Precision Valve Corp. was about to initiate a new program directed to municipal water utilities…. 1 answer below »

Precision Valve Corp. was about to initiate a new program directed to municipal water utilities. With 12,000 utilities in its target market, some debate among the managers developed over whether the safety or economy should be stressed in the program. Using 400 labels printed in zip code order, Precision Valve sent letters emphasizing to the first half and emphasizing economy to the second 200 utilities.

Is this a good experiment? Does it allow Precision Valve to attribute differences in response rate to the appeal in the letter?

It's not unusual for companies to test program A against B by mailing program A in March and program B. Is this a good experiment? To what else can we attribute differences between the two programs? Would it be better to mail A and B at the same time to a sample of prospects (randomly assigned), one half to each of the programs?