Bunuel wrote:
A certain watchmaker is attempting to increase its market share by deeply discounting the price of its watches for the upcoming holiday season. The discounts will eat into profits, but because they will be heavily advertised the watchmaker hopes that they will attract buyers away from rival watchmakers' products. In the long term, the watchmaker believes that consumers initially attracted by the discounts may become loyal customers.
In assessing the plan's chances of achieving its aim, it would be most useful to know which of the following?
(A) Whether the watchmaker's competitors are likely to respond by offering deep discounts of their own products
(B) Whether the advertisements will be created by the watchmaker's current advertising agency
(C) Whether some of the watch styles will be more deeply discounted than others
(D) Whether the watchmaker will be able to cut costs sufficiently to maintain profit margins even when the discounts are in effect
(E) Whether an alternative strategy might enable the watchmaker to enhance its profitability while holding a constant or diminishing share of the market
VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:
Correct Answer: A
It is important to correctly identify the conclusion (goal) in this stimulus: the watchmaker want to increase its market share. Also, remember that a Useful to Evaluate question should be treated as a Weaken question. Which answer choice offers the most relevant skepticism about the watchmaker's plan?
Choice A is correct, because if the competitors match the discounts, the watchmaker's market share may not change.
Choice B is out of scope because it addresses a tangential issue.
Choice C narrows the scope too much: we're interested in overall market share, not the performance of individual styles.
Choices D and E both mistake the watchmaker's goal: the company is sacrificing profitability for market share, so profitability is not the central issue. The goal of this plan is to "increase its market share", so the correct answer must be consistent with that objective.