Hi, can someone please rate my essay? Thanks in advance!
Prompt: The following appeared as part of the business plan of an investment and financial consulting firm:
“Studies suggest that an average coffee drinker’s consumption of coffee increases with age, from age 10 through age 60. Even after age 60, coffee consumption remains high. The average cola drinker’s consumption of cola, however, declines with increasing age. Both of these trends have remained stable for the past 40 years. Given that the number of older adults will significantly increase as the population ages over the next 20 years, it follows that the demand for coffee will increase and the demand for cola will decrease during this period. We should, therefore, consider transferring our investments from Cola Loca to Early Bird Coffee.”
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
Essay: The argument claims that the number of older adults will significantly increase as the population ages over the next year and thus, the demand for demand for coffee will increase and the demand for cola will decrease during this period. Hence, the investment and financial consulting firm should consider transferring their investments from Cola Loca to Early Bird Coffee. Stated in this way, the argument fails to consider some key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The argument relies on assumptions for which there are no clear evidence. Therefore, the argument is rather weak, unconvincing and has several flaws.
First, the argument readily assumes that an average coffee drinker's consumption of coffee increases with age, from the age 10 through 60, and the average cola drinker's consumption of cola, declines as the age increases. This statement is a stretch since it does not mention the source of data and the number of consumers surveyed across the region. There is a possibility that the consumers studied are located in a geography where coffee is a staple drink or where cola is not readily available. It also compares a cold drink to a hot drink and does not consider that weather pattern too might have a role to play at the time of the study. If the study was conducted in cooler geographies, the consumers would have preferred coffee over cola. In such a scenario, it becomes illogical to compare the consumer trend of coffee drinkers and the consumer trend of coal drinkers. The demand for cola is surely undermined by the argument as there number of people in the world who consume cola on a daily basis. The argument would have been much clearer if it explicitly provided details on the number of consumers and geography of the consumers studied.
Second, the argument claims that as the number of older adults will significantly increase as the population increases over the next 20 years, and thus, it follows that the demand for coffee will increase and the demand for cola will decrease during the period. It thus presents another reason for the investment and financial consulting firm to transfer their investments from Cola Loca to Early Bird Coffee. This is again a very weak and unsupported claim as it assumes that the population will only age over the next 20 years. The argument does not consider a possibility of average age of the population decreasing as the number of births within the region studied increases over the next 20 years. It also assumes that the trend for coffee and cola consumption would continue for the next 20 years. If the argument had provided details on the population trend for the next 20 years then it would have been a lot more convincing.
Finally, the argument concludes that the investment and financial consulting firm should consider transferring their investments from the Cola Loca to Early Bird Coffee. From this statement, it is again not clear if the suggestion would help increase the profits of the investment and financial consulting firm. It fails to consider several key factors that affect the choices of consumers such as marketing, cost, taste and availability. If the key factors are poorly developed for Early Bird Coffee, there are many reasons as to why it would not bear the profits as suggested by the argument. Hence, the conclusion has no legs to stand on.
In summary, the argument is flawed and therefore unconvincing. It could have been strengthened if the author had provided all the relevant facts. In order to properly assess a situation, it is important to have a knowledge of all the contributing factors.