Montclair Study: Starbucks Still Dominates the Pumpkin Spice Social Media Conversation

 *For the Second Consecutive Year, Montclair Releases a Pumpkin Spice Study Prior to National Pumpkin Spice Day on Oct. 1*

A team of faculty and students from the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication in the School of Communication and Media at Montclair State University today released a new study examining 2023 conversations, trends and sentiment on social media about pumpkin spice. Starbucks, which is often credited with popularizing the fall flavor by launching its Pumpkin Spice Latte 20 years ago, still dominates the social media conversation despite copycat beverages and spawning products in bizarre categories that make pumpkin spice polarizing every late summer and early fall.

Highlights from the study from the School’s Center for Strategic Communication include:

• Combing through more than 21,000 social posts from August 27 to September 25, 2023, the Montclair team discovered 45% of social media users feeling positive about pumpkin spice, with only 5% feeling negative. The remaining 50% of the posts were deemed neutral.
• Further, specific emotions included excitement, anger and even mockery of the flavor.
• Seemingly, there are almost no categorical or product boundaries when it comes to pumpkin spice, as trash bags, engagement rings, caviar, tobacco, body wipes and a non-alcoholic dog brew are among the new products this season.
• Pumpkin spice sales are still on the rise – $802.5 million worth of pumpkin spice products were sold in 2022, up 42% from sales in 2019.
• Starbucks continues to dominate the realm of pumpkin spice coffee drinks. Specifically, when people search for PSL, they mean a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. When searching for “PSL,” 72% of people searched “Starbucks” specifically.
• Additionally, 52% of people searched for Starbucks when searching for “pumpkin spice latte” as opposed to Wendy’s (8%), Dunkin’ (4%) and Dutch Bros (4%).
• The team also found that social conversations around the term spiked over 100% on the first day Starbucks released its fall drinks on August 24.
• Large household brands continue to jump into the pumpkin spice trend, such as Wendy’s pumpkins spice frosty and Dunkin’s Ice Spice MUNCHKINS drink, a blend of pumpkin munchkins and frozen Dunkin’ Coffee.
• The study was released prior to National Pumpkin Spice Day on Sunday. Oct. 1. The full study is here: 2023 Montclair Pumpkin Spice Study

The study was conducted by faculty Dr. Jin-A Choi, Dr. Yi Luo and Dr. Bond Benton, with research and event planning assistance from students Nicole Comly and Gabrielle Myer. It was the eighth study released from the School’s Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication, which provides social media analytics tools and training for faculty and students for classroom learning and research projects.

“The data shows that America still loves pumpkin spice despite the range and ubiquity of the flavor in many different categories,” said Dr. Luo, who is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Media. “Sales continue to rise each year, as does the creativity of marketers seeking to leverage the popularity of pumpkin spice and insert their company or product into the social media conversation.”

“Starbucks has been a dominant player in the pumpkin spice space and Americans count down the days to the Starbucks fall menu release date each year,” continued Dr. Choi, who is the Director of Data Analytics for the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication and an Assistant Professor of Advertising. “Thanks to Starbucks, pumpkin spice lattes have become synonymous with fall, and it wouldn’t be surprising to find that Americans anticipate a cozy cup of pumpkin spice latte in the fall, much like drinking a cup of hot chocolate in the winter.”

This study is a follow up to a 2022 report from the Center for Strategic Communication on the same topic that garnered nationwide attention. That study was the first of seven studies released by the Center during the 2022-23 Academic Year.

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About the School of Communication and Media: Founded in 2012, the School of Communication and Media offers a range of dynamic programs in communication and media to a talented and diverse student population of over 1,800. Offering degrees in film and television, social media and public relations, advertising, journalism and digital media, sports communication, communication and media studies, animation and visual effects, and an MA in public and organizational relations, the School prepares the next generation of communication and media practitioners and leaders. The School houses award-winning student programs that include WMSC Radio, The Montclarion newspaper, Hawk Communications Agency, the Red Hawk Sports Network, Hawk+ OTT streaming platform, and News Lab, as well as the Center for Cooperative Media, which serves the public by working to grow and strengthen local journalism. Student projects and programs have recently received national recognition from PRSSA’s Bateman Competition, an Edward R Murrow Award, several Marconi Award nominations, and a College Television Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Media Contact: Keith Green, School of Communication and Media, 973-655-3701 or greenk@montclair.edu