A Consumer Researcher Wanted to Know If Customers Really Are

question 39

Essay

A consumer researcher wanted to know if customers really are influenced to buy more from sales clerks who smile. To test this, clerks at eight stores in a large Canadian clothing chain were given special instructions at the start of a week and then sales over the week were recorded. Four of the stores were randomly selected to have the clerks receive instructions to be especially courteous and to smile a lot. Clerks at four other stores were simply instructed to be especially courteous. Sales (in thousands of dollars)for the four stores in the smile condition were 36, 40, 36, and 44; sales for the four stores in the control condition were 40, 31, 27, and 30. Do these results suggest that customers might buy more if they encounter smiling sales clerks? (Use the .05 level.)
a. Use the five steps of hypothesis testing.
b. Figure the effect size and estimated power.
c. Explain your findings.

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Definitions:

Plantwide Overhead Rate

A single overhead rate calculated for an entire manufacturing plant, used to allocate overhead costs to multiple production departments or products.

Machine Hours

A measurement representing the operational running time of machinery, used in allocating manufacturing overhead costs based on usage.

Overhead Assigned

The process of allocating indirect costs to specific cost objects, such as products or services, based on predetermined rates or bases.

Allocation Base

A criterion or standard used to distribute costs among multiple cost objects in a fair and systematic manner.