THE Service Quality Variables Associated with Consumers' Intention to Purchase Starbucks Coffee in Malaysia

Abstract

With the improvement of people’s living standards, coffee culture is also infiltrating people's daily lives all over the world. It is no hard to conclude that the coffee revolution is changing people's way of life. Coffee lovers all over the world are tasting their favorite coffee in different ways, in different places and occasions, whether morning or evening, morning or afternoon. As the increase in global coffee consumption, it results in the fierce competition in the coffee industry. The coffee market in Malaysia is also inevitable.

Starbucks has a certain brand awareness and a huge competitive advantage in the coffee market. However, in recent years, Starbucks has repeatedly exposed a variety of scandals, such as race scandals, price scandals, theft scandals, service scandals and so on. These negative news greatly affected consumers’ intention to purchase Starbucks coffee, so it is urgent to make relevant investigations to solve. The main related service variables of consumers' purchase intention are analyzed, and suggestions are put forward to bring better service experience to consumers. The survey was mainly conducted in Malaysia. Due to Malaysian unique geographical location and multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and religious conditions, the study is more representative.

This paper adopts the method of quantitative research, field distribution of questionnaires and SPSS data analysis, and finally finds out that tangible, assurance, empathy have a significant impact on consumers' intention to purchase Starbucks coffee.

The purpose of this study is to find out the service quality variables associated with consumers’ purchase intention and put forward positive suggestions, so as to better serve consumers and eliminate the industry barriers caused by the scandal. Meanwhile, it also has certain reference value for future research.