Key attributes of Malaysian specialty coffee shops: an exploratory investigation

In the thriving specialty coffee industry in Malaysia, it is imperative for specialty coffee shop entrepreneurs to understand the important attributes that motivate consumers to patronise specialty coffee shops so as to have a competitive advantage and sustain their businesses. The existing published literature highlights the lack of research on this aspect, particularly in the context of emerging economies. This study adopted both qualitative and quantitative approaches in an exploratory sequential mixed method design to explore and identify the attributes used by Malaysian coffee consumers when selecting specialty coffee shops. The findings from the qualitative approach were used to develop the survey questionnaire. Based on purposive sampling, responses from 437 respondents were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. Nine factors were extracted using principal component analysis with promax rotation. The nine factors were labelled as: Tangibles, Coffee Quality, Service Quality by Staff, Brand Preference, Promotional Activities, Social Responsibility and Recreation, Food & Drinks Selection, Social Place and, Other Amenity. The nine factor solution explained 59.15% of the total variance. Consequently, these nine factors are perceived as key attributes of specialty coffee shops in Malaysia