In a marketing study, consumers were given two unlabeled cartons of la

Question

In a marketing study, consumers were given two unlabeled cartons of laundry detergent. One carton was bright green and yellow; the other was drab brown and gray. After using the detergent in the two cartons for one month, 83 percent of the consumers in the study reported that the detergent in the bright green and yellow carton cleaned better. This study shows that packaging has a significant impact on consumersâ€™ judgment of the effectiveness of a laundry detergent.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn in the marketing study?

(A) The detergent in the bright carton contained bleach crystals; the detergent in the drab carton did not.

(B) The detergents in the two cartons were the same.

(C) The detergents in the two cartons were different, but they had both been laboratory tested.

(D) The detergent in the drab carton was a popular name brand; the detergent in the bright carton was generic.

(E) The detergent in the drab carton was generic; the detergent in the bright carton was a popular name brand.

swatato · Accepted Answer

I think the answer is B:

The conclusion of this argument is that the packaging had an impact on the consumer's perception of a product. But if the products were different, then this argument would fall through since the packaging may have had nothing to do with the perception of the product's utility. But if the product was the same, the conclusion will hold true since there is no other 'real' difference between the products apart from the packaging.

Doer01 · Answer

Hi,
  Background story:  In a marketing study, consumers were given two unlabeled cartons of laundry detergent. One carton was bright green and yellow; the other was drab brown and gray. 
After using the detergent in the two cartons for one month, 83 percent of the consumers in the study reported that the detergent in the bright green and yellow carton cleaned better. 
 Reaction:  This study shows that packaging has a significant impact on consumers' judgment of the effectiveness of a laundry detergent. 
Author went from description of detergent to peoples' mindset!!
Something is missing!! Anyway he is the author, and just like any MNC Boss, he/she is always right!! :D 
Now, its on us to support him. Great!!
If I have to get away with a response, I would say (B) The detergents in the two cartons were the same. *and roll my eyes*

helipatel91198 · Answer

I had a quick doubt of why can't it be D?

As to emphasize that packaging has an huge impact we can conclude that even though better packaged detergent contained generic detergent still it overpowered the one in drab packaging but better branded

IanStewart · Answer

It's important here that the question asks which answer "would  most strengthen  the conclusion". If the two detergents are exactly the same, but consumers think the brightly packaged detergent is better, the only conclusion I think you can reach is that the packaging influences consumers. So B is a great answer here. But if the detergents are different in any way, maybe that difference is the reason consumers prefer one detergent. If we think D or E strengthen the conclusion here, we need to make an assumption: we need to assume that name-brand detergent is better than generic detergent, or vice versa. But we have no information about which type of detergent is better, so we don't know what effect D and E have on the argument.

If one answer choice said "the detergent in the drab packaging has been shown in tests to clean better than the detergent in the bright packaging", then we'd have another good answer choice, but fortunately we don't have an answer like that, and B is the best option.

Ratanp · Answer

The answer is B

Because the main idea is how it stressed thag packaging plays an important part in customers judgement and 83% people liked the bright one. So I mean that if the detergent was the same in both, the thing that made 83% of the people like bright one was the packaging, as it says in it's conclusion.

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wasario · Answer

Conclusion:  packaging had a significant impact on what users thought cleaned the best.

Premise:  users were tested on 2 UNLABELED boxes of detergent.

Choice  B  reflects this strength exactly, all other answer choices are unrelated.

Heney · Answer

I had a doubt on why can’t it be E?

Posted from my mobile device

sukriti111 · Answer

How is it possible? I think B is not a correct option because both detergent are different not same bright green and yellow detergent are better than second detergent 
Can you explain this!!!!

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Jason_mj05 · Answer

The Answer is B. The Conclusion states the way the carton is packed is highly linked with people's judgment on the effectiveness of the detergents. The only way we can arrive at such a conclusion is only when there are two objects with similar or exact properties. Hence, considering the differences in how the cartons were packaged is highly rational for consumers to consider the effectiveness of the detergent. So the answer choice would be B.

ManifestDreamMBA · Answer

In a marketing study, consumers were given  two unlabeled cartons of laundry detergent. One carton was bright green and yellow; the other was drab brown and gray.  After using the detergent in the two cartons for one month, 83 percent of the consumers in the study reported that the detergent in the bright green and yellow carton cleaned better.  This just mentions that the cartons were unlabelled and different

Conclusion: This study shows that packaging has a significant impact on consumers's judgment of the effectiveness of a laundry detergent.

We need to strengthen.   We need something that suggests that only/major difference was the packaging. Because, if one detergent is in fact better than the other, then the conclusion cannot be drawn on mere packaging.

Which of the following, if true, would most strengthen the conclusion drawn in the marketing study?

(A) The detergent in the bright carton contained bleach crystals; the detergent in the drab carton did not.   This talks nothing about packaging, eliminate

(B) The detergents in the two cartons were the same.  This tells me only packaging was different

(C) The detergents in the two cartons were different, but they had both been laboratory tested.   This is irrelevant, we don't care about lab test, eliminate

(D) The detergent in the drab carton was a popular name brand; the detergent in the bright carton was generic.   This suggests that generic detergent was better. Doesn't help strengthen. We don't know if generic or branded one is better than the other. PS: We cannot assume branded one is better

(E) The detergent in the drab carton was generic; the detergent in the bright carton was a popular name brand.   Similar logic as above

In a marketing study, consumers were given two unlabeled cartons of la

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In a marketing study, consumers were given two unlabeled cartons of la

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

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