Question

9 You are running a focus group on an ad campaign for a new energy drink called Slurm. All twenty participants are seated around a conference table. You decide to go around the table and ask each participant what he or she thinks of the ad. The first participant, Scruffy, says he loves it. The second participant, Zoidberg, says he loves it, too. The third participant, Leela, says she is also in favor of Slurm's campaign (i.e., she loves it). WHY NOT SLURM? 0 What will the other 17 participants say? Assume that each will say that they like the ad if the majority of independent signals suggest that the ad is Good. (2 points) a. b. Is it possible to infer Scruffy's private signal from his behavior? If so, state what the private signal is; if not, say why not. Be sure to explain. 2 points) c. Is it possible to infer Zoidberg's private signal from his behavior? If so, state what the private signal is; if not, say why not. Be sure to explain (2 points) Is it possible to infer Leela's private signal from her behavior? If so, state what the private signal is; if not, say why not. Be sure to explain. 2 points) d.

Answer 1

A. The 17 participants will say that the campaign is good as the independent signal given by each of the first 3 participants is good

B. Scruffs private signal is good. It is possibly to infer this because he is the first person to make that choice hence his choice is a private signal

C. Zoidbergs private signal is also good. This is because he is only the second person and he can either agree or disagree with Scruff

D. Leelas private signal cannot be inferred. This is because she is influenced by the opinion of Scruff and Zoidberg who both share the same point of view hence this affects the opinion of the entire group. If Zoidberg had not agreed with Scruff then the entire group would have had independent ideas irrespective of the herd