Scenario 16-4 Consider the Problem Facing Two Firms, Burger Prince and McDaniel's

question 344

Multiple Choice

Scenario 16-4
Consider the problem facing two firms, Burger Prince and McDaniel's, in the fast-food restaurant market. Each firm has just come up with an idea for a new fast-food menu item which it would sell for $5. Assume that the marginal cost for each new menu item is a constant $3, and the only fixed cost is for advertising. Each company knows that if it spends $16 million on advertising it will get 2 million consumers to try its new product. Burger Prince has done market research which suggests that its product does not have any "staying" power in the market. Even though it could get 2 million consumers to buy the product once, it is unlikely that they will continue to buy the product in the future. McDaniel's's market research suggests that its product is very good, and consumers who try the product will continue to be consumers over the ensuing year. On the basis of its market research, McDaniel's estimates that its initial 2 million customers will buy one unit of the product each month in the coming year, for a total of 32 million units.
-Refer to Scenario 16-4.By its willingness to spend money on advertising,McDaniel's

• A) signals the quality of its new product to consumers.
• B) signals that it is not a profit maximizer.
• C) is detracting from the efficiency of markets.
• D) will drive Burger Prince out of the market.

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