The distinct stages a product goes through before it becomes obsolete. b. the process of growth and decline that retail outlets, like products, experience which consists of the early growth, accelerated development, maturity, and decline stages. c. the cycle of a customer's buying behavior from awareness of a product to its ultimate purchase. d. the relationship between the tangible aspects of a product and the types of services that need to accompany it. e. the traditional management changes that take place as a retail outlet grows.

Recently, verizon wireless ran a pricing trial in order to estimate the elasticity of demand for its services. the manager selected three states that were representative of its entire service area and increased prices by 5 percent to customers in those areas. one week later, the number of customers enrolled in verizon's cellular plans declined 4 percent in those states, while enrollments in states where prices were not increased remained flat. the manager used this information to estimate the own-price elasticity of demand and, based on her findings, immediately increased prices in all market areas by 5 percent in an attempt to boost the company's 2016 annual revenues. one year later, the manager was perplexed because verizon's 2016 annual revenues were 10 percent lower than those in 2015"the price increase apparently led to a reduction in the company's revenues. did the manager make an error? yes - the one-week measures show demand is inelastic, so a price increase will decrease revenues. yes - the one-week measures show demand is elastic, so a price increase will reduce revenues. yes - cell phone elasticity is likely much larger in the long-run than the short-run. no - the cell phone market must have changed between 2011 and 2012 for this price increase to lower revenues.

Your take on decision making process

Exercise 2-12 cost behavior; high-low method [lo2-3, lo2-4] speedy parcel service operates a fleet of delivery trucks in a large metropolitan area. a careful study by the company’s cost analyst has determined that if a truck is driven 120,000 miles during a year, the average operating cost is 11.6 cents per mile. if a truck is driven only 80,000 miles during a year, the average operating cost increases to 13.6 cents per mile. required: 1.& 2. using the high-low method, estimate the variable and fixed cost elements of the annual cost of truck operation. (round the "variable cost per mile" to 3 decimal places.)