The producers of instant coffee found their
product strongly resisted in the market places despite their manifest
advantages. Furthermore, the advertising cost for instant coffee was far
greater than that for regular coffee. Efforts were made to find the cause of
the consumers “seemingly unreasonable resistance to the product”. The reason
given by most people was dislike for the taste. The producers suspected that
there might be deeper reasons. However, this was confirmed by one of motivation
research's classic studies, one often cited（引用）in the trade.
Mason Haire, professor of the University of
California, constructed two shopping lists that were the same except for one
item. There were six items common to both lists: hamburger, carrots, baking
powder, bread, canned peaches and potatoes, with the bands or amounts
specified. The seventh item, in the fifth place on both lists, read “1 Ib.
Maxwell House coffee” on one list and “Nescafe instant coffee” on the other.
One list was given to each person in a group of fifty women, and the other list
to those in another group of the same size. The women were asked to study their
lists and then to describe, as far as they could, the kind of woman（“personality and character”）who would draw up（制定）that shopping list. Nearly
half of those who had received the list including instant coffee described a
housewife who was lazy and a poor planner. On the other hand, only one woman in
the other group described the housewife, who had included regular coffee on her
list, as lazy; only six of that group suggested that she was a poor planner.
Eight women felt that the instant-coffee user was probably not a good wife. No
one in the other group drew such a conclusion about the house-wife who intended
to buy regular coffee.
53. In this instance, the purpose of
motivation research was to discover .
why people drink coffee
B. why instant coffee was successful
C. why regular coffee was successful
D. the real reason why people would not buy
instant coffee
54. This investigation indicates
that .
50 percent of housewives are lazy
B. housewives who use instant coffee are
lazy
C. many women believe that wives who use
instant coffee are lazy
D. wives who use regular coffee are good
planners
55. On the results of this test, the
producers probably revised their advertising to show a
.
lazy housewife using regular coffee
B. hard-working housewife using instant
coffee
C. lazy housewife using instant coffee
D. man obviously enjoying the taste of
instant coffee
56. It is implied but not stated
that .
A. Despite its advantages, most people
dislike instant coffee because of its taste.
B. The advertising cost for instant coffee
was greater than for regular coffee.
C. Very often we do not know the real
reasons for doing things.
D. Taste is the principal factor in
determining what we buy.
