Coffee drinking culture is widely spread around the world and has great influence to local culture and lifestyle. The history of coffee drinking in Korea started from 100 years ago and now café business in South Korea keeps blooming. This paper discussed the implication of café culture in South Korea by addressing two questions on the reasons why the Korean likes patronizing cafés and the characteristics of consumption traits and pattern in cafés.
On the one hand, the paper highlighted the five reasons shaping the café culture. Firstly, an economic reform established by Korean government helps to free market and attract foreign investment and development in Korean café business. Secondly, the influence of globalization facilitates the integration of world culture and allows international trade of goods which favor the expansion of oversea café brand in Korea. Thirdly, Starbucks contributed greatly on bringing in the American café culture and management. Fourthly, café acts as a social space for the Korean collectivism culture and constructs social identities. Fifthly, the familiarity of café brands is enhanced through increasing exposure in mass media.
Conclusion
On the other hand, it is interesting to study the consumption pattern and traits in cafés. The survey result emphasized four characteristics of Korean and Hong Kong coffee consumers on their coffee drinking habits and café patronage pattern in terms of the third place experience, gender stereotype, Starbucks preference and decoration and atmosphere as priority. The survey result is limited as the survey sample was not diverse enough to show the feelings of target group in locations other than the University of Hong Kong campus area. Further studies are needed to cover a broader survey area and targets.
Finally, the continuously growing trend of café business of South Korea is reflecting a intense competition between café brand. International café franchises tend to dominance the market and small-scale local café business can hardly sustain in the future. The future development of café business can be more diverse and reflect more Korean characteristics in order to stand out from the large number of cafés.
