In an article in the Journal of Retailing, J. G. Blodgett, D. H. Granbois, and R. G. Walters investigated negative word-of-mouth consumer behavior. In a random sample of 201 consumers, 150 reported that they engaged in negative word-of-mouth behavior (for instance, they vowed never to patronize a retailer again). In addition, the 150 respondents who engaged in such behavior, on average, told 4.88 people about their dissatisfying experience (with a standard deviation equal to 6.11).
a. Use these sample results to compute a 95 percent confidence interval for the proportion of all consumers who engage in negative word-of-mouth behavior. On the basis of this interval, would it be reasonable to claim that more than 70 percent of all consumers engage in such behavior? Explain.
b. Use the sample results to compute a 95 percent confidence interval for the population mean number of people who are told about a dissatisfying experience by consumers who engage in negative word-of-mouth behavior. On the basis of this interval, would it be reasonable to claim that these dissatisfied consumers tell, on average, at least three people about their bad experience? Explain. Note: t.025 = 1.98 when df = 149.