What explains Dunkin' Donuts?
Dunkin’ Donuts owns Connecticut, and New England for that matter. But what explains the dominance of Dunks over Starbucks, and even independent coffee shops? To find the answer, I think you have to look at the origin story of each company. Assuming that people tend to attach themselves to larger narratives, brand loyalties in CT start to make more sense. In short, I think Dunkin’ represents a certain cultural element that New Englanders feel comfortable identifying with. Recent picture of New Haven, CT: home to 10 Dunks locations. Starbucks: Cultural Identifiers Starbucks appeals to a sort of post-hippie capitalist/left coast individualist spirit. After all, it is a Seattle institution, the place that monetized and sanitized fringe art movements, grunge rock, and coffee. The Pacific Northwest was founded by New England Yankees, so the culture carries an inherited sense of Yankee habits and customs, with much emphasis being placed on education, hard work, and usi...