How can coffee shops draw customers back after COVID-19? the influence of psychological distance on coffee versus tea preference

Abstract

The complex situation of COVID-19 raises the need for coffee entrepreneurs to be more innovative and apply strategies to enhance the attractiveness of coffee over other beverages, such as tea, and thereby increase their profits. According to recent studies, coffee and tea cues influence consumers’ psychological distance perspectivewith coffee cues tending to prompt psychological proximity and tea cues psychological distance. Such findings raise questions regarding the inverse relationship between psychological distance and coffee versus tea preference, which the present paper attempts to address. In seven experiments using different dimensions of psychological distance, the authors found that thepreference for coffee over tea appeared to decrease (increase) with psychological distance (proximity). The findings refute the notion that arousal level, level of knowledge or mood could account for the results. However, it was determined that regular coffee consumption moderates the influence of psychological distance on coffee versus tea preference.