Question 3.101

3.101 Coupons and customer expectations.

A researcher studying the effect of coupons on consumers’ expectations makes up two different series of ads for a hypothetical brand of cola for the past year. Students in a family science course view one or the other sequence of ads on a computer. Some students see a sequence of ads with no coupon offered on the cola, while others see regular coupon offerings that effectively lower the price of the cola temporarily. Next, the students are asked what price they would expect to pay for the cola.

  1. Is this study an experiment? Why?
  2. What are the explanatory and response variables?

3.101

(a) Yes, this is an experiment because a treatment (ad without coupons, ad with regular coupons) is assigned for students to see. (b) The explanatory variable is the type of ad that is shown to the student (with and without coupons). The response variable is the price the student would expect to pay for the cola.