Success is dependent on whether the buyer feels recognized, reduced … or even abused. Researchers call it the Starbucks Effect. Across five experiments, people showed dramatically stronger preference for bakeries, cafés, and chocolatiers that used their name instead of an order number. Liking went up 37.5%. Preference went up 32.6%. Even satisfaction nudged up. On paper (or in an email) this sounds super-obvious. In practice, I’ve seen many brands dreadfully misuse this power. The effect is...