When trying to identify new technologies that promise to transform the marketplace, market researchers survey the managers of those companies that are developing new technologies. Such managers have an enormous stake in succeeding, so they invariably overstate the potential of their new technologies. Surprisingly, however, market researchers typically do not survey a new technology’s potential buyers, even though it is the buyers-not the producers-who will ultimately determine a technology’s commercial success.


Which of the following, if true, best accounts for the typical survey practices among market researchers?


A:If a new technology succeeds, the commercial benefits accrue largely to the producers, not to the buyers, of that technology.

B:People who promote the virtues of a new technology typically fail to consider that the old technology that is currently in use continues to be improved, often substantially.

C:Investors are unlikely to invest substantial amounts of capital in a company whose own managers are skeptical about the commercial prospects of a new technology they are developing.

D:The potential buyers for not-yet-available technologies can seldom be reliably identified.

E:The developers of a new technology are generally no better positioned than its potential buyers to gauge how rapidly the new technology can be efficiently mass-produced.

D:The potential buyers for not-yet-available technologies can seldom be reliably identified.


The survey cannot poll the customers as the customers are not known. Therefore, it makes sense for the survey to talk only to the company managers.

Answer: D

we want to explain why buyers are not included in the survey for new technology, one reason may be that they are not easily identifiable...

E it is

Easy D.

Conclusion: Market researchers prefer talking to the technology developers rather than the technology buyers even though the developers exaggerate the capabilities of their respective technologies.

CR type: Resolve/Explain. - why do the market researchers prefer talking to developers rather than the buyers?

A - Hmmm....Maybe..Keep.
B - Out of scope.
C - this explains why the managers exaggerate, NOT why the researchers ask the developers.
D - YES!!! So thats why they dont ask the buyers...they don't know who they are!
E - eh?? even if it were within scope, it would weaken the argument

Responding to a pm:

Question: Which of the following, if true, best accounts for the typical survey practices among market researchers?

Let's find out what the survey practices are.

Market surveyors try to find the new technology that will be a commercial success in the near future (perhaps to invest or whatever). They survey the managers that are developing new technologies (who tend to overstate the potential of their new technologies).
However, market researchers typically do not survey the potential buyers (even though it is the buyers who determine commercial success).

Here is the problem. The researchers survey the managers (even though their opinion may be biased) but not the buyers (whose opinion drives commercial success). What will resolve this paradox? If they survey 'just the buyers' or at least 'the buyers too'. They want the opinion of the managers, they can take it but they MUST take the opinion of the buyers. The paradox here is that they don't take the opinion of the buyers. All you have to do is find what explains the reason they don't survey the buyers.

What explains the paradox? Option (D) - they are unable to identify the buyers and hence they can't survey the buyers.

Option (A) tells you that the commercial success accrues mainly to the producers, not the buyers. This gives the producers a reason to create unwarranted hype about their product. So this just tells you that why manager's opinion may not be very relevant. It doesn't explain why researchers don't survey the buyers.
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Hi Karishma,

Thanks for the response. I would like to discuss couple of follow up questions. Request you to provide your reasoning on them as well.

1. Veritas CR book says that you must select the answer choice that allows both parts of the stimulus to exist. Does this mean that even if an answer choice targets only one position of the paradox and the other position is logical outcome of the first position, then the answer choice will probably be correct.

Lets take an example of this question only.

Choice D) The potential buyers for not-yet-available technologies can seldom be reliably identified.

This answer choice is giving an explanation of buyers only and there is no relevant information of Managers. However, it does implicitly targets Managers as well i.e if we are not able to find the buyers, then the second best case is to approach Managers. I discarded this option, bcoz I thought it is not giving me a clear cut explanation about Managers.

2. I read that the best strategy to crack CR questions is to Pre -Think. I did analyzed the correct option before moving onto answer choices. However, I have a doubt on this approach. Many a times you do see your analysed answer choice in options and many a times you don't. And because of this on and off situation, when I see my analyzed answer choice in options, I become unsure of my answer. How to cope up with this situation.

Please suggest.

Thanks
H


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