Exploration of coffee shop selection preferences among high school and university students in Bogor using a principal component analysis approach

Abstract

Background: The rapid growth of Indonesia's coffee shop industry has positioned coffee shops as multifunctional 'third places' for students. In these spaces, experiential, social, and product attributes jointly shape consumption decisions. However, empirical evidence on the multidimensional structure of student preferences and their behavioral implications remains limited.

Objective: This study aims to identify latent dimensions underlying coffee shop selection preferences among students and to examine their association with visit frequency and expenditure.

Materials and Methods: A quantitative exploratory design was employed using survey data from 222 high school and university students in Bogor City, Indonesia. Preference items were measured on a five-point Likert scale derived from the extended marketing mix (7P). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation was applied after confirming data adequacy using the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity. Independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA were used to examine differences across visit frequency and expenditure groups.

Results: Four reliable preference dimensions emerged: Comfort and Service, Physical Access and Visibility, Social Influence and Promotion, and Product Attributes. Comfort and Service was the most salient dimension, followed by Product Attributes. Preference structures did not differ significantly by visit frequency; however, significant differences were observed across expenditure levels for comfort, accessibility, and social influence, with higher-spending students reporting more critical evaluations. Product Attributes showed no significant variation across spending groups.

Conclusion: Student coffee shop preferences are evaluated through experiential and social factors that complement product quality as baseline expectations. These findings contribute to consumer behavior theory.