Global Motors
Nick Thomas is an authority on automobile manufacturing. Like many good managers, he also knows he doesn't know everything. A number of issues may influence consumers' decisions regarding the cars they will demand in the future. Certainly, the general level of the economy, as measured by GDP, unemployment rate, and average incomes, affect the number and types of vehicles purchased.

Also, experience shows that specific issues are closely tied to automobile demand. Gasoline prices have always impacted market demand for various types of vehicles. Nick also knows consumers' perceptions and expectations about future gasoline prices are as important as the actual prices when it comes to car sales. A disturbing topic on which Nick has little real knowledge is global warming. He has read articles in the newspaper about climate change, and he knows it has become a target of political debate.

So far, he doesn't sense great concern among the public, but he knows that if evidence of global warming continues to grow and if consumers come to believe that gasoline emissions contribute to climate change, these trends will impact the automotive industry like nothing we've seen before. To Nick, global warming is the "800-pound gorilla in the room" that most people are ignoring or discounting. He hopes that global warming will not occur and what warming we do experience will ultimately be attributed to a normal change in climate that the Earth experiences from time to time. But Nick knows he cannot rely on his hopes; he needs better information if he is to plan for the future properly.

1. Go to secondary data sources such as your university's online databases. You may want to talk to your librarian or search online for the most appropriate databases for this topic. Search for some articles on "global warming" or "climate change." Take notes on the topics that are covered in the titles or abstracts and create an outline of the topics covered. This will help you become familiar with subject in greater detail.

2. Scan several of the articles you've found and outline key points made in the articles. Organize the articles based on the topics covered and write a five-page paper on the topic using subheadings to cover the different issues you've discovered.

3. Evaluate the sources you've used in your paper according to the criteria outlined in this chapter. Do you believe some sources of information are more trustworthy than others? How would you determine trustworthiness?

4. If Nick Thomas wants to learn how consumers' attitudes toward global warming are related to car-buying intentions, where might he find this data?