A travel company has hired a management consulting company to analyze demand in twenty-six regional markets for one of its major products: a guided tour to a particular country. The consultant uses data to estimate the following equation (the estimation technique is discussed in detail in Chapter 5):

Q = 1,500 - 4P + 5A + 10I + 3PX where Q = amount of the product demanded P = price of the product in dollars A = advertising expenditures in thousands of dollars I = income in thousands of dollars PX = price of some other travel products offered by a competing travel company

a. Calculate the amount demanded for this product using the following data:

P = +400 A = +20,000 I = +15,000 PX = +500

b. Suppose the competitor reduced the price of its travel product to $400 to match the price of this firm’s product. How much would this firm have to increase its advertising in order to counteract the drop in its competitor’s price? Would it be worth it for them to do so?

Explain.

c. What other variables might be important in helping estimate the demand for this travel product?