A Computer Start-Up Named Pear Is Considering Entering the U

question 99

Essay

A computer start-up named Pear is considering entering the U.S.market with what they believe to be a smaller and faster computer than some of the existing products on the market.They want to get a feel for whether or not customers would be willing to switch from some of the existing bigger brands to consider their product.They want to collect a reasonable sample from across the U.S.representative of all age brackets.They have split the United States into 2 regions: East and West.They want at least 65% of their sample to cover the East and no fewer than 25% of the West.They also have divided the age groups into 3 categories: 18-35,36-69,and 70 and up.They want at least 50% of their sample to be between 18-35 and at least 40% to be between 36-69.The costs per person surveyed is given in the table below: Assume that at least 1,000 people are to be surveyed.The problem is for Pear Company to decide how many people to survey from each age bracket within each region in order to minimize costs while meeting requirements.Find the optimal solution and minimum cost.

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Definitions:

Attitudes

Behavioral inclinations demonstrated through assessing a specific entity with a level of preference or aversion.

Adapt

To adjust or change one's behavior or thinking to suit a new situation or environment.

Conditioned Stimulus

A neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to evoke a conditioned response.

Unconditioned Stimulus

A stimulus (e.g., meat powder) that naturally evokes a particular response (salivation).