A pet food company has a business objective of expanding its product line beyond its current kidney
A pet food company has a business objective of expanding its
product line beyond its current kidney- and shrimp- based cat
foods. The company developed two new products, one based on chicken
livers and the other based on salmon. The company conducted an
experiment to compare the two new products with its two existing
ones, as well as a generic beef-based product sold in a supermarket
chain. For the experiment, a sample of 50 cats from the population
at a local animal shelter was selected. Ten cats were randomly
assigned to each of the five products being tested. Each of the
cats was then presented with 3 ounces of the selected food in a
dish at feeding time. The researchers defined the variable to be
measured as the number of ounces of food that the cat consumed
within a 10- minute time interval that began when the filled dish
was presented. The results for this experiment are summarized in
the following table and stored in CatFood.
Kidney Shrimp Chicken Liver Salmon Beef
2.37 2.26 2.29 1.79 2.09
2.62 2.69 2.23 2.33 1.87
2.31 2.25 2.41 1.96 1.67
2.47 2.45 2.68 2.05 1.64
2.59 2.34 2.25 2.26 2.16
2.62 2.37 2.17 2.24 1.75
2.34 2.22 2.37 1.96 1.18
2.47 2.56 2.26 1.58 1.92
2.45 2.36 2.45 2.18 1.32
2.32 2.59 2.57 1.93 1.94
a. At the 0.05 level of significance, is there evidence of a
difference in the mean amount of food eaten among the various
products?
b. If appropriate, which products appear to differ significantly in
the mean amount of food eaten?
c. At the 0.05 level of significance, is there evidence of a
significant difference in the variation in the amount of food eaten
among the various products?
d. What should the pet food company conclude? Fully describe the
pet food company’s options with respect to the products.