A Catalog Company That Receives the Majority of Its Orders

question 86

Multiple Choice

A catalog company that receives the majority of its orders by telephone conducted a study to determine how long customers were willing to wait on hold before ordering a product. The length of waiting time was found to be a random variable best approximated by an exponential distribution with a mean length of waiting time equal to 3 minutes (i.e. the mean number of calls answered in a minute is 1/3) . What proportion of customers having to hold more than 4.5 minutes will hang up before placing an order?

• A) 0.22313
• B) 0.48658
• C) 0.51342
• D) 0.77687

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Definitions:

Approach-avoidance

A conflict or situation where a single goal or option has both appealing and negative aspects to it, leading to ambivalence.

Social Readjustment Rating Scale

A scale that measures the stress levels of different life events to predict their impact on an individual's health.

Inherently Stressful

Referring to situations, tasks, or conditions that are naturally predisposed to causing stress or tension.

Chronic Stressors

Threatening events that have a relatively long duration and no readily apparent time limit.