Android or iPhone? Burritos or Tacos? Pepsi or Coke? These debates have raged on for decades. There is no easy answer, and everyone has an opinion. For this assignment, we were asked to take a research question and conduct a study. We decided to tackle the Coke vs. Pepsi debate.

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The question was, “Do people choose Coke or Pepsi based only on taste?” We used a blind taste test to gather quantitative data and a questionnaire to gather qualitative data. Using this data, we were able to definitively declare once and for all that they probably do not decide purely on taste alone. People detected different tastes and notes in each of the two drinks, despite their similarities. But on the other hand, there were a good number of people that couldn’t tell which was which.

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Using the data generated by the study, I created a 12-page product proposal for a new Pepsi variant called Pepsi Smooth. This report details the rationale for developing this new drink as well as a schedule, budgetary considerations, and a review of the research. All this information was packaged into a report written as if I were an actual Pepsi employee writing to the Chief Science Officer of PepsiCo.

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Developing this report required teamwork, rhetorical knowledge, a professional demeanor, and writing skills. This report is one of the final pieces I made at ASU and represents a combination of the many skills I learned. The level of refinement is beyond any of my earlier reports.