interaction (CEI) and customer-to-customer interaction (CCI). Social interactions and servicescape were shown to remarkably influence customer experience quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, the study confirmed the interrelation between service experience, satisfaction and loyalty in the café setting.

This study provides marketers and service managers a deeper understanding of improving customer satisfaction and loyalty through the control of servicescape attributes and social interactions in café contexts.

This research explores the significant impacts of café servicescape on social interaction quality (CEI and CCI). Additionally, it provides insights within the role of social interactions to customer’s affective and behavioral responses in service settings, especially the CCI quality.