Last visit was: 31 Oct 2024, 16:55 It is currently 31 Oct 2024, 16:55
Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel
User avatar
bkpolymers1617
Joined: 01 Sep 2016
Last visit: 11 Dec 2017
Posts: 125
Own Kudos:
1,166
 [37]
Given Kudos: 33
GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V35
Products:
GMAT 1: 690 Q49 V35
Posts: 125
Kudos: 1,166
 [37]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
36
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Most Helpful Reply
User avatar
Turkish
Joined: 13 Jun 2012
Last visit: 09 Apr 2023
Posts: 165
Own Kudos:
530
 [5]
Given Kudos: 467
Location: United States
WE:Supply Chain Management (Computer Hardware)
Posts: 165
Kudos: 530
 [5]
5
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
General Discussion
avatar
syedazeem3
Joined: 15 Jan 2016
Last visit: 17 Dec 2022
Posts: 28
Own Kudos:
21
 [2]
Given Kudos: 487
Posts: 28
Kudos: 21
 [2]
2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
User avatar
sobby
User avatar
Current Student
Joined: 14 Nov 2014
Last visit: 24 Jan 2022
Posts: 449
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 54
Location: India
GMAT 1: 700 Q50 V34
GPA: 3.76
GMAT 1: 700 Q50 V34
Posts: 449
Kudos: 369
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Need explanation on A ...On a first go , i eliminated the choice :o
argument is all about marketing ..and it is written in argument , new dish normally produces profits...
Even if most of them try new dish , what about marketing effect on profit ....
User avatar
broall
User avatar
Retired Moderator
Joined: 10 Oct 2016
Last visit: 07 Apr 2021
Posts: 1,141
Own Kudos:
6,545
 [1]
Given Kudos: 65
Status:Long way to go!
Location: Viet Nam
Posts: 1,141
Kudos: 6,545
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
bkpolymers1617
A restaurant that comes up with an innovative dish can normally increase its profits by capitalizing on the novelty of the dish. Since recipes can be easily replicated, the restaurant with a new dish advertises it aggressively to attract customers while the novelty factor can still be used as a selling point. But aggressive advertising generates a fear of losing customers in the competitors and gives them a strong incentive to quickly replicate the new dish. Therefore, the strategy to maximize overall profit from a new dish is to advertise it selectively.

Which of the following, if true, strengthens the suggestion given by the author?

A) The patrons of a restaurant are the ones who are most likely to try a new dish at the restaurant.
Correct. Advertising selectively to the patrons of a restaurant seems to help the restaurant not only keep the new dish secret but also maximum the revenue.

B) The word of mouth publicity generated by the customers of the restaurant is a good enough reason for the competitors to replicate the dish.
This choice weaken the argument. This choice indicates that even if the restaurant chooses to advertise selectively,
the dish is still replicated easily.


C) The recipes for the innovative dishes are usually kept under close guard by the restaurants that develop the dishes.
This choice is irrelevant to the argument.

D) Aggressive marketing usually generates far more profits than does selective marketing.
Same as C

E) Selective marketing has been proven to be an effective strategy for fast food restaurant chains.
"effective strategy" is irrelevant here. The argument focuses on replicating dish only.
avatar
mahu101
Joined: 21 May 2017
Last visit: 31 Mar 2020
Posts: 23
Own Kudos:
15
 [1]
Given Kudos: 4
Posts: 23
Kudos: 15
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
syedazeem3
Im super confused. I can’t see why A works. I chose E, given fast food restaurants are different in their menus and target selective tastes (Taco Bell vs Burger King). Can someone please explain why A works? Appreciate the help.

Posted from my mobile device

I didnt choose E because I thought that the selective strategy that works for 'fast food restaurant chains' need not necessarily work for all restaurants (or even standalone fast food restaurant).

Pls correct me if my approach/thought is incorrect.
avatar
deepeshagarwal101
Joined: 07 Aug 2017
Last visit: 01 May 2019
Posts: 10
Own Kudos:
3
 [1]
Given Kudos: 6
Location: India
GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V35
GPA: 2.7
GMAT 1: 700 Q49 V35
Posts: 10
Kudos: 3
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
I eliminated E over A because it talks about "Fast Food" Resturants - which is not necessarily stated in our question.
User avatar
shashankism
Joined: 13 Mar 2017
Last visit: 20 Jun 2024
Posts: 623
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 88
Affiliations: IIT Dhanbad
Location: India
Concentration: General Management, Entrepreneurship
GPA: 3.8
WE:Engineering (Energy)
Posts: 623
Kudos: 617
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
deepeshagarwal101
I eliminated E over A because it talks about "Fast Food" Resturants - which is not necessarily stated in our question.

Yes that seems to be a valid reason to eliminate option E .. I also eliminated E because of this reason..
User avatar
rencsee
Joined: 13 May 2017
Last visit: 11 Apr 2021
Posts: 45
Own Kudos:
320
 [1]
Given Kudos: 349
Location: Finland
Concentration: Accounting, Entrepreneurship
GMAT 1: 600 Q42 V28
GMAT 2: 530 Q42 V22
GMAT 3: 570 Q36 V31
GPA: 3.14
WE:Account Management (Media/Entertainment)
Products:
GMAT 1: 600 Q42 V28
GMAT 2: 530 Q42 V22
GMAT 3: 570 Q36 V31
Posts: 45
Kudos: 320
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Ⓒ to maximize profit ← restaurant needs to advertise selectively ⟷ otherwise competitors will replicate the new dish → restaurant will loose customers → can't maximize profit

Ⓐ find link btw selective advertising & profit max.
If restaurant finds its target group successfully → can maximize its profit
If there is a statistical data proofing that selective advertising leads to profit max → supports the Ⓒ

A) The patrons of a restaurant are the ones who are most likely to try a new dish at the restaurant. - sounds like a narrow target group → if the restaurant finds the target of its selective marketing → can maximize profit
B) The word of mouth publicity generated by the customers of the restaurant is a good enough reason for the competitors to replicate the dish. - aggressive marketing → competitors replicate dish → loosing customers → statement doest support any way that selective marketing will help improve profit
C) The recipes for the innovative dishes are usually kept under close guard by the restaurants that develop the dishes. - passage doesn't state that competitors need the recipes to replicate the dish
D) Aggressive marketing usually generates far more profits than does selective marketing. - generalization and do not support selective marketing→ profit max
E) Selective marketing has been proven to be an effective strategy for fast food restaurant chains. - selective marketing=efficient in fast food restaurants → restaurant of the passage can maximize its profit as well by using selective marketing? sounds good, but we don't know if the restaurant is a fast food restaurant. The given criteria is too narrow
avatar
tejaswym95
Joined: 25 May 2017
Last visit: 06 Apr 2021
Posts: 21
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 21
Location: India
Posts: 21
Kudos: 16
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
GMATNinja Could you please explain this? I dont understand what Selective marketing has to do with Patrons of the restaurants.
avatar
sgaaa
Joined: 29 May 2018
Last visit: 27 May 2020
Posts: 17
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 59
Location: India
Posts: 17
Kudos: 2
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Although I chose B, A is the correct answer.

The reason is that rgeardless of the the advertising the regular customers(patrons) of the restaurant will try the new dish. Hence, the restaurant can still make profits.
User avatar
CrackverbalGMAT
User avatar
GMAT Club Legend
Joined: 03 Oct 2013
Last visit: 31 Oct 2024
Posts: 4,888
Own Kudos:
8,020
 [1]
Given Kudos: 223
Affiliations: CrackVerbal
Location: India
Posts: 4,888
Kudos: 8,020
 [1]
1
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
tejaswym95
GMATNinja Could you please explain this? I dont understand what Selective marketing has to do with Patrons of the restaurants.

Hi Tejaswy

Let me try to answer your question.

In the context of restaurant customers, a "patron" is a customer who is a regular at a restaurant or visits it frequently. Answer option (A) states:

The patrons of a restaurant are the ones who are most likely to try a new dish at the restaurant.

ie; the regular customers of a restaurant are the ones who are most likely to try a new dish at a restaurant. If this were true, advertising could be targeted at such customers to further increase the offtake of the new dish. Since these are already patrons of the restaurant in question, there would be less fear of losing customers for other restaurants, leading to less replication of the dish and hence maximum profits from the dish for the restaurant.

Alternatively, we could also thing of selectively marketing the dish to non-regulars, since regulars are anyway likely to try it. This would bring in increased footfalls from non-regulars, thereby maximizing profit before other restaurants replicate the dish (since, without such targeted advertising, regulars were the ones most likely to try the new dish).

While I am not a marketeer (!!), whichever way I look at this, (A) seems to suggest maximum profits from the new dish.

Hope this helps.
User avatar
Crytiocanalyst
Joined: 16 Jun 2021
Last visit: 27 May 2023
Posts: 967
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 309
Posts: 967
Kudos: 189
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
A) The patrons of a restaurant are the ones who are most likely to try a new dish at the restaurant.
Yes if only the patrons are going to be the new testers of the dishes then selectively advertising to them helps


B) The word of mouth publicity generated by the customers of the restaurant is a good enough reason for the competitors to replicate the dish.
Yes this also highly feasivle however if the competitors get even the slightest wind even selective advertisement will not help

C) The recipes for the innovative dishes are usually kept under close guard by the restaurants that develop the dishes.
It doesn't even a bit the competitors will indegenously develop wothout the reciepe


D) Aggressive marketing usually generates far more profits than does selective marketing.
it rather weakens than strengthening


E) Selective marketing has been proven to be an effective strategy for fast food restaurant chains
We have no clue as of whether we are searching a fast food or ordinary

Hence IMO A
User avatar
sritamasia
Joined: 11 Oct 2021
Last visit: 25 Feb 2024
Posts: 256
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 96
Status:Applying to ISB EEO, HEC Paris MiM, ESSEC MIM, SPJIMR PGDM
Location: India
Concentration: Marketing, Strategy
Schools: ISB '24
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38 (Online)
GPA: 3.81
WE:Brand Management (Insurance)
Products:
Schools: ISB '24
GMAT 1: 710 Q49 V38 (Online)
Posts: 256
Kudos: 349
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Goal- Why SELECTIVE ADVERTISING is the best way!

B- We are not talking about WORD of mouth or any other reason. All we want is a reason why Selective Advertising works.
C. Again, we are not talking about keeping recipes secret.
D. Again it's not about high profits, it's about consistent Advantage of the strategy.
High profits for a week <<<<<<< Fair profits over years
E. This is a clear nonsense trap. We know it's useful, the argument says so too, but WHYYYYY?

A says Those new dishes are most likely chosen by Patrons so we should SELECTIVELY ADVERTISE them.
If Patrons are the ones who are most likely to choose the new dishes then we should stick to advertise to them to TAKE ADVANTAGE of novelty for a considerably longer duration of time than in the case of Aggressive Advertising.

Thanks.
User avatar
VerbalBot
User avatar
Non-Human User
Joined: 01 Oct 2013
Last visit: 04 Jan 2021
Posts: 17,930
Own Kudos:
Posts: 17,930
Kudos: 892
Kudos
Add Kudos
Bookmarks
Bookmark this Post
Hello from the GMAT Club VerbalBot!

Thanks to another GMAT Club member, I have just discovered this valuable topic, yet it had no discussion for over a year. I am now bumping it up - doing my job. I think you may find it valuable (esp those replies with Kudos).

Want to see all other topics I dig out? Follow me (click follow button on profile). You will receive a summary of all topics I bump in your profile area as well as via email.
Moderators:
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
7108 posts
GMAT Club Verbal Expert
234 posts