gmatpriestess wrote:
GMATNinja, Sir could you please help me understand how the answer for Question
RC00492-05 is B?
Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence in lines 25-28(Because consumers are invited to make up their) in the context of the passage as a whole?
A) it reiterates a distinction between two advertising strategies that is made in the first paragraph
B) it explains how a particular strategy avoids a drawback described earlier in the paragraph
C) it suggests that a risk described earlier in the paragraph is less serious than some researchers believe it to be
D) it outlines why the strategy described in the previous sentence involves certain risks for an advertisement’s
E) it introduces an argument that will be refunded in the following paragraph.
Thank you so much!
To understand the context of the quotation, let's first examine the passage up until that point:
The first paragraph introduces two advertising strategies: "hard-sell" and "soft-sell."
The second paragraph examines the effect of including explicit conclusions in advertisements, which is common in the "hard-sell" strategy. It makes the following points:
- The practice of including explicit conclusions has a positive impact in "hard-sell" advertisements, because there is "little room for confusion regarding the advertiser's message."
- However, this practice also has a negative impact on "hard-sell" advertisements: "consumers may resent being told what to believe." This leads to a "boomerang effect" in which consumers conclude the opposite of what a "hard-sell" advertisement concludes.
- By using a "soft-sell" strategy in which conclusions are implied rather than stated explicitly, advertisements reduce the risk of the "boomerang effect" described above
Here is where the relevant quotation makes an appearance:
Quote:
Because consumers are invited to make up their own minds, implicit conclusions reduce the risk of resentment, distrust, and counterargumentation.
This sentence provides evidence to support the earlier claim that soft-sell advertisements have a reduced risk of the "boomerang effect" that plagues hard-sell advertisements. Letting consumers make up their own minds stops them from resenting, distrusting, and arguing against the message of the advertisement.
Take a look at answer (B):
Quote:
B) it explains how a particular strategy avoids a drawback described earlier in the paragraph
The "drawback" mentioned in this answer choice is the "boomerang effect" discussed in the passage. The sentence in question explains how soft-sell advertisements avoid this drawback. (B) is the correct answer choice.
I hope that helps!
I have a question on the phrasing of this sentence. It says ‘avoids’. Whereas, the passage says the problems with hard sell approach are ‘greatly reduced’.
So, for example, originally 80% people tended to distrust the hard sell conclusions; only 10% distrust conclusions in the soft sell approach.
Therefore, while the the percentage is greatly reduced, it is still not 0%. So, how do we say the issues are altogether ‘avoided’?