When you see someone take that first sip of freshly made milk tea, their face looks like pure joy. Today, millions of people enjoy this experience. Across the world, customers flock to their favorite spots to meet with friends and savor sips of these tasty drinks.
In the early 2000s, though, milk tea was just coming on the scene. The few brands that had successfully established themselves in the industry were dearly concerned: Would milk tea just be another fashion food? Sure, people are enjoying it today, but would they still be in a year, or five years? And with so much new excitement for this product, would people be able to distinguish milk tea companies?
These are the questions that Serenitea, a Manila-based milk-tea company, faced in 2014. While successfully opening 60 stores, they found themselves in a strategic fog, which led them to research into the deep, unexplored psychology of milk tea.
Like Airbnb, Serenitea partnered with an agency, CIA Bootleg Manila (CBM), that specializes in drilling down to the deep consumer “why”. The agency conducted a series of intensive, psychological-based techniques in its market research. Specifically, they probed the consumer’s deeper, emotional connections to milk tea, including their earliest childhood memories of milk and tea.
What they found was that milk tea was a complex topic. Their research revealed that milk tea produces three consistent psychological responses. People connected to milk through the concept of nurturing (滋养); they fondly remembered their childhood and being cared for by their mothers. Next, consumers connected tea to its healing properties. Respondents would recall receiving tea when they had stomachache or seeing their parents drinking herbal tea for health reasons. Lastly, they associated milk tea itself with teenage fun: a guilty pleasure of their youth.
They had uncovered the three psychological cornerstones (基石) of the milk tea experience: nurturing, healing, and teenage fun. This set of insights was crucial. By integrating them into the core of their brand strategy, they struck out an entirely new path.
8. Which is closest in meaning to “probed ” in paragraph 4?
A.Applied. | B.Related. | C.Demonstrated. | D.Investigated. |
9. What can we learn from the passage?
A.Serenata planned to distinguish itself from competitors. |
B.Serenitea outperformed its opponents in research field. |
C.Serenitea suffered a temporary strategic failure in 2014. |
D.Serenitea partnered with a leading psychological agency. |
10. What can Serenitea do with the findings from their research?
A.Offer as many new flavors as possible. |
B.Create a youthful and playful brand image. |
C.Redesign stores by adding romantic elements. |
D.Conduct intensive market research with CBM. |
11. Which can be a suitable title for the text?
A.A New Path to Business Success | B.Three Cornerstones of Milk Tea |
C.Sharing the Pure Joy of Milk Tea | D.Revealing Milk Tea Psychology |