Coffee is far too overpriced these days. It is understandable that the need for coffee is common, but far too often businesses allow prices to rise, or stay constant, regardless of who their target customers are. The fact is that we can all sympathize with the need for extra energy whether it is for a paper, job, or kick start our day. However, no one ever mentioned that they want coffee to cost a fortune or that the menu had to be indecipherable. Unfortunately, it happens that Starbucks does exactly that. In the great debate between which coffee chain is better, people may choose to argue with quality or taste, but affordability is a primary concern. Comparing the two big franchises, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, Dunkin Donuts is simply the better option. Without a doubt, coffee anywhere besides Starbucks is better and here is why. 

  For a long time now, Starbucks has been perfecting advertising on all social media handles. They work on better grasping new customers whilst keeping their regulars. Although this way of advertising is not unique, for years its ability to maintain the title of one of the most recognizable brands is impressive. Nevertheless, what most may not know is that in 2017, an article came out sharing that their target audience is men and women in the middle to upper classes, who can afford the higher-priced drinks regularly. Comparatively, Dunkin Donuts’ target audience is more friendly. Rather than appealing to a group based on financial status, their target demographic is people who drink coffee. In fact, in a blind taste test conducted by Customer Reports, the results consistently favored Dunkin Donuts because Starbucks was bitter or the worse tasting of the two, while Dunkin was some of the best. 

  Moving past that, in an interview with freshman Natalie Ray, I discovered that the love for the franchises was split. She noticed the different sides of the argument, but then concluded Starbucks to be the better option of the two only because of rewards and the close proximity to her house. This connected with the earlier statement that Starbucks focused on consistent branding. We then finished the talk with the statement “Starbucks is my main.”  Regardless of her choosing Starbucks though, she did admit Dunkin Donuts was less expensive. For that reason, I felt intrigued to look into different locations and even factors such as customer satisfaction to conclude if that may have an influence on which franchise customers choose. Astoundingly, I found her opinion to be less popular. Articles swayed in the direction of Dunkin Donuts because, not only do employees enjoy their job enough to treat customers nicely, but a study done by LikeFolio Consumer Happiness showed that Dunkin Donuts, consumer happiness levels are higher than Starbucks. 

  In conclusion, given this information, a person’s love for coffee should not require using a whole five-dollar bill. The facts are in favor of Dunkin Donuts being the better of the two for better-tasting coffee, affordability, and the likelihood of good customer service, no matter a person’s social or financial class.