assignment

A. What are the three data products you explored?

1. Fruit and Vegetable Prices

2. Food Consumption estimates

3. Food Dollar Series

B. In a few sentences and for each data product you selected, describe what type of data each of the data products provides (e.g., types of measures, prices, counts, commodities, etc.).

1. Fruit and vegetable prices has averages of prices of various commodities

2. Food Consumption estimates concentrates on the average daily intakes of the foods. The data as well has the recommended intake per a thousand calories.

3. Food Dollar Series has data that has measures of the annual expenditures by U.S. consumers on domestically produced food. The series is composed of three primary series which include the marketing bill series, the industry group series, and the primary factor series

C. In a few sentences and for each data product you selected, describe what type of “marketing intelligence” you may be able to provide with each data product? In other words, how might your or another firm benefit by having this kind of information?

1. When the average prices of various commodities are known, it is a great way to know the sort of pricing to do in marketing. That is for example, psychological pricing. With prices known, a marketer can tell the amount of supply to target and be able to project demand too.

2. With regards to the average daily intake of foods, still demand could be known. Noting that at the end of the day prices are a product of the interactions between this aspect and supply, data on demand would be essential at determining how much to supply and at what cost to achieve optimum results.

3. Annual expenditure on food is relevant to tell the class of individuals that a firm is dealing with. Annual expenditure on food specifically can help with the estimation of incomes which would be applied in other non-food related areas as well.

D. In a few sentences and for each data product you selected, describe the short falls of each data product you selected. For example, what kind of information does the data not provide that would be helpful? How up to date is it? Is the level of aggregation to high or low?

1. There are averages indicated for fruits and vegetables. However, the specific vegetables are not known. There are also specific bits of information such as which fruits/vegetables were consumed more. Such hints would be important when it comes to averages.

2. Estimates of various food intakes doesn’t indicate the distribution of such over various demographics. Without proper knowledge on consumption distribution, there is a handicap on how much can be told with regards to distribution on such aspects as income and Geography. E.g. The difference between urban and sub-urban areas.

3. While annual expenditure on food can be very significant, it isn’t sufficient with regards to categorization. It is too general. There is a distinct miss on the expenditure on different types of foods and besides, specifics are not easily found. This is a handicap when it comes to marketing. There is an extremely high level of aggregation.

2