what is coffee's connection between age and education?

Question

I am writing a paper about how coffee has become a status symbol. both coffee companies starbucks and tim hortons in sell the same product, but creates and caters to complete different lifestyles. starbucks is high culture, and tim hortons is low culture.
my prof suggested to look beyond the class and focus on education and age. I don't exactly see the connection. I would greatly appreciate suggestions if you see the connection.

THanks!

Answer 1

umm well the best i can think of is that coffe has a lot of caffiene in it, which speeds up your metabolism. metabolism is the thing that makes you age. also, it's mostly adults that drink coffee, and i remember as a little kid i always wanted to try it but my parents wouldn't let me because i was "too young"

education? it keeps you awake during school?

haha i dont know if you were looking for something literal or figurative... that's the best i can do. have fun with your project

Answer 2

He may be referring to pricing. I do not have any personal experience, but based on your class assumptions I gather Tim Hortons is fairly inexpensive. This would draw older, more educated people to Starbucks since they could afford to spend more money on fringe things like coffee.

I see a lot of conflicting sides to this argument though, as Starbucks' frappuccinos bring in a lot of teenagers. When I worked at a store in a suburb of Los Angeles, we had tons of younger kids come in. Sure, their parents probably gave them the money, but it puts a dent in your prof's opinion on age/education. That is clearly a class issue.

I think the most important angle is marketing. Just by looking at Tim Horton's website, you can see their target audience is older, less affluent, and more casual. Hell, it looks like a diner. Compare that to the Starbucks website which focuses (especially at this time of year) immediately on product. The first thing you see is information on the Brewing Sale. Even the drink names cater to different markets. Tim Horton's menu is small, simple, and to the point. Starbucks could name a dozen navy fleets and still have names left over (or not, I really do not know how many ships are in a navy fleet).

Hopefully that helped a bit and jump-started some ideas. I haven't written a college paper in years, so I'm a bit unmotivated. It's my first semester off in 7 years, I don't want to think.

Answer 3

If he means populairity, kids like to be seen holding a Starbucks coffee cup more then a Tim Hortons one. The huge price diffrence turns the cup into a status symbol. Adults on the other hand just want a good cup of coffee and dont care what the cup it comes in looks like, so they turn to Tim Hortons, which is every bit as good as starbucks if you like regular coffee.

Answer 4

This is just my own opinion but I feel that younger people buy into the image of these places because of peer pressure-what's "cool".
As far as education, I can't make a connection but I do think if you have the brains of a grapefruit you have better ways to spend your money!