By Stephanie Krömer and Kathrin Maulbetsch

“Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”
Starbucks Mission Statement

This quote is the first sentence of the Starbucks Mission Statement and shows that human beings are the center of attention at Starbucks. In this article we want to analyze to which extent a company, that claims to love the human spirit, is an example for Human Spirit Marketing. First of all we want to have a closer look at Kotler’s definition. According to Kotler “Marketing should no longer be considered as only selling and using tool to generate demand” (Kotler 2010, p. 45). Instead marketers should approach costumers “as whole human beings with mind, hearts, and spirits” (Kotler 2010, p. 4), because “consumers are looking for solutions to their anxieties about making the globalized world a better place”. (ibid).