The coffee shop experience and its associations with social capital and quality of life Online publication date: Wed, 30-May-2018
by Rohit Menon; Pat Crawford; Eunsil Lee; Zeenat Kotval-K
International Journal of Happiness and Development (IJHD), Vol. 4, No. 2, 2018
Abstract: A 'first place' is the home, while a 'second place' is the work setting. A 'third place' refers to places where people choose to linger. All three are keys to building social capital and improving quality of life. This study explored coffee shops in Greater Lansing, Michigan as a third place and its associations with social capital and quality of life. Survey participants (n = 196) rated factors that defined their social capital, their quality of life, and the importance of different elements within the coffee shop. Dimension reduction and multiple linear regressions were used to find significant relationships among the coffee shops to quality of life and to social capital. The quality of the intangible coffee shop characteristics significantly correlate with higher levels of quality of life and social capital. It is vital for business owners to celebrate the spirit of the place to improve the patrons' happiness in the third place.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Happiness and Development (IJHD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook