Randolph, MA (February 5, 2003) -- Are you tempted by French Vanilla or does traditional coffee make your day? According to a recent survey by Dunkin' Donuts, coffee and donut habits say a lot about you and your perfect match. To announce the fascinating facts about coffee and donut personalities, the largest coffee and baked goods chain, Dunkin' Donuts, has partnered with The Cooking Couple™ -- Ellen and Michael Albertson -- America's foremost food, relationship and romance experts, to talk about the "he dunks, she sips" results.
The national study1 to assess coffee and donut habits and personality traits was conducted in summer 2002 by Guideline Research Corp. The results show how men and women differ in their coffee and donut habits and how coffee preferences can provide insight into an individual's personality. According to the survey2, most women prefer to drink coffee in their pajamas (54%) or in robes (38%) and eat donuts at home (41%), while men typically take their morning cup of coffee in the car when driving to work (50%) and have their donut on the go (39%). Research also found that males, who are the heavier buyers of coffee and purchase more donuts than females, typically get up the minute their alarm goes off (58%) while women like to hit the snooze button (42%) and set the coffee pot on a timer the night before (26%).
In addition to the gender differences identified through the survey results, four personality types were determined based on coffee and donut preferences:
- Auto-Perk: Moderate and typically female coffee drinkers (74%), who prefer traditional coffee on a daily basis, but opt for Cappuccino (53%) as a treat. The Auto-Perk is a highly active, outgoing, traditional, affectionate, careful and calm individual.
- Social Bean: Is just as likely to be male or female and drinks traditional coffee less than three times a week (79%). The Social Bean is a heavy user of creaming agents (47%) and flavorings (12%) such as French Vanilla (47%) but prefers gourmet coffees to traditional coffee. Social beans are typically honest, creative and cautious.
- Daily Grind: This mostly male group (66%) drinks a heavy amount of traditional coffee (85%) throughout the day. Grinders are career driven, commuters and risk takers.
- Classic Dunkers: This group is the least likely to drink any gourmet coffees and most likely to drink decaf (33%) or instant (25%). These classics are truthful, relaxed, conservative and old-fashioned.
"As we looked through the personality survey results we noticed the correlation among morning rituals, personality traits and the differences between men and women," said Judy Wnek, Donut Category Manager, Dunkin' Donuts. "What better way to illustrate those differences than through a partnership with The Cooking Couple™, a husband and wife team, who personify the survey and host a show that shares in our values of food and fun."
"We are thrilled to be working with the authority on coffee and donuts on such a revealing survey," said Ellen Albertson of The Cooking Couple™. "We bring food, family and fun to life every week on our radio show and feel the Dunkin' Donuts brand represents those very same ideas."
The Cooking Couple™ broadcasts a weekly nationally syndicated radio show, based out of Boston, and are authors of the bestselling book on food and romance titled Temptations. The cooking team will kick-off the Dunkin' Donuts partnership with a national radio tour on February 11th. The tour will explore the fun facts found throughout the Dunkin' Donuts survey. Additionally, consumers can take the Dunkin' Donuts personality survey and find out about themselves and their romantic partner by visiting dunkindonuts.com and clicking on the Valentine's link.
1 The Dunkin' Donuts Personality Survey was conducted in summer 2002 by Guideline Research Corp. Guideline Research conducted 505 national telephone surveys and 251 telephone surveys among people living in the Northeast. A total of 380 females and 376 males were interviewed. The margin of error is +/- 5 percent on the national totals and somewhat higher for the Northeast.
2 The data is based on the National Sample of 505 interviews; 255 females and 250 males.
About Dunkin' Donuts
Dunkin' Donuts is the largest coffee and baked goods chain in the world, providing its loyal customers with high quality coffee, bagels, donuts and other related baked goods since 1950. With more than 5,000 combined locations in the United States and 31 other countries, Dunkin' Donuts has established a worldwide reputation for quality, freshness and convenience. Dunkin' Donuts is based in Randolph, MA and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Allied Domecq (NYSE: AED).
