BEAN HEADS Subculture project
The task:
Dive into local Richmond coffee lovers habits and discover different perspectives of our lovely barista friends.
The Objective:
Richmond coffee shops have a large impact on the community. Our group was interested in why Richmonders are drawn to aesthetic based and raw coffee shops in the area, their purchasing habits, why they choose the locations they do, and the general coffee culture demographics.
Strategy:
The Beanhead Research group compiled research via online surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews with coffee enthusiasts and local baristas. In order to do so, the group reached out to locals in the area via social media platforms to learn more about Richmond coffee drinker’s location preference, overall city coffee culture, and why these individuals consider themselves coffee enthusiasts.
Quantitative Research:
The Bean Head Research group created a survey to gather more insights on coffee drinker habits. We had 116 participants who had to be 18 years of age, live in the local Richmond area, and actively drink coffee. Most of the participants were ages 18-24 and lived in the VCU area and The Fan.
Compilation of survey results:
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Starbucks was chosen as the most frequently visited coffee shop (73%)
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Majority of participants live less than one mile from a coffee shop (85%)
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63% of participants drink coffee 5-7 days a week, whether it be at home or buying from a shop
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Lattes were the most similar to participants frequent order at 39%, with cold brew following behind at 31%
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The most important aspect of coffee shops was a close tie between the quality of coffee and the location, with comfortable seating close behind
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43% of participants stated they prefer going to coffee shops alone
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63% of participants spend less than 30 minutes at a coffee shop
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Of the individuals that go to a coffee shop 3-5 days a week, also spend less than $15, showing that they chose shops such as Dunkin or Starbucks
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Of the VCU student participants, 94% of them chose Starbucks as their shop of choice due to being able to use dining dollars and not real money on coffee
Objective SWITCH:
The Bean Head Research group began with a real interest in coffee enthusiasts that identified themselves as a part of the coffee culture in the Richmond area. However, later we realized our interests were more in the draw for these shops, which led us to a particular interest in local coffee shops specifically. We then dove deeper into how local Richmond coffee shops work individually and how they are perceived in the eyes of other competitor shops. We chose four shops: Starbucks, Dunkin, Lamplighter, and Alchemy to focus on with qualitative research.
Qualitative
Research:
The Bean Head Research group completed in-depth interviews with four individuals, two of whom were baristas and two that consider themselves coffee enthusiasts. Gathering their results, it proved how many different outlooks and consumer habits contrast with one another.
Barista results-
Barista number one, Addie Johnson, Free Lance Graphic Designer, River Road Starbucks, RVA:
Why do you think people spend this much money on coffee?
“Spending money on coffee is not about coffee, coffee is cheap. Your spending money for an experience, for an interaction with someone, or a conversation, and whether that be if you’re enjoying the coffee shop itself or getting work done, that's what I believe is the value of buying coffee. You can buy coffee anywhere, make it for cents. Why do we still got to Starbucks, Lamplighter, or Alchemy? I would argue that it’s the human aspect of it.”
How do you feel about your work culture?
"I truly care about the process of the coffee and my customer relationships. My store is not as much of a transaction based store, but rather a community gathering. I see the same customers almost every day, and I think of some of them as my friends at this point."
Barista number two, Kimberly Heard, VCU Student, VCU James Cabell Library location:
Why do you think people spend so much money on coffee?
“People who go to Starbucks, are able to spend a certain amount of money on just a cup of coffee. The persona of a hardworking student, you have coffee, you’re in the library, you’re not that broke if you can afford Starbucks.”
How do you feel about your work culture?
"Unfortunately, I don’t truly enjoy the customers because our location is constantly so busy, but the staff is great. Also, I do not have much interest in the coffee culture or new aspects of the evolving Starbucks climate, as it is more of a college job for me."
Consumer results-
Coffee enthusiast number one, Morgan Kimmel, VCU Student, EMT, and personal trainer:
What are the benefits of being apart of the RVA coffee culture?
"I am thankful for being introduced to individuals with similar mindsets. Also, I benefit not only from the social aspect but also surround myself with a great work culture and a quality environment by being introduced to this lifestyle."
Coffee enthusiast number two, Tyler Parker, local RVA resident:
What are the benefits of being apart of the RVA coffee culture?
"I consider myself a conscious consumer. I do not support Starbucks because of the amount of food waste and environmentally harmful packaging. I benefit from being apart of the RVA coffee culture because it has taught me a ton about where my coffee beans truly come from, what products are the most wasteful, and which stores don't follow global law standards.
Insights:
The Bean Head Research group found a direct correlation between our survey with VCU students and their purchasing habits compared to individuals who did not attend VCU. VCU students often have campus dining dollars, allowing them to purchase Starbucks, not on their own dime. Since the majority of our participants were VCU students, it is obvious why overall 73% of participants chose Starbucks as their choice of shop. However, of the VCU participants, 94% chose Starbucks due to dining dollars being their main way of spending. Also, the VCU participants chose Starbucks again due to its location in the library and being connected to the dorms. Most of these individuals are simply getting their Starbucks and then going to sit at the library to do work, rather than attending an aesthetically pleasingly coffee shop to enjoy the atmosphere.
In contrast, our non-VCU participants were much more likely to chose third wave coffee shops. Third wave coffee shops focus much more on where their beans come from, the quality of the beans, the environment and not mass producing like Starbucks and Dunkin, which are second wave shops. We focused on two third wave coffee shops in Richmond, Lamplighter Roasting Co., and Alchemy, however, there are plenty more shops that participants stated they often visit. These third wave coffee goers are much more coffee connoisseurs and health conscious about their choices, such as Morgan and Tyler. They are also much more appreciative of the social aspect and simply enjoying their purchases, rather than for caffeine intake while sitting in the library.
For our barista insights, we again found major differences having to do with the location and type of employee. Kimberly, as a VCU student and employee of the library location, does not have nearly the same appreciation for her store and customers as Addie, who works at a non-VCU location. Addie states she truly feels a connection with customers and benefits from her store's community-driven atmosphere, whereas Kimberly does not get to experience that connection because it consists of mainly come-and-go consumers.
Creative Execution:
With our findings, The Bean Head Research group conducted an experiment to see how exactly our main four shops: Dunkin, Lamplighter, Alchemy, and Starbucks coexist in the local Richmond community. The Beanhead Research group placed these four RVA coffee shops in a house to see how different they really are. I now present, The Real Coffee Shops of RVA brought to you by Bean Head Reality.
Meet the team:
Madison Brooks (Strategist, Researcher)
Courtney Foster (Strategist, Video Producer)
Joelle Mitchell (Strategist, Script Copywriter)