Yes, I think where an established culture exists in some boundaries that a franchise tries to grow into, it must adapt and offer its own variety within that. I know McDonald's would be different in, say, Japan, but it is likely the same within Japan.
It is a bit more startling in the United States because it is such a large country. Imagine crossing a reasonable fraction of the globe and the food is still the same! The comfort of the familiar is an incredibly strong lure and I believe it happens in ways that are so broad we can hardly see we are within them, like a bug on the surface of a tidal wave. Food and drink homogeneity is only one of the ways, but is likely one of the more primal. People of a certain age, when given Kosher-for-Passover Coke (still made with sugar) are delighted by the return to what they grew up with.
In any case, Starbucks wants a customer who, perhaps having had their fill of experimental recipes and lunches at new places, can reach for a stimulus just like they had before. It might mean a lot in an airport terminal after nights on a mattress you've never slept on before.
It is a bit more startling in the United States because it is such a large country. Imagine crossing a reasonable fraction of the globe and the food is still the same! The comfort of the familiar is an incredibly strong lure and I believe it happens in ways that are so broad we can hardly see we are within them, like a bug on the surface of a tidal wave. Food and drink homogeneity is only one of the ways, but is likely one of the more primal. People of a certain age, when given Kosher-for-Passover Coke (still made with sugar) are delighted by the return to what they grew up with.
In any case, Starbucks wants a customer who, perhaps having had their fill of experimental recipes and lunches at new places, can reach for a stimulus just like they had before. It might mean a lot in an airport terminal after nights on a mattress you've never slept on before.