Research Project -

Project Title - An investigation into the under-filling of tuna cans and the demand for a new product.

Cans are airtight containers which preserve processed food. These are mostly easy to cook food items with extended shelf life and can be conveniently stored under a variety of conditions. The global demand for these products is on the rise for a variety of reasons. One issue that gets attention in the media every now and then is underweighting or under-filling of the product cans. Underweighting or under-filling refers to the fact that the net weight of contents in the cans turns out to be less than the one specified on the label. Click here to see some example.

This assignment creates a hypothetical scenario where a consumer interest group decides to investigate this issue in Australia for tuna cans. The group hired some student volunteers from BUS1BAN class to collect the data. The interest group also managed to get a small market research project from a potential producer of a new variety of canned tuna (interested in quantifying the demand for the new variety) who agreed to pay students a lump sum amount for their effort.   

As part of the agreement, the students set up a stall in the Northland shopping centre for two month to collect data required for this analysis. The students would ask shoppers to check the weight of their tuna cans and taste the new variety of tuna. Let us refer to this as NewTaste Tuna (NT Tuna in short). 

For simplicity, let us assume that (i)  there are two brands of tuna cans in the market, brand A and brand B, (ii) both sold in standard cans that are supposed to weigh 100gm and (ii) both types of cans have the same price per 100gm. 

i. registered the type of Tuna can purchased by participants

ii. weighed the tuna cans and (a) registered its weight and (b) reported whether or not it was under-filled? (Note that students were advised that regulations allow a less than 2% difference in individual cans weights which means a can will be classified as under-filled if it weighed less than or equal to 98 grams.)

iii. Participants were requested to taste the NT tuna, cooked on the spot, and answer Yes or No to the following questions.

Will you purchase the NT tuna, instead of the brand you have purchased, if it was available in the market at: 

a. 0% discount: the same price as the tuna cans they have purchased,

b. 5% discount: 10% cheaper than the tuna cans they have purchased,

c. 10% discount: 20% cheaper than the tuna cans they have purchased,

d. 20% discount: 30% cheaper than the tuna cans they have purchased,

e. 25% discount: 40% cheaper than the tuna cans they have purchased,

A total of 645 participants participated in the survey. The data is provided to you in the excel spreadsheet. (Note: This is a hypothetical scenario and the data was generated by the subject coordinator for the purpose of this assignment and does not represent actual responses). 

Report Format -

The survey can be used to answer many interesting questions. You are however required to focus on specific questions listed below. The report must follow the following format. 

Provide a brief introduction to what this assignment is about and how your sample was selected? 

Calculate the proportion of customers who purchased brand A and brand B.

Use an appropriate chart to graphically display Information in the table above and verbally summarize your conclusions. Which brand is popular?

Use appropriate charts to plot the relative frequency distribution and cumulative relative frequency distribution table.

What proportion of each brand of cans is under-filled? Recall under-filling means the can is under-filled by 2 or more than 2 grams?

Use an appropriate chart to graphically display the above table.  Is the under-filling behaviour of brand A's producer any different from that of brand B's producer?

Using Excel, (i) construct a scatter plot of the discount offered on the new product (NT tuna) and the proportion of customers who said that they will buy the new product if they are offered the stated discount and (ii) fit a least square line using Excel displaying its equation and the value of R-squared.

Provide an  interpretation of the output  (Intercept, slope and R-squared). Is there any relationship between discount offered and potential demand for the NT tuna? 

What discount should be offered to customers if the producer of the NT tuna product wants to capture 25% of the existing market?

Attachment:- Assignment.rar