Vai trò của Instagram trong tiếp thị cà phê đặc biệt trong đại dịch covid 19 ở các tiểu vương quốc ả rập thống nhất UAE

ACADEMIA Letters
The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing
during the Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
Kurniawan Arif Maspul, International Open University

Abstract
This article describes how Instagram plays a role in helping the economic resilience of mediumsized businesses in the coffee industry in the United Arab Emirates. This qualitative article
uses observations and interviews with several respondents using the snowball sampling technique in data analysis and reference materials (Ghaljaie et al., 2017; Schensul et al., 1999).
The end result is that Instagram has an active role in helping the coffee business during the pandemic even to the new normal now. Several challenges were also found in using this platform
in digital marketing; however, optimizing the consistency of production and sales on-site and
online can maintain resilience in coffee sales in the United Arab Emirates (Maspul, 2021b).

The Correlation Between Coffee Consumption and Instagram
When the global community needs coffee to help with daily activities, coffee shops and roasteries have a role in helping provide convenience for people who need caffeine as their daily
booster. This has become commonplace in all areas in the United Arab Emirates, where coffee
shops and roasteries have become a bustling business favored by locals and ex-pats alike due
to a trend that has been popular among young people for the last five years (Maspul, 2021a).
Likewise, specialty coffee is a source of heavy flow for high sensory fans to enjoy single origins imported from various countries focusing on the tropics of cancer and Capricorn. Then
it is roasted from several well-known coffee roasters with unique curves in creating a classy
Academia Letters, September 2021

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Corresponding Author: Kurniawan Arif Maspul,
Citation: Maspul, K.A. (2021). The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing during the Pandemic in
the United Arab Emirates. Academia Letters, Article 3602. />
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taste for coffee lovers. It doesn’t matter what the price is with the certainty that you will get
for the high-class taste of the final coffee product (Bhumiratana et al., 2011; Giacalone et al.,

2019; Hedlund, 1958).
Furthermore, with the emergence of various kinds of roasteries scattered in multiple places
in the United Arab Emirates, there is fierce competition among 26 coffee roasteries that offer
coffee roasting to hundreds of coffee shops, so that trade competitions occur from B2B to B2C
(Bager & Lambin, 2020; Claro & de Oliveira Claro, 2004). Various roasting processes are
offered to suit the consumer’s taste, from light and Omni to medium roasts that fit consumers’
tastes. Likewise, coffee shops provide brewing drinks from classic French press to elegant
filter coffee drinks formulated through well-known products familiar to coffee lovers; Kalita
and Hario (Dwiranti et al., 2019; Várady et al., 2020). But how to give satisfaction to buyers
in adjusting the many sales options in the United Arab Emirates?
Residents in the United Arab Emirates are many expatriates who help turn the local economy into one of the most dynamically populated countries. The 5G internet network speed
that can be accessed super massively and quickly makes social media a significant need for
UAE citizens, especially young people, to entrepreneurs. In this case, Instagram is the wellknown and most popular platform used in the United Arab Emirates, with many influencers
from food, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and others flooding Instagram, making it the unique identity of each individual (Alghizzawi et al., 2019). This is evidenced by the massive number of
Instagram users in the United Arab Emirates, with a total of 6.68 million active users from
various generation levels. With a variety of unique entertainment platforms offered, Instagram
also has the uniqueness of being the identity of its users. Even the strong identity of Instagram
in playing the personal behavior of its users can be seen from 63% of Instagram users who
open multiple times every day (Prichard et al., 2020; Rovetta & Bhagavathula, 2020).
Although many social media have enlivened the gadgets of the United Arab Emirates
citizens, the emergence of Instagram as a robust platform in attracting users, especially with
the unique features offered. Especially after Facebook acquired Instagram for USD 1.2 billion
in 2012, making Instagram a turning point for the digital marketing economy for Facebook
(Glick & Ruetschlin, 2019; Soedarsono et al., 2020). The visualization provided by Instagram
makes it at the forefront of other social media platforms; this is also strengthened by the pivot
of human society through features on Instagram platforms such as Reels, for example, thus
making this platform powerful as a rendezvous of users not only in the United Arab Emirates
but in the world (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017; Szeto et al., 2021).
Meanwhile, the pandemic that emerged in the early quarter of 2020 forced all businesses
to close. Lockdown is the biggest challenge in other parts of the world and in the United Arab

Emirates. Likewise, residents who make coffee as their daily need make their everyday life
Academia Letters, September 2021

©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Kurniawan Arif Maspul,
Citation: Maspul, K.A. (2021). The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing during the Pandemic in
the United Arab Emirates. Academia Letters, Article 3602. />
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incomplete without coffee during the three months of lockdown (Mahaffey, 2020; Maspul,
2020). But uniquely, Coffee entrepreneurs do not run out of ideas; with many Instagram users
in the United Arab Emirates, it can be used as a solid thrust to make it a meeting platform
between sellers and consumers. Several coffee businesses promote coffee products through
Instagram, from roasted coffee products to ready-to-drink products such as instant coffee, cold
brew, etc. Market segmentation is getting more manageable during the pandemic, where the
convenience offered by Instagram strengthens the bond between sellers and buyers. Likewise,
the sales strategy uses several suggestions to engage consumers through visualization and
storytelling on Instagram.
Basically, humans like visualization in images and videos that can be resolved as identity
and reflection of specialty coffee. Then by uniforming a theme that is in harmony with connecting the initial and subsequent posts with a unique and attractive niche, it will also make the
relevance of the specialty coffee business look elegant and attract attention. In addition, color
adjustments and the consistency of the content offered are added values that consumers will be
interested in when learning about the products offered. Not to mention using hashtags so that
market segmentation of Instagram users can target the appropriate audience. This can also be
harmonized with the interactions offered through visualization and storytelling, which are the
basis of interest in content, where a personal connection from a Barista or Coffee Roaster will
be an added value in elevating the emotions of Instagram users (Fadillah, 2019; Kurniawan et
al., 2021).

Instagram as a Digital Marketing Platform and Strategy
Sales strategies through digital marketing are very effective in providing resilience to businesses in the United Arab Emirates, especially in the coffee industry. With the number of
Instagram users, Millennials are targeted in the segmentation of the coffee market and from
various age levels. This is interesting because the unique and creative posts delivered through
visualization and storytelling on Instagram make the audience interested in following and
deciding to buy the final product being marketed. Products offered through Instagram are
then converted through website purchases integrated with web-based e-commerce for payment methods and modes of delivery of purchased goods.
Respondents at coffee roasteries in the United Arab Emirates explained that the large number of followers who follow the tagline and post via Instagram has become a substantial market
during the Covid-19 period. This is reinforced where the audience’s need to consume coffee
during the pandemic has become crucial in meeting his daily caffeine needs. The majority
of respondents explained that Instagram is a platform that elevates audiences’ emotions into
Academia Letters, September 2021

©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Kurniawan Arif Maspul,
Citation: Maspul, K.A. (2021). The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing during the Pandemic in
the United Arab Emirates. Academia Letters, Article 3602. />
3


consumers during the pandemic by using Instagram’s purchase feature to convert consumer
behavior from first impressions in reading articles to buying actions. Coffee roasters and
coffee shops also regularly convey information from products and surveys or other types of
posts, making engagement with the audience even more intense. With the interactive ease
between coffee roasters and the audience, it is easy to find out what the market wants and
the final product of the coffee produced (roasting) by responding to comments and organic
messages expressed by the audience. Some coffee roasters also partner with influencers to
help recommend the final product that they sell.

As for consumers, the majority answered that the sales feature promoted through Instagram has a decisive role in meeting their caffeine needs. Likewise, with the use of coffee
roasters and baristas as figures in the leading service in the coffee sector, respondents from
consumers said that the attractiveness of their role was the primary choice they wanted to
try the final product offered. Respondents also added that they buy coffee in finished products and accessories provided by several local coffee roasteries, making coffee accessories as
additional sales on Instagram.
Meanwhile, there are several challenges in using Instagram, including too many competitors selling the same product. So it takes a unique and creative promotion in marketing the
product to create a sustainable sales strategy (Lehtonen, n.d.; Mou, 2020). Other challenges
include consumers who ask for a refund because of shipment delays and some products that
are packaged incorrectly, or goods are broken, so this can be handled on a case by case basis
from the seller. Apart from the existing challenges, Instagram has become a bridge between
coffee shops and roasteries in marketing their products.

Conclusion
Of the many Instagram users in the United Arab Emirates, of course, it can be used as an
opportunity in converting audience behavior into buyers. This has happened in the United
Arab Emirates even after the vaccination of 80% of the population. After normalizing sales
in coffee shops and roasteries, Instagram is still a unique platform for maximizing consumer
engagement. Promotional pst via Instagram can pave the way for traffic to product sales and
partnering with influencers. Analyzing the market and managing performance from the consistency of production and product sales are crucial in making coffee selling products more
sustainable.

Academia Letters, September 2021

©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Kurniawan Arif Maspul,
Citation: Maspul, K.A. (2021). The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing during the Pandemic in
the United Arab Emirates. Academia Letters, Article 3602. />
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Corresponding Author: Kurniawan Arif Maspul,
Citation: Maspul, K.A. (2021). The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing during the Pandemic in
the United Arab Emirates. Academia Letters, Article 3602. />
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©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0

Corresponding Author: Kurniawan Arif Maspul,
Citation: Maspul, K.A. (2021). The Role of Instagram in Specialty Coffee Marketing during the Pandemic in
the United Arab Emirates. Academia Letters, Article 3602. />
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