When Brian Niccol took over as Starbucks CEO on September 9, 2024, expectations ran high for a turnaround. On the day of his appointment – August 13 – shares of the company rallied 24%. But how have things panned out in terms of brand sentiment since then? We looked at YouGov BrandIndex data to find out whether there have been any meaningful shifts and how the brand compares against its biggest rivals Dunkin’ and Tim Hortons.

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Quality perceptions slip further

Starbucks’ Quality score among the general population, which spiked after his appointment became public, has dipped from 27.7 on the date of Niccol’s appointment to 23.5 by October 4, 2025. Dunkin’ and Tim Hortons have seen modest shifts during the period, although scores for them have inched upward. Dunkin’, which trailed behind Starbucks for eight months after Niccol’s appointment, has taken the lead since May of this year.

But it’s worth noting that Starbucks still stands tall among habitual outdoor coffee drinkers. Among those who buy takeaway coffee from chains at least once a week, Starbucks leads with an average Quality score of 43.1. This is well clear of Dunkin’s 33.8 and Tim Hortons’ 16.6 — a reminder that the brand retains a place of prominence when it comes to the core audience. The scores here represent an average from the day of Niccol’s appointment until Oct 4.

Value perception dips lower

Perceived value has proven the toughest challenge, which has always been an area of weakness for the coffee chain. While the brand’s Value score remained steady until June this year, things seemed to have been affected by the move to add an upcharge to flavor add-ons like syrups, sauces from June 23.

Value score has dipped from -12.0 to -18.3 since the day the change came into effect. Value perception for both Dunkin’ and Tim Hortons have crept up in the same period.

Among habitual takeaway coffee drinkers, Starbucks’ Value score does improve well into positive territory, but lags behind rivals (11.2 vs Dunkin’s 32.2 and Tim Hortons’ 12.6).

Consideration holds steady

In spite of slight rockiness with respect to other metrics, Consideration has remained relatively stable — shifting only marginally from 29.0% to 30.4%. This resilience suggests that despite dips in perceived Quality and Value, Starbucks retains its relevance when it comes to actually deciding on where to have a coffee.

Starbucks maintained a lead over Dunkin’ for much of the period after Niccol’s appointment, but an 8-percentage point boost for the latter starting in June to early July has flipped the tables more recently. Looking at habitual takeaway coffee drinkers, Starbucks’ average Consideration score from September 9 2024 to October 4, 2025 is well ahead of Dunkin’ (49.1 vs 41.7).

Methodology: YouGov BrandIndex collects data on thousands of brands every day. Quality score for Starbucks is based on the question: Which of the following restaurant chains do you think represents GOOD QUALITY? / Now which of the following restaurant chains represents POOR QUALITY?. Scores are reported as net scores from –100 to +100, based on daily surveys of US adults. Data is weighted using a propensity scoring methodology with targets from the American Community Survey (ACS) to ensure representation by age, gender, race, education, and region. Figures are shown as a 8-week moving average with sample size ranging from 4985 to 6967 between Jan 01, 2024 to Oct 04, 2025.