The Key to Coffee Shop Customer Loyalty: Combining Brand Experience and Emotional Attachment

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FORMOSA NEWS

A holistic brand experience and strong emotional attachment prove to be key determinants in building coffee shop consumer loyalty in Jakarta. Recent research conducted by Dhea Puspita Sari and Budiman Abdulah from Muhammadiyah University of Technology Jakarta examines how customer satisfaction plays an essential role in bridging brand gestalt and brand attachment to customer loyalty. Published in July 2026, this study is highly significant amid the booming coffee culture and intense competition within the modern urban coffee shop industry.

The lifestyle of urban communities, particularly in Jakarta, has transformed the function of coffee shops from mere places to enjoy drinks into social spaces for working, studying, and interacting. This shift drives fierce competition among modern coffee shop businesses such as Kopi Kenangan, Janji Jiwa, and Tomoro Coffee to win the hearts of consumers. Nevertheless, creating truly loyal customers is not instantaneous; rather, it requires strategies capable of managing perceptions and emotional closeness.

To dissect this phenomenon, the study adopted a quantitative method involving 212 coffee shop consumers in DKI Jakarta through an online survey. The gathered primary data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to accurately test the causal relationships among variables.

The data analysis revealed several key findings:

• Both holistic brand experience (brand gestalt) and emotional attachment (brand attachment) prove to significantly exert a direct positive effect on enhancing customer satisfaction.
• Emotional attachment has a significant direct effect on customer loyalty, whereas brand gestalt does not directly affect loyalty significantly without passing through satisfaction.
• Customer satisfaction statistically proves to be a significant mediating variable connecting both brand experience and emotional attachment to customer loyalty.

These findings confirm that visual appeal or brand storytelling alone is not enough to secure customer loyalty unless accompanied by a satisfying experience that meets their expectations. Dhea Puspita Sari and Budiman Abdulah suggest that coffee shop managers should focus more on consistently improving product quality, service friendliness, and atmospheric comfort to transform satisfaction into a loyal long-term relationship.

Author Profiles:

• Dhea Puspita Sari: Lead researcher and corresponding author, affiliated with Muhammadiyah University of Technology Jakarta, Indonesia, focusing on marketing management and consumer behavior.
• Budiman Abdulah: Co-author, affiliated with Muhammadiyah University of Technology Jakarta, Indonesia, specializing in business management and organizational strategy.

Research Source:

• Journal Article Title: Brand Gestalt and Attachment Effect on Coffee Shop Loyalty Through Satisfaction
• Journal Name: International Journal of Management Analytics (IJMA)
• Publication Year: 2026
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.59890/ijma.v4i3.15