Nikita Arora's Blog

Why do we, as consumers, subject ourselves to waiting in horrendous lineups for a basic cup of Tim Hortons coffee? Or, why are we willing to shell out a whopping $5 for a flavoured Starbucks latte? In part, because we’re like sheep — we follow the herd.

According to professor Laurence Ashworth of the Queen’s School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, “There seems to be this inexplicable kind of herding behavior”. And, it is this ‘herding mentality’ where we go and what we tend to spend our money on. He further explained that we adopt the same behaviors as people around us, especially when there’s more than one person engaging in that behavior.

Its like every creature possesses some basic instincts, like flies swarm and sheep flock together. Similarly, humans have the basic herding instinct. According to professor Ashworth, “It makes a lot of sense when you look at other creatures who engage in these kinds of behaviors — herding or swarming behaviors. There’s some built-in mechanism — a very basic mechanism — which causes them to do similar things.The only difference with humans is that we have this ability to be aware of our actions.”

And, so for market research analysts, it is this consumer behavior which predicts whether a consumer will go to Tim Hortons and wait for 10 long minutes to  get a simple cup of coffee, or go to Starbucks and spend  extravagant $5 for a latte. And, although people think that they deliberately and consciously control their behavior and choices, its not true. Popularity begets popularity.So because Tim Hortons and Starbucks are already popular, they are appealing to people.

Another part of their appeal is that Tim Hortons and Starbucks offer hedonic products. There is something about the Tim Hortons coffee or Starbucks latte that instills an immediate positive emotional response in people. According to prof. Ashworth, “these are the things from everyday experiences that do make us feel good. And, so it might be rational for people to put in time waiting for coffee or put in more money to get a good coffee because of how it makes them feel; the feeling that you’re getting a good value for your dollar”.

So, its basically the convergence of many factors that cause people to behave in a suggestible and a predictable way. The brand, the value, the taste, the price, service.. it is when all these and so many other factors integrate together, that a person goes to buy a cup of coffee!