📚 Learning Guide
Price Elasticity of Demand
hard

A local coffee shop decides to increase the price of its signature latte by 10%. After the price increase, the shop notices that the quantity of lattes sold decreases by 15%. What can the coffee shop conclude about the price elasticity of demand for their lattes?

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Learning Path

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Choose the Best Answer

A

Demand is elastic, as the percentage change in quantity demanded is greater than the percentage change in price.

B

Demand is inelastic, as the quantity demanded remains unchanged regardless of price.

C

Demand is unitary elastic, as the percentage change in quantity demanded equals the percentage change in price.

D

Demand is perfectly inelastic, as consumers are willing to buy the lattes at any price.

Understanding the Answer

Let's break down why this is correct

Answer

The coffee shop can calculate price elasticity of demand by dividing the percentage change in quantity sold by the percentage change in price. In this case, a 10 % price increase leads to a 15 % drop in sales, so the elasticity is –15 % ÷ 10 % = –1. 5. Because the absolute value of 1. 5 is greater than 1, the demand for lattes is elastic, meaning consumers are sensitive to price changes.

Detailed Explanation

Elasticity measures how much quantity changes when price changes. Other options are incorrect because The idea that quantity stays the same is called inelastic demand, but here the quantity fell; Unitary elasticity would mean the percentage change in quantity equals the percentage change in price.

Key Concepts

Price Elasticity of Demand
Consumer Behavior
Market Dynamics
Topic

Price Elasticity of Demand

Difficulty

hard level question

Cognitive Level

understand

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