2024 – Discuss and compare the advantages and disadvantages of survey methods and test marketing Coca Cola Company introduced

1. Discuss and compare the advantages and disadvantages of survey methods and test marketing.

2. Coca-Cola Company introduced New Coke largely because of Pepsi’s success in taste tests head to head with Coke Classic.

   1. Blind taste tests

      Consider the following hypothetical information: (1) In blind taste tests, 58 percent of subjects preferred Pepsi to Coke Classic; (2) in similar tests, 58 percent of subjects preferred the taste of New Coke to Pepsi.

   2. Consider the following preference rankings of three different types of consumers A, B, and C:

<

<

 

<

<

 

<

<

 

< <   < <   Most preferred	< <   A (42%) >pepsi Pepsi	< <   B (42%) Coke Classic	< <   C (16%) Coke New Coke
Second choice Least preferred	Coke Classic New Coke	New Coke Pepsi	>pepsi Pepsi Coke Classic

<

<

 

As the table shows, 42 percent of consumers are “type A,” whose top preference is Pepsi, followed by Coke Classic and New Coke. Are these preferences consistent with the information in part (a)? What do you predict would be the result of a blind taste test between Coke Classic and New Coke?

1. Brand strategy

   From the information in part (b), what brand strategy would you recommend to Coca-Cola’s management? What additional information about consumer preferences might be useful?