souvik101990 wrote:
Joanne: An increasing number of online retailers now allow customers to create “wish lists” of items they would like to receive as gifts. Such lists are certainly useful, but these retailers should also explore other ways to suggest gift purchases for these customers. In particular, without revealing the specifics of a customer's purchase history, a website could quickly analyze a retailer's entire inventory, select a list of items similar to those the customer has already purchased, and then e-mail that list to a group of contacts specified by the customer. Such a system would suggest gifts that, because of their similarity to the customer's prior purchases, would be extremely likely to appeal to the customer.
In the argument, Joanne assumes that the hypothetical customers
A. are familiar with most or all of the items in stock on the websites where they shop
B. would prefer novel gifts that are unlike the items they currently own
C. do not use retail websites primarily to purchase gifts
D. would be relatively unconcerned if their retail purchase histories were available to others
E. prefer online shopping to shopping in physical retail stores
(1) Identify the Question Type
The problem asks what is assumed by Joanne, so this is a Find Assumption question.
(2) Deconstruct the Argument
Joanne sees the introduction of “wish lists” on retail websites as a positive development. As an additional way to suggest gifts for customers, she says, retail websites should analyze those customers' previous purchases and generate gift ideas that are similar to those purchases. Because these items would be similar to things that the customer has already bought, Joanne reasons, they would be ideal gifts.
(3) State the Goal
We need to find what is taken for granted by Joanne in the argument. Her fundamental point is that a list of items similar to the customer's prior purchases should accurately reflect things that the customer would like for himself or herself (and would therefore make good gift ideas). To justify the premise that a customer's purchase history should reflect what that customer wants for himself or herself, Joanne must assume that the purchase history does not consist mostly of items bought for other people. It must also assume that a customer wants things similar to what they already own. If a person bought a toaster, does that necessarily mean that they want another toaster? As there are a few assumptions made, we will have to see how the answer choices are phrased before making a decision.
(4) Work from Wrong to Right
(A) Whether the customer is familiar with most of a retailer's inventory is irrelevant to Joanne's suggestion. Her proposed system would scan a retailer's entire catalog, whether the target customer is familiar with most of the products or not.
(B) In fact, Joanne assumes precisely the opposite: Her system is based on the idea that things similar to what a customer already owns will make good gifts.
(C) CORRECT: For the argument to work, Joanne must assume that customers use retail websites primarily to purchase things for themselves. More specifically, Joanne must assume that customers do not use these websites primarily to purchase items for other people, such as gifts or resale items. Therefore, this statement is an assumption.
We can also use the negation method. If this statement is false, then the hypothetical customer uses retail websites primarily to purchase gifts for other people. In that case, the customer's purchase history will reflect the desires of the people to whom the customer gives gifts, rather than those of the customer him- or herself -- thus destroying the effectiveness of Joanne's argument.
(D) Joanne's proposed system would not reveal customers' purchase histories, so this consideration is irrelevant.
(E) While Joanne does assume that customers have built up a purchase history with online retailers, she makes no assumptions about their preferences between online shopping and shopping in stores.
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