Malcolm: Last summer, our company instituted a new policy

Question

Malcolm:  Last summer, our company instituted a new policy that required retailers to order a minimum quantity of our new tablet device or else receive no products at all. Although we lost some potential retailers, we ended up selling many more products than would reasonably have been expected. We should definitely continue to enforce this policy during the fall in order to keep sales high.

River:  As an avid fan and a long-time customer of your company, I think you should allow retailers to order any number of tablets, so that the tablet devices will be more widely available to everyone. If you need to increase your revenues, simply raise the price on the product. Customers like me will happily pay a higher price for your products.

In the table below, identify which statement, if true, most weaken's Malcolm's argument, and which statement, if true, most weaken's River's argument.

yashikaaggarwal · Answer

Malcolm  wanted to debrief that their company tablets's are actually selling after they changed their selling policy to have a minimum order limit. The weakening point of his argument will be when the stocks available of the company's product in market is still with the dealer not the customers, which displays that people are not buying the product from that specific retailer hence giving away such no. of product to one retailer is harmful to the company overall profit. Hence negating the statement : 
out of the following statement, the one weakening the Malcolm statement most is;

1. Retail stores and resellers charged a wide range of prices for the tablet during the summer (the sellers are able to sell the product on high price because its in demand, people wouldn't have purchased them if they were not keen, this is advantageous for the company. Hence wrong option)

2. As a result of the policy, only large retail outlets were able to stock the tablet during the summer (this is testifying the Malcolm statement that if the large retail outlets are selling their products they will eventually have more profit) (Incorrect)

3. Many small retail stores carry most of the company's other products. (So? this don't testify or negate the Malcolm statement, the customers can be brand loyal irrespective of other options and can choose other over the company product) (Irrelevant)

4. Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product form the company before. (If new customers are getting company product, then its advantageous for company and testifying Malcolm statement) (Incorrect)

5. The retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall (The stocks with the retailers haven't been sold out for couple of months. the statement is negating the statement by Malcolm that people are actually purchasing their products more ) (ANSWER)

6. Sales in the fall quarter of the year are usually higher than in the summer, due to holiday shopping (Again a positive situation for the company and can't negate the Malcolm statement) (Incorrect)

However  River  meant to show that the company can increase the profit from rising up the price as the company loyal customers will happily pay a higher price for company products. But if the customers are new to whole company brand and product? hence its negating the River's statement.
Among all options in the questions.
5 (negating Malcolm statement, hence ruled out)

1. Retail stores and resellers charged a wide range of prices for the tablet during the summer (the sellers are able to sell the product on high price because its in demand, people wouldn't have purchased them if they were not keen, but never mention anything about the customer geographic whether they are old or new?) (Incorrect)

2. As a result of the policy, only large retail outlets were able to stock the tablet during the summer (No relevant with the customer liking or willingness, new or old, nothing is mentioned regarding customers) (Incorrect)

3. Many small retail stores carry most of the company's other products. (So? this don't testify or negate the Malcolm statement, the customers can be brand loyal irrespective of other options and can choose other over the company product) (Irrelevant)

4. Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product form the company before. (If new customers are getting company product, then the brand loyalty of old customers are overlooked and the company is still able to get profit because of new customer hence got no need to change the selling policy) (Correct)

6. Sales in the fall quarter of the year are usually higher than in the summer, due to holiday shopping (It has nothing to do with the river statement, we can't infer why company shouldn't change its policy or the old customers have any impact in that or not) (Incorrect)

So the statement weakening Malcolm Argument is "  5. The retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall (The stocks with the retailers haven't been sold out for couple of months. the statement is negating the statement by Malcolm that people are actually purchasing their products more ) (ANSWER)  "
and the statement weakening River Argument is "  4. Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product form the company before. (If new customers are getting company product, then the brand loyalty of old customers are overlooked and the company is still able to get profit because of new customer hence got no need to change the selling policy) (Correct)  "

Apt0810 · Answer

Weaken's Malcolm: The retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall,so the strategy which Malcolm is planning will not work since he has given the constraint of buying a minimum number of tablets,and if the stock is there and things aren't sold out ,then why will retailers purchase the tablets again.

Weaken River's statement: Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product form the company before,because river is talking about increasing the prices and if the company is gnerating it's major chunk of revenue from new consumers and there might only few old consumers who will be happy with price increase,then it would be foolish decision to increase prices, because lower prices with good features might be an attractive point for the new consumers

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Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

Conclusion:   "We should definitely continue to enforce this policy during the fall in order to keep sales high."

Premises:   "Last summer, our company instituted a new policy that required retailers to order a minimum quantity of our new tablet device or else receive no products at all"; "Although we lost some potential retailers, we ended up selling many more products than would reasonably have been expected."

Assumption:   The plan to continue boosting sales using a minimum order requirement will succeed if continued during the fall; there are no problems with this plan.

Malcolm's argument uses a planning structure, because it begins by identifying a problem: the company wants to continue selling higher than expected numbers of its new tablet device in the fall, just as it did over the summer. Next, Malcolm proposes a plan to achieve that goal: continue enforcing a policy that requires that retailers buy a minimum number of devices on each shipment, or receive no product.

A planning argument always assumes that the plan will work, and that there are no problems with the plan. An answer choice that weakens the argument will suggest a reason the plan will not work, or point out a potential problem with the plan.

Weaken's Malcolm's

The first answer choice  is out of scope; the argument is concerned with the number of tablets sold by the company to the retailers, not with the prices charged by the retailers to the customers.

The second answer choice  simply restates information from the premises; the argument already notes that some potential retailers were lost (the ones who were unable or unwilling to order a minimum amount). This answer choice does not point out any problem with the plan.

The third answer choice  is out of scope; whether many small retail stores carry most of the company's other electronic devices is irrelevant to Malcolm's argument, which pertains only to the company's new tablet device.

The fourth answer choice  does not weaken Malcolm's argument, which is concerned only with whether requiring a minimum order quantity will continue to increase sales in the fall, and not whether potential customers have purchased from the company before.

The fifth answer choice  weakens Malcolm's argument. If the retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall, then they will have no need to order additional tablets, regardless of the company's policies.

The sixth answer choice  does not weaken Malcolm's argument, and in fact may strengthen it: if sales in the fall quarter of the year are usually higher than in the summer, due to holiday shopping, then the retailers may need to buy additional products in the fall.

Answer: The retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall

Weaken's River's:

The first answer choice  does not weaken River's argument, and may in fact strengthen it. River's argument is concerned with whether increasing the price of the device would be successful; if retailers charge a wide variety of prices, this may mean that the price has some flexibility in it.

The second answer choice  simply restates information from the premises; River's argument already notes that the tablet device is not widely available.

The third answer choice  is out of scope; whether many small retail stores carry most of the company's other electronic devices is irrelevant to River's argument, which pertains only to which stores carry the company's new tablet device, and the price to be charged for it.

The fourth answer choice  weakens River's argument, because River's argument assumes that the customers are like her – that they are avid fans and long-time customers, and therefore will happily pay a higher price for the tablet device. If many potential customers have never purchased from the company, then they may not be willing to pay a higher price.

The fifth answer choice  does not weaken River's argument, and in fact may strengthen it. If the retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall, the company's only remaining strategy might be to open sales up to other, smaller retailers.

The sixth answer choice  does not weaken River's argument, and in fact may strengthen it: if sales in the fall quarter of the year are usually higher than in the summer, due to holiday shopping, then a higher price might be successful.

Answer: Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product from the company before.

AustinEsco · Answer

River's statement doesn't sound like an argument to me, it sounds more like an opinion.

Gemmie · Answer

Weakens Malcolm's Argument:   The retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall. 
This statement weakens Malcolm's assumption that enforcing the minimum order policy again will lead to continued high sales. If retailers are already well-stocked with tablets due to the summer policy, there might be less need for them to place large orders again in the fall. This could potentially lead to lower sales compared to Malcolm's expectations.

Weakens River's Argument:   Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product form the company before. 
This statement directly undermines River's suggestion of a price increase. If a large portion of the target audience hasn't used the company's products before, they might be more price-sensitive and less willing to pay a premium for an unfamiliar brand. Wider availability and potentially competitive pricing (enabled by smaller retailers) could be a more effective way to attract new customers.

Malcolm: Last summer, our company instituted a new policy

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Weaken's Malcolm's	Weakens River's
		Retail stores and resellers charged a wide range of prices for the tablet during the summer.
		As a result of the policy, only large retail outlets were able to stock the tablet during the summer.
		Many small retail stores carry most of the company's other products.
		Many potential purchasers of the company's tablet have never purchased a product form the company before.
		The retailers' summer orders have left them fully stocked with tablets for the fall.
		Sales in the fall quarter of the year are usually higher than in the summer, due to holiday shopping.

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Malcolm: Last summer, our company instituted a new policy

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