I suspect that there’s a bimodal distribution with COVID concern. In one group is the people who aren’t concerned, or are only a little concerned. They might not eat or drink inside, but they have no problem going to a grocery story or buying a coffee inside. For them, ordering outside has no benefit but some downside (lack of normalcy and the normal reasons that ordering isn’t done outside, like inclement weather). Obviously there is the real downside of COVID risk, but they’re either not very concerned or don’t believe in it.
In the other group are people who are quite concerned. They would never eat or drink inside, and going to the grocery story would be a stretch, as would ordering a coffee from Starbucks. But generally, they’d consider the pros and cons and not buy a coffee, likely whether it is indoors or outdoors, since they probably aren’t doing the math and are just judging the activity by the general “safe” versus “unsafe” buckets. These type of people are likely not going to be going to Starbucks, regardless. This is doubly the case since people often go to a cafe as part of another activity, which this second group of people is less likely to be doing.
Because the second group isn’t going to be buying coffee, Starbucks isn’t going to be particularly worried about catering to them. Thus Starbucks is likely only considering the effects on their business from the first group of people, and that first group would rather be indoors than outside.
Obviously this is a massive generalization, and it’s really more of a spectrum, but I think the analysis still holds when stretched out over the average group. They’ll cater the most to the people who buy coffee at Starbucks the most, and those are the people who are going to be the least concerned about it being outdoors.
I suspect that there’s a bimodal distribution with COVID concern. In one group is the people who aren’t concerned, or are only a little concerned. They might not eat or drink inside, but they have no problem going to a grocery story or buying a coffee inside. For them, ordering outside has no benefit but some downside (lack of normalcy and the normal reasons that ordering isn’t done outside, like inclement weather). Obviously there is the real downside of COVID risk, but they’re either not very concerned or don’t believe in it.
In the other group are people who are quite concerned. They would never eat or drink inside, and going to the grocery story would be a stretch, as would ordering a coffee from Starbucks. But generally, they’d consider the pros and cons and not buy a coffee, likely whether it is indoors or outdoors, since they probably aren’t doing the math and are just judging the activity by the general “safe” versus “unsafe” buckets. These type of people are likely not going to be going to Starbucks, regardless. This is doubly the case since people often go to a cafe as part of another activity, which this second group of people is less likely to be doing.
Because the second group isn’t going to be buying coffee, Starbucks isn’t going to be particularly worried about catering to them. Thus Starbucks is likely only considering the effects on their business from the first group of people, and that first group would rather be indoors than outside.
Obviously this is a massive generalization, and it’s really more of a spectrum, but I think the analysis still holds when stretched out over the average group. They’ll cater the most to the people who buy coffee at Starbucks the most, and those are the people who are going to be the least concerned about it being outdoors.