Scenario 4-2 Stronger Income Growth Among Upscale Shoppers Is Fueling Sales at Sales

Multiple Choice

Scenario 4-2
Stronger income growth among upscale shoppers is fueling sales at the high end, while slow job growth and higher energy costs are prompting more moderate-income consumers to search of bigger bargains. No retail sector is more squeezed from both sides than the department-store chains, most of which continue to lose sales to other retailers. That has opened the door for financier Edward S. Lampert, 42, whose plans to merge Kmart Holdings and Sears could result in Sears vacating 200 to 300 of its 871 mall-based stores Overriding all this jostling is the biggest question in retail: whether the planned merger of Kmart and Sears will work. The deal would accelerate Sears' strategy to move off the mall by taking some Kmart sites. The retailers believe, too, that they would benefit from cross-selling some of their proprietary brands, like Kenmore appliances. (Robert Berner, "Retail's Unhappy Middle Ground," Business Week Online, December 24, 2004.)
-(Scenario 4-2) In designing the new line of Kenmore appliances, the new models are to appeal to a more upscale user. If Sears chose to advertise an emotional benefit for the product,the most likely reason would be that

A) appliances are a mature product category, and thus it would be hard to differentiate the product based on functionality.
B) consumers don't usually consider functional benefits when choosing appliances.
C) the competition is also using emotional benefits.
D) consumers more readily accept emotional benefits.