Definitely B. The wording of the question is deliberately difficult, but it boils down to a special type of Strengthen/Weaken question. It asks for information that would help us evaluate the argument -- that is, for a TYPE of information that would either strengthen or weaken the argument, depending on what exactly that information is. Of course, it is also an EXCEPT question, which means we are actually looking for the one answer which DOESN'T provide this kind of information.

As always, strengthening or weakening the argument is done by building or destroying a connection between evidence and conclusion. In this particular question, the evidence-to-conclusion chain is unusually complicated. It looks like this:

Evidence: Advertisers use images, not rational argument to sell health-oriented or dietary product.
AND: They work on people's insecurities about physical appeal.
AND: They strengthen our obsession with youth.

Therefore, intermediate conclusion: Most consumers choose their health purchases on the basis of unconscious and false expectations.

And therefore, final conclusion: Many Americans today feel disappointed with the reality of their lives and unfulfilled as human beings.

It is fairly easy to see that B is irrelevant to strengthening or weakening this chain of reasoning. How advertisers decide to advertise in a certain way does not matter, because the evidence already tells us what advertisers use to sell these kinds of products. As always in CR, we accept the evidence as true for the purpose of evaluating the argument.

What may be harder is seeing why all the others ARE relevant. A would help determine whether there really is any connection between the activities of advertisers (the three pieces of evidence) and the purported fact that consumers choose these products on the basis of false expectations. C would help determine whether there really is any connection between the advertisers' efforts to foment an obsession with youth (third piece of evidence) and the consumers who are used in the intermediate conclusion. D would indicate whether any of the evidence and the subsidiary conclusion have actually LED to the final conclusion. E would show whether the consumers' way of choosing products (intermediate conclusion) actually is based on the observations in the evidence or not.

I think B, because the way that marketing decisions are made doesnt matter.

This is a Crux EXCEPT question. So we need to eliminate ACs that strengthen the claim.

A. the methods by which false expectations are raised and manipulated by advertising for health-oriented or dietary products.
Strengthens: What if the methods are easily detectable by the average person? The whole argument would be weakened because an average consumer would be able to avoid the ploy.

B. the ways in which decisions are made about what type of advertising is used to market a specific product.
I chose this AC. Rationale: This is playing off the timing aspect. We don't care about how something gets to be the case. We just care that the average American (according to the stimulus) is superficial and that advertisers manipulate this fact.

C. the extent to which the average consumer is actually obsessed with retaining a youthful appearance
Strengthens: Should the average consumer not be obsessed with retaining a superficial appearance the argument would be weakened.

D. the depth of personal disappointment and lack of individual fulfillment to be found in most American lives today
Strengthens: MOST Americans are disappointed in their lives. To me, this means nothing. However, if I stated that MOST Americans are disappointed in their lives but their happiness outweighs this statement, the argument would be weakened as well.

E. the processes by which most consumers actually make a decision to buy one product rather than a competing one
Strengthens: What if there were a 3rd way consumers make a decision to buy something that outweighs the ones mentioned in the stimulus. Perhaps the ease of use for a product outweighs the rational argument and superficial aspects of a product?

Hi,
ONLY B and C are strong contenders-- A, D and E can straight way be eliminated

B. the ways in which decisions are made about what type of advertising is used to market a specific product
We are talking of effect of these advertisements and content of these..
It doesn't matter how the advertisers home on to a particular type of advertising..

C. the extent to which the average consumer is actually obsessed with retaining a youthful appearance
This is mentioned as a reason for people believing in these advertisements. The more the Obsession, the more likely to get swayed by these ads..
so can be eliminated

ans B
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Hi chetan2u,

Can you let explain why we can eliminate A, D and E?

Hi,

the argument says -
the advertising companies are taking advantage of people's insecurities about health related risks and sell products by showing some images rather than some rational reasoning on the products.
People buy products looking at those images of healthy models and in the end become disappointed .....

Which of the following if known to the reader would be helpful in assessing the reasonableness of the writer's claim/argument EXCEPT:
The choices should be related to the premises or reasoning given in the argument

lets see A, D and E

a. the methods by which false expectations are raised and manipulated by advertising for health-oriented or dietary products
The argument speaks of people getting carried away by images and claims by the ad. This choice would tell us the reader to assess the argument over the efficiency of methods used by ad agency

d. the depth of personal disappointment and lack of individual fulfillment to be found in most American lives today
Since the argument speaks of disappointment in life of americans, this choice would help in understanding the levels of disappointment due to these issues.
Again related to the argument

e. the processes by which most consumers actually make a decision to buy one product rather than a competing one
The argument speaks that the ads trap the consumers to buy their products. this choice would tell us what does a consumer look into the ads before buying a product
_________________

Hi,

the argument says -
the advertising companies are taking advantage of people's insecurities about health related risks and sell products by showing some images rather than some rational reasoning on the products.
People buy products looking at those images of healthy models and in the end become disappointed .....

Which of the following if known to the reader would be helpful in assessing the reasonableness of the writer's claim/argument EXCEPT:
The choices should be related to the premises or reasoning given in the argument

lets see A, D and E

a. the methods by which false expectations are raised and manipulated by advertising for health-oriented or dietary products
The argument speaks of people getting carried away by images and claims by the ad. This choice would tell us the reader to assess the argument over the efficiency of methods used by ad agency

d. the depth of personal disappointment and lack of individual fulfillment to be found in most American lives today
Since the argument speaks of disappointment in life of americans, this choice would help in understanding the levels of disappointment due to these issues.
Again related to the argument

e. the processes by which most consumers actually make a decision to buy one product rather than a competing one
The argument speaks that the ads trap the consumers to buy their products. this choice would tell us what does a consumer look into the ads before buying a product[/quote]

Thank you for the explanation. I do see that B is clearly the right answer, but I feel that A is also a good contender. I cannot imagine how knowing how ad agencies raise false expectation would help readers assess the efficiency of the methods. Does it mean that, if the methods were subtle and complicated as opposed to unsophisticated, Americans would be more likely to be manipulated?

I think B and D are actually both possible correct answer choices, but between the two, B has little or no influence on understanding why most Americans feel disappointed.

Advertisers typically use associated images rather than rational argument to pitch a health-oriented or dietary product, working on the average person's insecurities about physical appeal and strengthening our society's growing obsession with youth. As a result, most consumers choose their health purchases on the basis of unconscious and false expectations. It is no wonder that so many Americans today feel disappointed with the reality of their lives and unfulfilled as human beings.

The reader's ability to assess the reasonableness of the writer's claim above would be significantly enhanced by knowledge of all the following EXCEPT:

A. the methods by which false expectations are raised and manipulated by advertising for health-oriented or dietary products -Relevant. If we know the methods then we can certainly go around the advertisers will.
B. the ways in which decisions are made about what type of advertising is used to market a specific product -Irrelevant. How the advertisement comes into picture is irrelevant
C. the extent to which the average consumer is actually obsessed with retaining a youthful appearance -Relevant. If the consumer is not obsessed with youth then they won't fall for the ploy.
D. the depth of personal disappointment and lack of individual fulfillment to be found in most American lives today -Relevant. This targets the conclusion directly
E. the processes by which most consumers actually make a decision to buy one product rather than a competing one -Relevant. If the consumers really go for the advertised products the way it is expressed in the passage, then it would strengthen the argument else weaken the argument.

My 2 cents:
B is definitely irrelevant, but I think E is irrelevant too, as passage does not compare one product to its competing products. Why people feel disappointed? Because they do not get the effect presented in the advertisement, nothing to do with competing products.
Discussion appreciated.