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805+ Level|   Logical Flaw|            
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MBAB123
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 22 May 2021, 02:55
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priarav
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(E) figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company

This says that though the "10% people" figure seems small industry wise, it may be a good number for a company.
Say there are 5 brands (A, B, C..) with each having 20 loyalists for a total of 100 smokers. Say 10 of these 100 switch brands (from B, C, D and E) and come over to A. Now A has 30 loyalists. That is a 50% increase in its customer base. So the 10% marketing budget may have been worth it.

Hence this is the criticism of the conclusion.

Answer (E)

I understand that the assumption is "figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company", but why is this a criticism of the conclusion if the conclusion is based on this assumption? On the contrary, isn't this statement a support for the conclusion?
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priarav
The way that E is stated - E is definitely not an assumption. E is the criticism of the conclusion. E is pointing out a flaw in the argument. If E were to be stated as an assumption, it would not include the words may not (highlighted) and would say something like this - "figures for the cigarette industry as a whole also hold true for each particular company".

You have to realise the importance of each word and the importance of the question asked. Hope this helps! :)
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 03 Jun 2022, 13:06
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I think I am having some trouble understanding the underlying logic of the passage.

Why are companies "inducing" smokers to "switch brands" in the first place? If I am the owner of a cigarette company, I would never want any of my existing cigarette smokers to switch to any other brand. Why will I ever induce anyone to switch? What am I missing?

AndrewN - Can you please only help me understand the logic, just the logic of the passage. I could not figure out from the explanations in this thread as they are mostly around explanations of the option choices. Thanks

MamtaKrishnia
Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands. Yet the manufacturers have been spending an amount equal to 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines. It follows from these figures that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 04 Jun 2022, 03:42
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Pankaj0901
I think I am having some trouble understanding the underlying logic of the passage.

Why are companies "inducing" smokers to "switch brands" in the first place? If I am the owner of a cigarette company, I would never want any of my existing cigarette smokers to switch to any other brand. Why will I ever induce anyone to switch? What am I missing?

AndrewN - Can you please only help me understand the logic, just the logic of the passage. I could not figure out from the explanations in this thread as they are mostly around explanations of the option choices. Thanks

MamtaKrishnia
Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands. Yet the manufacturers have been spending an amount equal to 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines. It follows from these figures that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

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Hello, Pankaj0901. Companies—specifically, brands—are understood to be vying for customers in the passage, so Company A might run an ad to persuade smokers who use products from Company B to smoke products from Company A instead. The line in red is drawing a conclusion from the two figures that mention 10 percent, commenting that if only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands each year, but manufacturers continue to spend a lot of money (10 percent of their gross receipts) to promote their products in magazines, it seems like a losing proposition.

I will leave my passage breakdown at that. If you can make sense of the passage and answer choices now, so much the better. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 04 Jun 2022, 03:54
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Oh, I got it now. Thanks a ton AndrewN. This is exactly what I was looking for. I was so sure that I had misunderstood the passage, thinking that the official GMAT passage could not be so lame, that I didn't even look at the option choices and was reading the passage again and again.

AndrewN
Pankaj0901
I think I am having some trouble understanding the underlying logic of the passage.

Why are companies "inducing" smokers to "switch brands" in the first place? If I am the owner of a cigarette company, I would never want any of my existing cigarette smokers to switch to any other brand. Why will I ever induce anyone to switch? What am I missing?

AndrewN - Can you please only help me understand the logic, just the logic of the passage. I could not figure out from the explanations in this thread as they are mostly around explanations of the option choices. Thanks

MamtaKrishnia
Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands. Yet the manufacturers have been spending an amount equal to 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines. It follows from these figures that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

Hello, Pankaj0901. Companies—specifically, brands—are understood to be vying for customers in the passage, so Company A might run an ad to persuade smokers who use products from Company B to smoke products from Company A instead. The line in red is drawing a conclusion from the two figures that mention 10 percent, commenting that if only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands each year, but manufacturers continue to spend a lot of money (10 percent of their gross receipts) to promote their products in magazines, it seems like a losing proposition.

I will leave my passage breakdown at that. If you can make sense of the passage and answer choices now, so much the better. Thank you for thinking to ask.

- Andrew
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 05 Jul 2022, 20:57
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The tag says it is a assumption question. But we are criticizing the conclusion. A link below the question shows a similar question but that is a weaken tag. So asking if this is a truly Assumption family question.
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 06 Jul 2022, 06:18
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The tag says it is a assumption question. But we are criticizing the conclusion. A link below the question shows a similar question but that is a weaken tag. So asking if this is a truly Assumption family question.
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This question is best categorized as a Logical Flaw question.

In Logical Flaw questions, the correct answer often involves an unwarranted assumption, as does the correct answer to this question. Hence the "Assumption" tag, though it would have bee more accurate to tag the question "Logical Flaw."
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 11 Jul 2023, 22:32
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the problem I see with this question is that it is equating 10% of one entity with 10% of another entity and also with option C, what if the companies don't advertise then its costumers will switch to another brand
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 07 Nov 2023, 06:14
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raaajx
the problem I see with this question is that it is equating 10% of one entity with 10% of another entity and also with option C, what if the companies don't advertise then its costumers will switch to another brand
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The point the author is trying to make is that overall, the financial impact of advertising to the companies in the industry is 0 so they should not advertise i.e. none of them should advertise. If they all don't, nobody will switch brands. But our point is that net impact of advertising for individual players could be much different from the average.

Check this video solution to this problem: https://youtu.be/3s0tWn3tiT8?feature=shared
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Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers swit 09 Nov 2024, 07:54
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I eliminated option E because it talks about a "particular company", whereas the conclusion talks about cigarette companies. Can you please explain where am I going wrong?

KarishmaB
MamtaKrishnia

Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands. Yet the manufacturers have been spending an amount equal to 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines. It follows from these figures that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

Of the following, the best criticism of the conclusion that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay is that the conclusion is based on

(A) computing advertising costs as a percentage of gross receipts, not of overall costs
(B) past patterns of smoking and may not carry over to the future
(C) the assumption that each smoker is loyal to a single brand of cigarettes at any one time
(D) the assumption that each manufacturer produces only one brand of cigarettes
(E) figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company
Check its detailed video solution here: https://youtu.be/3s0tWn3tiT8?feature=shared

- every year only 10 percent of smokers switch brands.
- manufacturers spend 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines.

Conclusion: Inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

The conclusion seems reasonable. The companies spend 10% of gross receipts on marketing but only 10% people in the entire industry switch brands. It seems that so much marketing budget may not have been of much use.

the best criticism of the conclusion is that the conclusion is based on

(A) computing advertising costs as a percentage of gross receipts, not of overall costs

This is not a criticism. The figures could be represented in any terms. They still stay the same.

(B) past patterns of smoking and may not carry over to the future

There is no discussion of future. The conclusion talks about past "... did not pay ... would have been no worse off ..."

(C) the assumption that each smoker is loyal to a single brand of cigarettes at any one time

No such assumption is made. 10% people switch brands even if they are using multiple brands.

(D) the assumption that each manufacturer produces only one brand of cigarettes

No such assumption. A manufacturer could produce multiple brands and advertise for all. Still only 10% people switch brands.

(E) figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company

This says that though the "10% people" figure seems small industry wise, it may be a good number for a company.
Say there are 5 brands (A, B, C..) with each having 20 loyalists for a total of 100 smokers. Say 10 of these 100 switch brands (from B, C, D and E) and come over to A. Now A has 30 loyalists. That is a 50% increase in its customer base. So the 10% marketing budget may have been worth it.

Hence this is the criticism of the conclusion.

Answer (E)­
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We need to understand the context.

The conclusion is based on figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company.

This means that the conclusion is based on figures for the entire cigarette industry and they may not hold for any given company in the cigarette industry. It is similar to saying that the figures hold for the group but may not hold for each individual member. Would we say "member of what?" No. From the context it is clear "member of this group."




aakarsh1001
I eliminated option E because it talks about a "particular company", whereas the conclusion talks about cigarette companies. Can you please explain where am I going wrong?

KarishmaB
MamtaKrishnia

Surveys show that every year only 10 percent of cigarette smokers switch brands. Yet the manufacturers have been spending an amount equal to 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines. It follows from these figures that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

Of the following, the best criticism of the conclusion that inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay is that the conclusion is based on

(A) computing advertising costs as a percentage of gross receipts, not of overall costs
(B) past patterns of smoking and may not carry over to the future
(C) the assumption that each smoker is loyal to a single brand of cigarettes at any one time
(D) the assumption that each manufacturer produces only one brand of cigarettes
(E) figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company
Check its detailed video solution here: https://youtu.be/3s0tWn3tiT8?feature=shared

- every year only 10 percent of smokers switch brands.
- manufacturers spend 10 percent of their gross receipts on cigarette promotion in magazines.

Conclusion: Inducing cigarette smokers to switch brands did not pay, and that cigarette companies would have been no worse off economically if they had dropped their advertising.

The conclusion seems reasonable. The companies spend 10% of gross receipts on marketing but only 10% people in the entire industry switch brands. It seems that so much marketing budget may not have been of much use.

the best criticism of the conclusion is that the conclusion is based on

(A) computing advertising costs as a percentage of gross receipts, not of overall costs

This is not a criticism. The figures could be represented in any terms. They still stay the same.

(B) past patterns of smoking and may not carry over to the future

There is no discussion of future. The conclusion talks about past "... did not pay ... would have been no worse off ..."

(C) the assumption that each smoker is loyal to a single brand of cigarettes at any one time

No such assumption is made. 10% people switch brands even if they are using multiple brands.

(D) the assumption that each manufacturer produces only one brand of cigarettes

No such assumption. A manufacturer could produce multiple brands and advertise for all. Still only 10% people switch brands.

(E) figures for the cigarette industry as a whole and may not hold for a particular company

This says that though the "10% people" figure seems small industry wise, it may be a good number for a company.
Say there are 5 brands (A, B, C..) with each having 20 loyalists for a total of 100 smokers. Say 10 of these 100 switch brands (from B, C, D and E) and come over to A. Now A has 30 loyalists. That is a 50% increase in its customer base. So the 10% marketing budget may have been worth it.

Hence this is the criticism of the conclusion.

Answer (E)­
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