In a pilot survey focusing on assessing consumers' preferences for sneakers, thirty (30) respondents were asked to indicate the importance of the criteria of comfort, durability, and style, using a 7-point scale (where 1=not at all important and 7=very important). Results of the pilot survey are presented below:

Group Statistics Std. Error Sex of Respondent N Mean Std. Deviation Mean Comfort Female 15 3.80 1.897 490 Male 15 5.47 1.187 307 Durability Female 15 5.67 1.047 .270 Male 15 4.00 1.690 436 Style Female 15 4.87 1.767 456 Male 15 4.53 1.685 435 Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances 1-test for Equality of Means 95% Confidence Interval of the Mean Std. Error Difference F Sig. df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Difference Lower Upper Comfort Equal variances 4.305 047 -2.884 28 007 -1.667 .578 2.850 -.483 assumed Equal variances not -2.884 23.506 008 -1.667 .578 -2.861 -.473 assumed Durability Equal variances 929 343 3.247 28 003 1.667 513 615 2.718 assumed Equal variances not 3.247 23.358 004 1.667 513 606 assumed 2.728 Style Equal variances 007 933 .529 28 601 333 630 -.958 1.625 assumed Equal variances not 529 27.936 601 .333 630 -.958 assumed 1.625