A company's production department was experiencing a high defect rate on the assembly line, which was slowing down production and causing wastage of valuable direct materials

The production manager decided to purchase a higher grade of materials that would be more reliable, but he was worried that the cost of the new materials might negatively affect operating income. This would produce a(n) ________.
A) unfavorable direct materials cost variance
B) favorable direct labor cost variance
C) favorable direct labor efficiency variance
D) unfavorable direct materials efficiency variance

A