Abstract

This study aimed to determine how the middle class represents coffee shops, measure the relationship between representation and consumer loyalty, and analyze whether the coffee shops’ management strategies consider their social representation. In-depth interviews with 50 coffee shops and a survey of 348 customers showed that identity lay at the core of representation, whereas taste and atmosphere were a secondary representation. On the other hand, coffee shop managers tended to ignore identity as the core of representation and focused more on taste and atmosphere as a secondary representation. This study shows that the social representation of consumers toward coffee shops is closely related to nonintrinsic coffee function but still has a relationship with consumer loyalty; meanwhile, Indonesian coffee shop managers do not consider their importance in managing their stores.