The Ice Cream Experiment: An Exercise in Understanding Customer Perceptions of Quality

Abstract

An experiential exercise involving an ice cream taste test is described. The experiment includes data collection, data analysis, and the presentation of results. The authors describe how all this can be completed in class, right before the students' eyes, using a preprogrammed Excel spreadsheet and a portable computer. The exercise motivates a discussion of the complex nature of customer perceptions of quality.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Certo, S. C. (1994). Modern management: Diversity, quality, ethics, and the global environment. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Garvin, D. A. (1987). Competing on the eight dimensions of quality. Harvard Business Review, 65, 101-109.

Goodman, J. A. , Broetzmann, S. M. , & Ward, D. S. (1993). Preventing TQM problems: Measured steps toward customer-driven quality. National Productivity Review, 12, 555-571.

Ice cream . (1986, July). Consumer Reports, 51, 432-436.

Ice cream: What's the scoop? (1994, June). Consumer Reports, 59, 373-377.

Ivancevich, J. M. , Lorenzi, P. , Skinner, S. J. , & Crosby, P. B. (1994). Management: Quality and competitiveness. Homewood, IL: Irwin.

Kotler, P. , & Armstrong, G. (1991). Principles of marketing (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Longnecker, C. O. , & Scazzero, J. A. (1993). Total quality management from theory to practice: A case study. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Measurement, 10, 24-31.