Advertising by mail has become much less effective, with fewer consumers responding. Because consumers are increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of junk mail they receive, most discard almost all offers without considering them. Thus, an effective way for corporations to improve response rates would be to more carefully target the individuals to whom they mail advertising, thereby cutting down on the amount of junk mail each consumer receives. Which of the following, if true, would most support this recommendation? (A) There are cost effective means by which corporations that currently advertise by mail could improve response rates. (B) Many successful corporations are already carefully targeting the individuals to whom they mail advertising. (C) Any consumer who, immediately after receiving an advertisement by mail, merely glances at it is very likely to discard it. (D) Improvements in the quality of the advertising materials used in mail that is carefully targeted to individuals can improve the response rate for such mail. (E) Response rates to carefully targeted advertisements by mail are considerably higher, on average, than response rates to most other forms of advertising. ID - CR08443 Junk Mail Step 1: Identify the Question The words if true and support in the question stem indicate that this is a Strengthen the Argument question. Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument Mail ad à Less eff (++ junk) Ó Target mail ads à improve resp rate Step 3: Pause and State the Goal On Strengthen questions, the correct answer should make the conclusion more likely to be valid. What would make it more likely that the plan to more carefully target mailed advertisements will have its intended effect of increasing response rate? Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right (A) The argument focuses on the effects of a particular plan: more targeted advertising to improve response rates. Whether there alternative methods to improve response rates is not relevant. (B) If anything, this choice weakens the argument. If some companies (successful ones!) are already targeting ads but overall response rates are still declining (as the argument states), then perhaps the plan is not a good one after all. (C) The argument already states that consumers frequently discard advertisements. This answer does not provide any additional information. (D) This answer provides an additional means that companies could use to improve response rates: improving the quality of materials. However, this answer does not address whether the plan in the argument (more targeted advertising) will be effective on its own. (E) CORRECT . This answer provides evidence that the plan will have its intended effect: targeted advertising does generate higher response rates. Evaluation of a Plan Situation Advertising by mail has become less effective because consumers overwhelmed with the amount of junk mail they receive discard almost all of it without considering it. Reasoning What would most help to support the claim that making mail advertising more carefully targeted would improve response rates? The passage recommends targeted advertising, reasoning that since targeted advertising would reduce the total amount of junk mail consumers receive, it would generate higher response rates. Any additional evidence for the claim that carefully targeted advertising would improve response rates would support this recommendation. (A) Even if targeted advertising and every other means of improving response rates were too expensive to be cost-effective, targeted advertising could still be effective for any corporation willing to pay the expense . (B) If many corporations already mail targeted advertising, and mail advertising is nonetheless yielding declining response rates, that suggests that targeted mail is an ineffective way to increase response rates. (C) This could be equally true for targeted and untargeted mail advertising, so it does not suggest that the former is more effective . (D) The question under consideration is whether more carefully targeted mail advertising would in itself increase response rates, not whether higher quality advertising would do so. (E) Correct . This provides some evidence that carefully targeted mail advertising is associated with higher response rates than untargeted mail advertising is, and therefore that targeting mail advertising more carefully would improve response rates.

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Advertising by mail has become much less effective, with fewer consume

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avigutman

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11 Jul 2022, 17:26

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jabhatta2

^^^ Just thinking out loud avigutman

In the world of SC -- the red text would be considered as a result of the conclusion in the blue text.

Comma + verb'ing : the present participle is an adverb - describing "How" the verb in the previous clause occurred.

I wasn't sure which of these two scenarios was the case.

I personally thought the 2nd scenario was more probable.

I'm not really following the importance of the distinction that you're making here, jabhatta2.
I believe the author used this particular structure because he or she is attempting to give actionable advice to corporations on what action they should take in order to improve their mail advertising response rate. Cutting down on the amount of junk mail each consumer receives is not actionable advice, but this is: to more carefully target the individuals to whom they mail advertising. So, I guess my answer to your question is: both of your scenarios are correct. The amount of junk mail will get cut down as a result of targeted advertising. So target the advertising -> cut down junk mail -> better response rate.

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13 Jul 2023, 12:22

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In this I understood that we need to find an option which supports the conclusion that is, targeted advertising work and need to reduces junk mail (as it is stated, "Because consumers are increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of junk mail they receive, most discard almost all offers without considering them." ). But none of the option felt very strong to me.
Even in E, it does say response rates are better, but "considerably higher, on average, than response rates to most other forms of advertising". So i rejected this one thinking we are not concern with how it compares to other forms of advertising. we want to know whether it works and whether reduces junk mail.

Hey GMATNinja ,
Can you please let me know whether I am wrong in my analysis stated above?

Thank you.

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raju1212

In this I understood that we need to find an option which supports the conclusion that is, targeted advertising work and need to reduces junk mail (as it is stated, "Because consumers are increasingly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of junk mail they receive, most discard almost all offers without considering them." ). But none of the option felt very strong to me.

Even in E, it does say response rates are better, but "considerably higher, on average, than response rates to most other forms of advertising". So i rejected this one thinking we are not concern with how it compares to other forms of advertising. we want to know whether it works and whether reduces junk mail.

Hey GMATNinja ,

Can you please let me know whether I am wrong in my analysis stated above?

Thank you.

For a detailed analysis of why (E) is the best answer, check out this post or this one here, and let us know if that doesn't clear things up!

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12 Aug 2023, 07:52

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Hi,
Let's understand the argument:It states that since majority of consumers don't read advertisements carefully and discard it very often,so it's advisable for corporations to carefully Target their consumers.

Let's start by checking each option
A- cost effectiveness is not our concern but response rate is. This doesn't address the argument directly.
B- Some corporations are already targeting. So,is it helpful? No clue.
C- Merely restates the fact. We are looking for new information.
D- It's no doubt a good contender.
E- the answer.

Now,how to choose between D and E. D says it 'can' do so but E gives evidence . Right?
So,E is the right choice.

Hope it helps:)

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19 Nov 2024, 11:56

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Argument Breakdown:
Premise 1: Advertising by mail has become less effective because fewer consumers are responding.
Premise 2: Consumers are overwhelmed by junk mail and discard almost all of it without consideration.
Conclusion: An effective way to improve response rates is to more carefully target individuals, reducing the overall volume of junk mail each consumer receives.
Task:
The question asks which statement, if true, would most support the recommendation to "carefully target individuals" to improve response rates.

Analyzing the Answer Options:

A- There are cost-effective means by which corporations that currently advertise by mail could improve response rates.

Analysis: This statement speaks to the cost-effectiveness of improving response rates, but it doesn't directly support the recommendation of targeting individuals more carefully. The key to the argument is the effectiveness of targeting, not cost.
Conclusion: This is not the best answer because it doesn't strengthen the claim that targeting individuals will improve response rates.

B-Many successful corporations are already carefully targeting the individuals to whom they mail advertising.

Analysis: This option shows that some corporations are already using targeted mailing, but it doesn't say whether targeting actually improves response rates or reduces junk mail. It simply states that the practice is common among successful corporations.
Conclusion: This is not the best answer because it doesn't establish the effectiveness of targeting.

C-Any consumer who, immediately after receiving an advertisement by mail, merely glances at it, is very likely to discard it.

Analysis: This option explains why junk mail is ineffective, but it doesn’t explain how targeting individuals would improve response rates. It focuses on consumer behavior, but not on the effectiveness of targeting.
Conclusion: This is not the best answer because it doesn't provide support for the recommendation of more targeted mailing.

D-Improvements in the quality of the advertising materials used in mail that is carefully targeted to individuals can improve the response rate for such mail.

Analysis: This statement suggests that improving the quality of materials used in targeted mail can improve response rates, but the focus is on the quality of the materials rather than on the benefit of targeting individuals per se. This partially supports the recommendation, but it adds an extra factor (quality).
Conclusion: This could be a good answer, but it slightly shifts focus from targeting to quality improvement.

E-Response rates to carefully targeted advertisements by mail are considerably higher, on average, than response rates to most other forms of advertising.

Analysis: This directly supports the recommendation. It shows that carefully targeting individuals does improve response rates compared to other advertising methods. This aligns perfectly with the argument that targeting individuals would be an effective way to improve response rates.
Conclusion: This is the best answer because it directly supports the claim that targeting leads to higher response rates.