During stressful weeks like finals and midterms,
the principal factor in college students' specialty coffee consumption shifts
from convenience to the necessity for an energy boost, according to MSU marketing
professor and expert in consumer behavior Ayalla Ruvio.
MSU junior Athena Smith,
for example, said that she purchases coffee “just for exams or if I’m like
super-tired."
Ruvio referred to this as
“the notion of caffeine to boost your performance – at least for the
short-term.”
It is
this shared notion that causes coffee shops like Starbucks and Biggby,
according to baristas Emily Kaip and Michelle Cusick, to
see drastic spikes in their numbers of customers during exam weeks.
“For the
closing shift, it’s usually pretty dead,” said Cusick, a Biggby barista.
“But when midterms and finals and stuff come – that’s when you get a lot of
people, ‘cause they’re here studying at the Union and are pulling late nights.”
Ruvio added that coffee shops typically feature an environment that
is conducive to the activities of students: there are tables where customers
can use their computers, couches where groups can meet to discuss responsibilities
for their projects, and usually soft background music playing that helps many
concentrate.
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