Final answer:
Walmart used market basket analysis, a data mining technique, to discover purchasing patterns and strategically adjust pricing for Children's Tylenol and orange juice during flu season. A functionalist perspective on Walmart's business model would focus on the benefits to consumers from lower prices. Antitrust regulations aim to prevent cartels like the late 1990s vitamin cartel, ensuring competitive practices and fair pricing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The approach Walmart used to discover that many people who buy Children's Tylenol also buy orange juice is called market basket analysis. This technique is part of a broader set of tools known as data mining, which involves analyzing large datasets to uncover patterns and relationships. Walmart's strategy involved using this information to adjust pricing strategically during flu season, by discounting Children's Tylenol to attract more customers and raising the price of orange juice due to the inferred increased demand from the same shopper demographic.
When considering low prices at Walmart from a functionalist perspective, a sociologist might view Walmart's practice of pressing vendors for the lowest possible prices as a means to provide goods at lower prices to core nation consumers. This is seen as benefiting consumers by allowing them access to products at affordable prices, which in turn could lead to a higher standard of living.
In antitrust cases, like the prosecution of the Vitamin cartel involving firms such as Hoffman-La Roche, BASF, and Rhone-Poulenc, regulators examine the collusion between firms that resulted in artificially high prices. These anti-competitive practices are harmful to consumers and the economy, and antitrust regulators work to dismantle such cartels and restore competition.