Last name and acquisition timing. Refer to the Journal of Consumer Research (Aug. 2011) study of the speed with which consumers decide to purchase a product, Exercise 9.14 (p. 476). Recall that the researchers theorized that consumers with last names that begin with letters later in the alphabet will tend to acquire items faster than those whose last names are earlier in the alphabet (i.e., the last name effect). Each in a sample of 50 MBA students was offered free tickets to attend a college basketball game for which there was a limited supply of tickets. The first letter of the last name of those who responded to an e-mail offer in time to receive the tickets was noted and given a numerical value (e.g., “A” = 1, “B” = 2, etc.). Each student’s response time (measured in minutes) was also recorded.

a. The researchers computed the correlation between the two variables as r = -.271. Interpret this result.

b. The observed significance level for testing for a negative correlation in the population was reported as p-value = .018. Interpret this result for a = .05.

c. Does this analysis support the researchers’ last name effect theory? Explain.