Customer service (e.g., training program) Number of shoppers/ customers Returning customers Customer Satisfaction Safety (e.g., better lighting in parking lot) Revenue/Sales Cleanliness (clean toilets) Average no. of items sold per transaction OR Money Spent Pricing strategy (low prices) Promotion strategy (discounts)

A small local grocery has seen a decline in sales in the past few months. The owner has made no changes to the store in the last year. In the beginning, the owner thought the sales drop might be seasonal. However, looking at the past few years of sales data, the owner noticed that there had not been any decrease in sales during the same time in the previous years. Design a study to identify what might be the probable ultimate cause/s of the decline in sales for a grocery. For looking at the different causes, consider the box and arrow diagram given. Note the following things about the box and arrow diagram:

• If the arrow’s head is towards a box, that means the variable in the box (where the arrow’s head is) affects the variable in the box from where the arrow originated. E.g “Revenue/Sales” is affected by the “Number of shoppers/customers”.
• The boxes in grey are the variables you as a firm/owner can directly expect to affect which can further affect other variables in the model. E.g. You can incorporate training programs to improve “customer service” perceptions and, ultimately “Sales”.
• There is a hierarchy of the variables such that we have started from the broadest ones in the
  top and then went to the finer one.

The motivation for the research group here is to design a study for the store. This study is to find out the customer’s current perception regarding the different variables in the gray box (e.g., cleanliness, promotions offered, etc.) in the diagram on the next page, and their ultimate effect on “Sales” of the store. Now, assume that  a simple research study is designed considering one of the variables (in one of the grey boxes) that ultimately affect “Sales.” Thus, you are assuming, for your study, that one (and only one, to simplify) variable in the “grey boxes” is affecting “Sales”. It’s up to you which ONE VARIABLE (from one of the “grey boxes”) you want to choose. Based on this assumption,
answer the questions below based on this.

1. What is the a) dependent variable and b) factor? c) What are the factor levels? d) What type of factor is it?

2. What is the ideal type of study design (Independent measure OR Before-After OR Case-Control) for the study developed to test the relationship between the two variables? Why is the design chosen is the ideal design for the given scenario and not the other two types of study design Argue why for the current scenario chosen study design is superior to the other two study designs. What drawbacks might the other two designs have in this context? For example “Before-after design will not work here as it would need the same respondents being measured on perception of customer service before and after the manipulation. It is hard in a grocery store context to have the same customers shop before and after the customer service training is done.”

3. Show the experimental design of the research study developed in questions 1-3 (using “X’s” and “O’s’”). Mention what the X’s and O’s imply in the current case.