The correct answer is option B.
Understanding the passage- Market Researchers report:
1. 90% of people interviewed objected to a particular detergent ad
2. Reason: Portrayal of women
- Data: Despite the above, this detergent is purchased by 20% of all consumers
- Conclusion: The detergent's ads must be considered to be unobjectionable (i.e. no objections) for at least 20% of customers
Pre-ThinkingConclusion: The detergent's ads must be considered to be unobjectionable (i.e. no objections) for at least 20% of customers
Falsification Question: In what scenario will the detergent's ads NOT be considered to be unobjectionable (i.e. no objections) for at least 20% of customers?
Condition: What if the people who buy this product are not the same as the people who see the ads? In such a case, it is not that the ad is not unobjectionable. It is just that these people who actually bought the detergent have not seen the ad. These people would also have a problem with the ad, just that they have not seen it.In such a case, the author cannot claim that 20% of the customers found the ad unobjectionable.
Assumption: The people who bought the detergent have viewed this advertisement
Option Choice Analysis(A) People who object to a product's advertisements may still buy that product.Lets try negating this choice, as it seems like a strong contender!
Negation: People who object to a product's ads may not buy that product. Here, it means that people who objected to the detergent ad may or may not buy the detergent. The problem is "may".
It is possible that people who object (90%) may still buy the product. Now, in a case where the results of the study translate to the entire population correctly -
Assume a population of 100. Lets take the case that all of them have seen this ad.
Then, 90% or 90 of them found the ad objectionable.
20% i.e. 20 out of 100 bought the detergent. Because of the 'may' in the option negation, this entire 20 could be composed of people who found the ad objectionable (from the 90 - because they may still buy the product, despite the ad).
So, the conclusion will not necessarily break when the option is negated, because of 'may'. Not the correct answer.
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B) The people who buy this detergent are familiar with its advertisement.Correct, and in line with our analysis. If all 20 who bought the detergent did not see the ad (negation), then the author cannot claim that the ad was unobjectionable for 20% (it is just that they have not seen the ad). Hence the conclusion breaks, this option is correct.
(C) Most of the people who do not buy this detergent consider this advertisements to be objectionable.
The option talks about a different segment (those who did not buy the detergent) whereas the conclusion is about those who bought the detergent. Even if most (>50%) of people who do not buy the detergent (say 80) consider ads to be objectionable, the 20 who bought the detergent could be from either group - people who had an objection, or people who did not have an objection. Hence, this statement does not really help the author in asserting his claim/conclusion. So, it cannot be the correct assumption.
D) Most people wash their own clothes, so they have to buy some brand of detergent.
Not relevant to this argument.
(E) Most of the people in the market research study were women.Also not relevant to the argument.
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