A marketing company is analyzing the preferences of consumers who buy organic products. They survey 300 customers who made recent purchases at an upscale organic food store located in a major city. The company plans to use this data to predict the preferences of all consumers who purchase organic products nationwide.

Question

Which of the following is a key limitation of using this sample to predict the preferences of the entire population of organic product consumers?

A.
The sample size is too small to represent the entire population of organic product consumers.

B.
The sample is limited to a specific demographic of consumers who shop at upscale stores, which may not represent the general population of organic product consumers.The sample is limited to a specific demographic of consumers who shop at upscale stores, which may not represent the general population of organic product consumers.

C.
The sample only includes customers who recently made purchases, excluding those who may have purchased organic products in the past but not recently.

D.
The preferences of the sample consumers will change over time, making their predictions inaccurate.

Answer 1

The key limitation of using this sample to predict the preferences of the entire population of organic product consumers is:

B. The sample is limited to a specific demographic of consumers who shop at upscale stores, which may not represent the general population of organic product consumers.

This option highlights that the sample drawn is from a specific group of consumers (those shopping at upscale stores) which may lead to bias in understanding the preferences of the broader population of organic product consumers, who may have different shopping habits and preferences.