Burnside Marketing Research conducted a study for Barker Foods on some designs for a new dry cereal. Three attributes were found to be most influential in determining which cereal had the best taste: ratio of wheat to corn in the cereal flake, type of sweetener (sugar, honey, or artificial), and the presence or absence of flavor bits. Seven children participated in taste tests and provided the following part-worths for the attributes:
Wheat/Corn Sweetener Flavor Bits
Child Low High Sugar Honey Artificial Present Absent
1 15 35 30 40 25 15 9
2 30 20 40 35 35 8 11
3 40 25 20 40 10 7 14
4 35 30 25 20 30 15 18
5 25 40 40 20 35 18 14
6 20 25 20 35 30 9 16
7 30 15 25 40 40 20 11
Suppose the overall utility (sum of part-worths) of the current favorite cereal is 75 for each child. What is the product design that will maximize the share of choices for the seven children in the sample?
The optimal solution is a cereal with a __high/low_wheat/corn ratio, a __artificial/sugar/honey_ sweetener, and ___with/no_ flavor bits. Children _4,5,7/1,2,4/3,4,5,7/1,2,4,5__will prefer this cereal.
Assume the overall utility of the current favorite cereal for children 1-4 is 70, and the overall utility of the current favorite cereal for children 5-7 is 80. What is the product design that will maximize the share of choice for the seven children in the sample?
The optimal solution is a cereal with a _high/low_ wheat/corn ratio, a _artificial/sugar/honey__ sweetener, and _with/no__ flavor bits. Children __4,5,7/1,2,4/3,4,5,7/1,2,4,5__ will prefer this cereal.
