Student Research Symposium Program Portal: Submission #149

Abstract This study examines how visual branding influences high school students’ perceptions of coffee quality based on appearance alone. Specifically, the research compares student responses to an image of coffee labeled with a well-known Starbucks logo versus an identical image labeled with a generic coffee logo. Participants were high school students who completed a visual-only survey in which they rated perceived coffee quality without tasting the product. By isolating branding as the independent variable, the study aimed to determine whether brand recognition affects judgments of quality. The findings suggest that recognizable branding plays a significant role in shaping perceptions, even when no physical differences in the product are present. This research highlights the impact of marketing and visual cues on consumer perception and decision-making among adolescents.