The profit made by a company depends on the quality of the product and

Option A is the correct answer as it tell us by reorganizing and buying cheap raw materials we can definitely increase the profit. hence the conclusion that selling products at a higher price or of lower quality to gain higher profits is hurt. therefore A is the correct answer.

Option C tell us other factors affect the profits but doesn't give us information whether it will increase or decrease the profits.. if the option were to say that other factors can also increase the profits , than we could use it as a correct answer.

other options can be easily eliminated.

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The Argument concludes that profits can be increased either by increasing price or by lowering the quality, This conclusion is weakened by choice A which shows that profit be increased by other ways - better production method or more economic procurement of material.

Choice B talks of alternative methods which may or may not be more efficient.

Choice C may be true but advertising and brand loyalty have not been covered in the Argument

Choice D and E have also not been mentioned.

Hence Choice (A) is the correct answer

I have a question regarding your explanation. You said that Choice C can be eliminated on the grounds that brand loyalty and advt have not been covered in the argument but neither was it discussed how an organized production line and efficient procurement of materials have effect on the increase in profit.
The argument just says that profits can be increased by producing low quality products because less cost of production. It hasn't mentioned if it is fixed costs or variable costs. Choice A covers the effect of fixed costs and Choice C covers the effect of variable costs. In fact, choice C explicitly states that the profit can be affected by brand loyalty and advt. whereas choice A does not.

Can you help me understand why C is not the correct answer more elaborately?

its never said in the argument that....
increasing price or lowering the quality are the only two methods.....
there can be other methods too..

Posted from my mobile device

Sorry I didnt quite get your point... Per my understanding what you said supports Both choice A and C, how are you choosing the right choice and what do you think is the right one?

i mean to say that...for A to be correct...the argument should have said that increasing price and lowering quality are the only options.
But the argument never said that they are the only options there is always an open window for other options

AndrewN, despite all the explanations shared above, I am still confused between options A and C. I would love to hear your take on this question and your reasoning behind the answer that you end up choosing.

Thanks.

Hello, kntombat. I think the question is not quite as airtight as one you might expect to see on the GMAT™, but with that said, I still chose (A) (in 1:35) on the day the question was posted. Why? Because in order to weaken the conclusion, you have to work against the exact conclusion given. This one states, rather boldly, that a company can increase its profit either by increasing the price or by lowering the quality. This either/or condition lies at the heart of what we need to attack. Between choices (A) and (C), (C) is the easier to argue against. It not only introduces outside factors in advertising and brand loyalty, but it also uses weak, could-be-true language in can be. The statement almost sounds hypothetical. Compare that to the definitive outcome given in (A), in which a production manager has not only done A, but also B. It is true that organized production and more economic raw materials do not necessarily tie into the increasing price/lowering quality split that the conclusion outlines, and that is why I think the question is okay instead of stellar. However, the statement shows that this manager has managed to accomplish (not just in a hypothetical way) both X and Y in a way that might understandably affect profit: lower cost + greater organization (which might lead to higher quality?). Choice (C) would not affect the conclusion given one way or the other.

I hope that helps. I have to run to my next lesson. Thank you for thinking to ask me.

- Andrew