Ethnography Study of Coffee House

From Mc World and cow boy capitalism to cultural ecumene and glocalisation, theorists are continually inventing polychromatic phrases to explain their differing points of view on cultural shifts caused by globalisation. “Globalization has been associated with a range of cultural consequences. These can be analysed in terms of three major theses, namely, homogenization, polarization, and hybridization,” (Holton 2000). This essay seeks to lend credence to the hybridization thesis, by observing a coffee house located in the developing country of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). Focusing on the aesthetics of the café and the purchase behaviour of its customers, this essay intends to evaluate the attempt of this organisation to create a coffee culture in T&T. This evaluation will then inform the argument of hybridization by demonstrating how cultures exchange elements with each other thereby creating new, hybrid identities.

An ethnography study was conducted at Rituals Coffee House (Rituals) located in the city of San Fernando in T&T. The study was conducted between 12:00-1:30pm. Interviews were conducted on five customers to gauge how often they drank coffee and whether they believed that T&T owns a coffee culture or is in the process of creating one. The results of this are provided later in the essay.

Rituals coffee house is a high end café with franchises in nine Caribbean islands. The outlet chosen for the study is a small, quaint café located on a corner and enclosed by glass automatic doors to the front and large glass windows to the side. While walking in, the atmosphere noticeably transformed the congestion and hectic life of the city to a pleasant, relaxing overtone filled with the scent of freshly brewed coffee and the soft sounds of steel pan in the back ground. The café was explicitly designed to imitate international coffee chains such as Starbucks. The coffee bar and cash counter was located straight ahead from the door. Round wooden chairs and