Reference no: EM132396043

After hearing about the study, a manager at Forte claimed that "A conjoint study is a major deterrent to excellence in hotel design. It's a crutch for managers with no vision and conviction. On the surface, it sounds sensible enough: find out exactly what features customers prefer before you finalize the design. But in practice, this is impossible. Customers cannot tell you what they really prefer without experiencing all the choices available to them. Even if you show them pictures or prototypes, the preferences they express are apt to veer off in the direction of mediocrity. This type of study gives you a Hyundai with a Mercedes grille, Prince tennis rackets endorsed by Ed McMahon, Big Macs with everything, and hotels with no personality! You would not produce a Mazda Miata, a Hermes tie or the movie Jurassic Park with this technique." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?