Food processing companies and commercial cooks recently had to decide whether to use pure vanilla or artificial vanilla. A cyclone in Madagascar, the number one producer of vanilla, destroyed most of the vanilla plants. (It takes three years to grow a plant.) The cooks and the food processors require vanilla to prepare many of their products. Some thought was given to whether to pay the exorbitant price for real vanilla or substitute artificial vanilla and hope no one noticed. In this instance, the purchase of vanilla would have been an example of a _____ purchase for many cooks and processors.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The situation described involves a change in circumstances (the cyclone destroying vanilla plants and causing vanilla prices to rise) that forces cooks and food processors to reconsider their usual purchasing decisions. This scenario doesn't represent their routine purchase (straight rebuy) nor a completely new purchase (new-task buying) but rather a modified rebuy, where they are buying a product they have purchased before but under new conditions or specifications.

Food Processing Companies and Commercial Cooks Recently Had to Decide