Scenario 15-1 One of the Nation's Most Popular Times for Sales Promotions

question 75

Multiple Choice

Scenario 15-1
One of the nation's most popular times for sales promotions was a great deal longer than usual in 2010.Black Friday, which typically takes place the Friday following Thanksgiving, started in October for a number of retailers and was also scheduled to occur throughout the month of November.Sears and Walmart, who had been experiencing a continuous decline in sales recently, were the biggest names behind the move.Executives from a number of companies began to realize that consumers respond to the word "sale," regardless of the time of year, so they decided to simply stretch the period of time in which their biggest sales ran.Companies designed new sale flyers and circulars, and began to promote the various sales on their websites.Other companies such as Target
were also implementing a similar strategy-by emphasizing savings earlier in the season and for a longer period of time, company executives hoped their brand would be the first, second, and last choice for consumers during the holiday season.
(Stephanie Clifford, "Stores Push Black Friday Into October." The New York Times, October 28, 2010.)
-(Scenario 15-1) Implementing contests and sweepstakes can be a challenging task.One of the difficulties in implementing an effective sweepstakes is:

• A)generating interest in the brand, not just in the sweepstakes.
• B)choosing a winner in a manner which keeps everyone happy.
• C)The entire implementation could falter and leave consumers disappointed.
• D)notifying the winner when the sweepstakes is over.

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Definitions:

Elastic

Refers to the responsiveness of demand or supply to changes in price or income.

Percentage Change

A mathematical calculation that represents the degree of change over time, expressed as a percentage.

Elasticity Coefficient

A numerical measure of how responsive the quantity demanded or supplied of a good or service is to changes in its price or other factors.

Tax on Cigarettes

A financial charge imposed on the sale of cigarettes, often used as a public health tool to discourage smoking and to raise revenue for health initiatives.