Successfully launching a new product for supermarket sale requires eit

Make a correlation chart in your mind like this:

Successful launch NEEDS (but it may not be enough for successful launch so this is a necessary condition, not sufficient)
I. Prominent shelf space - one method is trade journals. There could be other methods.
OR
II. Consumers seeking - NEEDS either extensive television advertising or press advertising (again, it is necessary to extensively advertise, not sufficient. Note the use of 'only if' which suggests a necessary condition. Consumers may still not seek it even after extensive advertising)

Once you understand this, you can easily see that only option D is necessary to be true.

A. Provided that a manufacturer promotes a new product in trade journals, the product will have a successful launch.
Prominent shelf space can lead to successful launch. It is not sufficient for successful launch.

B. If consumers who have not tried a new product do not seek it out and if its manufacturer does not promote it in trade
journals, then it will not have a successful launch.
(II) does not happen so (I) must happen. Trade journals is just one of the ways of making (I) happen. There could be many other ways too. So it is not necessary that successful launch did not happen.

C. Any new product that is advertised extensively on television will be sought out by many consumers who have not tried it.
As discussed, advertising is necessary to make consumers seek out a product, not sufficient. Consumers may still not seek out the product.

D. If a new product is not given prominent shelf space by supermarkets and if television advertising is too expensive, a
successful launch of the product will not occur without press advertising.
(I) doesn't happen so (II) must happen. For (II) to happen, extensive advertising is must either in TV or press. If TV advertising is out of reach, press advertising is a must. True.

E. If a new product is successfully launched for supermarket sale without extensive advertising, then the manufacturer
must have promoted it in trade journals.
Not necessary. As discussed, trade journals are only one way of getting shelf space. There could be other ways too.

Here is a video on Conditional Statements: https://youtu.be/MmlwcTlHZz8

Should be answer D

A product will be successful only If a prominent shelf space is given or a product is advertised on the TV or in the press.
After negating ....
A product will not be successful unless a prominent shelf space is given or a product is advertised on the TV or in the press.
Answer D states that shelf space is not given, TV ads are too expensive ==> we need press ads

option D says : television advertising is too expensive

It never says that the manufacturer will not go for television advertising.

I think C should be the right option.

The answer is D according to me. Press advertisement is the best option left. Why waste money on expensive TV ads when we have another way out.

No. (C) is not correct. Understand the use of 'only if' construct.

"You will get a good score in GMAT only if you are conceptually strong."

This implies that if you got a good score, it means you are conceptually strong. But, being conceptually strong is no guarantee of a good score (A score of things could have gone wrong during the test and you may not have scored well). 'Being conceptually strong' is a necessary condition, not a sufficient condition.

Look at the line in the argument "Consumers will seek out a new product only if it is extensively advertised, either on television or in the press"

'Extensive advertisement' is necessary but it may not be sufficient to make the consumers seek out the product. Hence (C) may not be true. It is important to understand the distinction between necessary and sufficient conditions.

As for (D), the use of the word 'too' indicates the the company doesn't consider TV ads worth the price.
'too expensive' means 'expensive beyond what is desirable'. So the company will need to instead go in for press advertising.

i have a question regarding option D:

Option D says NOT X and NOT Y, so NOT Z.
Is the absence of X and Y sufficient for Z (successful launch) NOT to take place?
I thought other factors could as well lead to Z. (not mentioned, but implied from “successful launch requires”)

A - successful launch

X - shelf space
Y - consumer seeking through TV ads
Z - consumer seeking through press ads


The argument says that you need to do atleast one of X, Y and Z for A to happen. It says "A needs either X or Y/Z". So one of X/Y/Z is necessary for A.
Option D tells you NOT X and NOT Y. This means Z must happen if you want A to happen. That is correct.

Thanks Karishma for the response.

I wanted to know whether it is correct to say:
Not X, Not Y/Z therefore Not A
(Assuming either X or Y/Z ==> A)

Yes, it is. Notice that for A, one of X, Y and Z is a must. So if none of them takes place, A doesn't take place.

Hi...

For me this question is not very clear cut.

The question states that in order that there be a successful launch the manufacturer must push for
1. Larger shelf space OR
2.extensive advertising

There fore if one of the conditions are met ie, promoting the product in trade journals, then that by itself is sufficient to ensure the successful launch of the product. Therefore, why is A wrong?

Posted from GMAT ToolKit

Notice the first sentence of the argument:
Successfully launching a new product for supermarket sale requires either that supermarkets give prominent shelf
space to the product or that plenty of consumers who have not tried it seek it out

'requires' means 'needs'. It means that one of these two things is necessary for a successful launch. It doesn't mean that one of these two things is sufficient for a successful launch. Without one of these two, you cannot have a successful launch. Even with one of these 2, you may or may not have it.

If E is ruled out because of possibility that another way is possible,
then even 'D' can't be true expense of advertising is not mentioned.

D. If a new product is not given prominent shelf space by supermarkets and if television advertising is too expensive, a successful launch of the product will not occur without press advertising.

There can be other way too for sucessful launch such as trade journals.

Try to understand the argument properly. This is what is given:



Successful launch needs 'prominent shelf space' or 'consumer seeking'. If no 'prominent shelf space' then 'consumer seeking' is a must. Consumer seeking needs 'TV ads' or 'Press ads'. If no 'TV ads', then 'press ads' is a must. Hence, D is correct.

Hi,
I have a doubt.
how 'Successfully launching a new product' is necessary condition??

in this case I selected opposite('Successfully launching a new product' as sufficient condition) and went on to select option B.

in these type of questions how to select necessary and sufficient condition.

Br//SuryaV

'Successfully launching a new product' is not a necessary condition.
To successfully launch a new product, you NEED one of two things - 'prominent shelf space' or 'consumers seeking'
So the necessary condition is 'EITHER prominent shelf space OR consumers seeking'.

Notice the use of REQUIRES in the first sentence: Successfully launching a new product for supermarket sale requires either that supermarkets give prominent shelf
space to the product or that plenty of consumers who have not tried it seek it out.


(B) If consumers who have not tried a new product do not seek it out and if its manufacturer does not promote it in trade
journals, then it will not have a successful launch.

B tells you that consumers do not seek it. So we need it to have prominent shelf space. B does not tell you that the product doesn't get prominent shelf space too. Notice it only says that it is not promoted in trade journals. There are many other ways in which a product can get prominent shelf space (the last line of the argument says 'one way .... is trade journals.' It doesn't say the only way is trade journals.).
B only says that trade journals are not used. We don't know if any of the other methods are not used either. Hence, we cannot say that the product will not have a successful launch.

Hi Karishma,

The flowchart explanation is lucid & excellent. If you could quote some examples/links to better understand this necessary & sufficient condition concept, it would be helpful.

Thanks!

Here is a video on Conditional Statements: https://youtu.be/MmlwcTlHZz8
and some posts: https://anaprep.com/critical-reasoning- ... ents-joey/

What is the problem with option a.
A. Provided that a manufacturer promotes a new product in trade journals, the product will have a successful launch
Promote a new product in journal....>Prominent shelf space.....>Successful launch

I understood "or" condition given in this question.
Please explain to clear my doubt.

Hi quoting Karishma from her post above. A is wrong because a successful launch needs ‘prominent shelf space’ or ‘consumer seeking’. Note that they may not be enough for a successful launch.

A says that "provided that a manufacturer promotes a new product in trade journals, the product will have a successful launch" : Promoting in a trade journal is NOT necessary, in a crude language, it's not a sure-shot way of having a successful launch. Even after the said promotion it MAY or MAY NOT be successful.