Main Sentence:
[The growing popularity {of at-home movie viewing options} -> Subject (The growing popularity ) - Singular subject ] seems (verb - singular) to indicate (that -> not written but present ) consumers’ preference for home-made snacks, plush couches, and laptops over overpriced popcorn, cramped seats, and social obligation.
Lets dive into sentence crux : The growing popularity ( of netflix and disney +
) seems to indicate that consumer's preference for X, Y and Z over A, B and C.
X,Y and Z : things consumer prefer now -> home made snacks, plush couches and laptop
A, B and C: things consumer prefer less now -> overpriced popcorn, cramped seats and social obligation.
Something inherently -Yes, i think so. Sentence leaves a question unanswered - What happened to customer's preference ? Sentence structure is : (that) Customer's preference of {......} over {..... } -> not clear did it increase / went down ? Or Technically verb is missing in the subordinate clause - joined by an omitted (that).
Can sentence be corrected- yes by saying consumer prefer X over Y OR consumer preference of ..... over .... has increased/decreased ... etc. ->>Better than saying consumer's preference of X over Y leaving reder puzzled searching for answer. GMAT sentences are clear and logical in both meaning and grammar.
Could not find any other error - hold/reject and find better option!
A) seems to indicate consumers’ preference for home-made snacks, plush couches, and laptops over
Wrong - look for better options.
B) seems indicative of the fact that consumers prefer home-made snacks, plush couches, and laptops over
"to+Verb" clearly define purpose in A compared to option B. "of the fact' is unnecessarily usage of words. Present tense " Consumer prefer ... " is sufficient to indicate the fact why would we want to use extra words. Eliminate.
C) seems to indicate that consumers prefer home-made snacks, plush couches, and laptops to
Better than A. "that' is introduced to clearly communicate the original idea. I see slight idiom change "prefer to" vs "prefer over" -> i don't have any problems with that. I am not loosing night sleep over usage of prefer to Vs prefer over.
. Definitely better than A.
D) seem to indicate that consumers prefer home-made snacks, plush couches, and laptops over
S-V error introduced. [The growing popularity -> seem) : definite error ; Rest of the sentence seems Ok . I am not loosing night sleep over usage of prefer to Vs prefer over.
E) seem to indicate that consumers prefer home-made snacks, plush couches, and laptops to
S-V error introduced. [The growing popularity -> seem) : definite error ; Rest of the sentence seems Ok . I am not loosing night sleep over usage of prefer to Vs prefer over.
So C is our winner for better wording and sentence clarity.
Mark C - move on!
( Wait for Genesis to write better detailed answer! )
Happy Learning!