People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any ot

Question

People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any other age group. So it is puzzling that when companies advertise consumer products on television, they focus almost exclusively on people aged 25 and under. Indeed, those who make decisions about television advertising think that the value of a television advertising slot depends entirely on the number of people aged 25 and under who can be expected to be watching at that time.

Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the puzzling facts stated above?

(A) The expense of television advertising slots makes it crucial for companies to target people who are most likely to purchase their products.

(B) Advertising slots during news programs almost always cost far less than advertising slots during popular sitcoms whose leading characters are young adults.

(C) When television executives decide which shows to renew, they do so primarily in terms of the shows’ ratings among people aged 25 and under.

(D) Those who make decisions about television advertising believe that people older than 25 almost never change their buying habits.

(E) When companies advertise consumer products in print media, they focus primarily on people aged 26 and over.

PriyamRathor · Answer

So at first this question talks about spending habits of People aged b/w 46-55
then it talks about advertisement companies focusing on people aged 25 and below to advertise their products on television.
 Here we can clearly see the paradox :-
ie despite the fact that people aged b/w 46-55 spend more .. advertisement companies still focus on people aged 25 and below while advertising their products.

Now the question sways away from this paradox and talks about the factors on which the value of a television advertisement slot depends.

Question stem asks to choose an answer choice which will help to explain the puzzling fact.
What is the puzzling fact ?
 despite the fact that people aged b/w 46-55 spend more .. advertisement companies still focus on people aged 25 and below while advertising their products

We can expect a answer choice somewhat in this line :--
Even though people aged b/w 45-66 spend more , people aged 25 and below are the ones who will be interested in their product and will buy the products or persuade people b/w 45-66 to buy their products.(their- advertisement companies)

Strangely none of the answer choice talks about this. All of them talk about the advertisement slot.

Now there are two events that are related:-
1. Advertisement companies focusing on people aged 25 and below.
2.Those who make decisions about television advertising think that the value of a television advertising slot depends entirely on the number of people aged 25 and under who can be expected to be watching at that time.

Why do the decision makers think that value of a TAS depends on whether the focused group( people aged 25 and under) can be expected to be watching at that time?
Obviously because they are ones that will be interested in their products and would buy them.

Choice A is in line with our pre-thinking.

Choice B
 Incorrect 
Cost of Advertisement slots of new programs and sitcoms are being discussed which is IRRELEVANT

Choice C
 Incorrect 
Renewal of advertisement and shows rating is not our concern

Choice D
 Incorrect 
People older than 25 is a very large group. Nothing has been mentioned about them in the passage.
Only two groups 46-55 and 25 and below are talked about.

Choice E
 Incorrect 
Print media and people aged 26 and over are not talked about in the passage.

PS : When we look at the answer choice A it is worded in such a way that one will think how the heck this can solve the paradox ?? But when we look on a broader level we can infer 
FOCUSING on people aged 25 and below-->>Why?-->Because they are the ones who will be interested in their products-->>Will buy the products or will persuade the people b/w 45-66 ( probably their parents ) to buy the products for them-->> and   hence value of TAS depends on whether the focused group who will buy their products are actually watching TV at that time .

Took me 2 min 36 secs
Thanks
Feedback Appreciated

wadhwakaran · Answer

People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any other age group. So it is puzzling that when companies advertise consumer products on television, they focus almost exclusively on people aged 25 and under. Indeed, those who make decisions about television advertising think that the value of a television advertising slot depends entirely on the number of people aged 25 and under who can be expected to be watching at that time.

Age group 46 to 55: spends more money per capita meaning
no of people in Age group 46 to 55 are 100
Total money spent by people Age group 46 to 55 is 100000
Per capita spending - 1000
No. of Children less than 25 are 200
Total money spent by Children less than 25 is 150000
per capita spending - 750
still the advertisers prefer advertisement for children less than 25
 Because the advertisers know that the people in age group of 46-55 have a fixed choice and they do not get swayed by the advertisement of new products. Therefore, advertisement of new products won't help the manufacturers as the tastes in this age group become permanent. Therefore option D

Aishyk97 · Answer

Hi,
Let me try to help with this one.
What is the puzzling fact?
People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any other age group. But companies focus on advertising almost exclusively to people aged 25 and under.

I see most people are stuck between A and D.

Option A: The expense of television advertising slots makes it crucial for companies to target people who are most likely to purchase their products. - This is true in the real world. But this option does not specify who those people are. It could be people aged 25 and under or it could be people aged 46 to 55. We do not know.

Option D: Those who make decisions about television advertising believe that people older than 25 almost never change their buying habits. - This option talks about the people making the advertising decisions. If they believe that people older than 25 almost never change their minds, there is no use of advertising to them. It would be more beneficial to advertise to people who would get convinced and may at least try their product.

This is why D is a much stronger contender than A.

Auro411 · Answer

Hey, The Question stem says few facts which are contradictory in hindsight. The first fact is people aged 46-55 spend more money per capita despite that another fact says that advertising panels allocate most of their advertising time to people aged 25 and under. So we need something that keeps both the facts true. That prethink could be type: That people aged 25 and under can be highly skewed or influenced by advertisement which the above age group can't. so lets look at options one by one:

(A) First: It is not relevant to the stem as it is talking more about expense than allocation and is solving one side of paradox.Kindly eliminate this one.

(B) Second: This is contradictory to our paradox if news program had been less costly, then more advertising time should have been allocated to that segment than to popular sitcoms, but in the stem it has been reversed. so kindly eliminate this one.

(C) Third: There is no specific reason given why this age category show has been renewed so it is an incomplete answer. Kindly eliminate this one also.

(D) Fourth: This option says that people's buying habits above 25 are very keen on their choices, so the advertising panel looks to allocate most of the time to people under 25 whose buying habits can be influenced, so this option is aligning both the facts and solving the paradox and aligning with our pre-think also. So keep this option as a  contender.

(E) Firstly, there has been no talk of print media, which is out of scope, and it is not solving our paradox also as it is solving one side of the paradox, which is the first one: people aged above 45-55. Hence, kindly look to eliminate this one, as it is completely a trap answer.

Hence, our answer is  OPTION D

Tejaskapoor · Answer

Can someone please clarify in detail why D and why not A?

guddo · Answer

People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any other age group. So it is puzzling that when companies advertise consumer products on television, they focus almost exclusively on people aged 25 and under. Indeed, those who make decisions about television advertising think that the value of a television advertising slot depends entirely on the number of people aged 25 and under who can be expected to be watching at that time. 
 
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to explain the puzzling facts stated above?

The puzzle is that people aged 46 to 55 spend the most money, but TV advertisers focus on people aged 25 and under.  The best explanation  is that advertisers may believe younger people are more likely to change what they buy, while older people’s buying habits are already  fixed .

(A) The expense of television advertising slots makes it crucial for companies to target people who are most likely to purchase their products.

This makes the puzzle worse. If advertisers should target those most likely to buy, we would expect them to focus more on the high-spending 46-to-55 group.

(B) Advertising slots during news programs almost always cost far less than advertising slots during popular sitcoms whose leading characters are young adults.

This does not explain the general focus on people 25 and under. It only compares the cost of two types of programs.

(C) When television executives decide which shows to renew, they do so primarily in terms of the shows’ ratings among people aged 25 and under.

This explains TV executives’ behavior, not why advertisers value ad slots based on viewers aged 25 and under.

(D) Those who make decisions about television advertising believe that people older than 25 almost never change their buying habits.

This is correct. If advertisers believe older people rarely change buying habits, then advertising to them would seem less useful, even if they spend more money. That explains why advertisers focus on younger viewers.

(E) When companies advertise consumer products in print media, they focus primarily on people aged 26 and over.

This does not explain the television-advertising puzzle. It only says companies may target older consumers through another medium.

Answer: (D)

egmat · Answer

Hi Tejaskapoor,

Great question, because A is the trap almost everyone lands on here. Let me line the two up against what the paradox actually needs.

What the puzzle needs explained:  the  46-55  group spends the most, yet advertisers chase people  25 and under . A good answer must give a reason to focus on the  young  even though the  old  spend more.

Why A doesn't do it

Read choice A's exact words:  "target people who are  most likely to purchase  their products."  Notice it never says  who  those people are. The stimulus tells us the biggest spenders are  46-55  - so "target the most likely purchasers" actually points you toward the  older  group. That doesn't resolve the puzzle; if anything it  deepens  it, because it gives advertisers a reason to chase the  46-55  crowd, not the under- 25 s.

A is a true-sounding, general business statement - but it does nothing to the specific link the argument is missing.

Why D works

Choice D says decision-makers believe  "people older than  25  almost never change their buying habits."  That's the missing piece: if older people's purchases  can't be shifted by ads , then spending money to advertise to them is wasted - no matter how much they spend. The only group an ad can actually move is the under- 25 s.  Therefore , it makes perfect sense to focus there even though older people spend more. Paradox resolved.

The one knob that separates them

Watch how A would change with a tiny edit:

- A as written:  "...target people most likely to purchase"  - who? Unstated, and the hint points to the older spenders.  Doesn't resolve. 
- If A had said:  "...target people  aged 25 and under , who are most likely to purchase"  - now it names the young group and would help.

That missing identification is exactly what sinks A - and exactly what D supplies through its "can't change their habits" mechanism.

Answer: D

People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any ot

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People aged 46 to 55 spend more money per capita than people of any ot

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