business HW

BUS-121 Spring 2017 Consumer Purchasing Strategies Name:

Instructor: Frank Caperino and Wise Buying of Motor Vehicles Chap 6 Assignments / Notes

Chapter Assignments:

Pages 209: Optional: Financial Planning Problems 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 Your

Personal Financial Plan: Optional: Sheet 18 through Sheet 21

Required: The Cost of Convenience Project (10 points)

Using The Cost of Convenience slide (slide 32) in the chapter 6 presentation as your guide, create a table with

at least six entries. The first entry will be the cost of the food item in its raw, unprocessed state for 5 ounces.

(5 ounces is a typical serving size of food.) Easier examples include sugar, rice, beans, oats, corn, and

wheat. (Although it possible to choose them, items that would be harder to research and calculate include

dairy products, meats, and most fruits and vegetables.) The next five or more entries in the table will be

examples of the food item in processed products where the food item is the main ingredient in the product.

(Example: If you choose rice, plain unprocessed, uncooked rice would be your first entry. You could then

research rice cereal, Rice Krispies, rice cakes, rice noodles, rice pasta, rice milk, rice pudding, etc.)

In order to correctly compare products, you must calculate the cost of each item for 5 ounces. The formula

is: Food_Price * 5 / Number_of_Ounces. (For example, if the cost of the item is $2.59 and the package

weighs 10 ounces, you would multiply the $2.59 times 5 and then divide by 10 which is $1.295. You could

report either the exact $1.295 or round the number to the nearest cent which would be $1.30.)

If the item is weighed in pounds, multiply the weight by 16 ounces per pound.

A spreadsheet program will make constructing the table easier than just using a calculator.

Bonus point: Sort your results by cost and create a bar/column graph of your data.

Hint: If you find yourself having trouble doing the assignment, see if you can create the exact same slide in

the presentations using potatoes. (But go get your own prices for the potato products! Okay?)

Due: Wednesday, April 12th

Chapter Sections:

Consumer Buying Activities

Major Consumer Purchases: Buying Motor Vehicles

Resolving Consumer Complaints

Legal Options for Consumers

Chapter Terms:

impulse buying (damned credit cards!)

national brands versus store brands

unit pricing

rebate (Why are they popular?)

warranty versus service contract

mediation versus arbitration versus small claims court versus class-action suit versus legal aid society

transportation costs

used cars versus new cars

upside-down equity (a.k.a. negative equity)

leasing versus purchasing

residual value (a.k.a. lease-end value)

Culture of Consumption Scandals: clothes, pets, batteries, light bulbs, meat, bottled water, Cars, etc., etc., etc.