The table shows partial results of a survey in which consumers were as

Question

https://gmatclub.com/forum/download/file.php?id=41841 The table shows partial results of a survey in which consumers were asked to indicate which one of six promotional techniques most influenced their decision to buy a new food product. Of those consumers who indicated one of the four techniques listed, what fraction indicated either coupons or store displays? A. 2/7 B. 1/3 C. 2/5 D. 4/9 E. 1/2 (PS10307) PS10307_f011.jpg

BrentGMATPrepNow · Accepted Answer

Since we aren't told the number of people involved in the survey, let's make things easier on ourselves and  assign a "nice" value  to the number of people involved in the survey.
Let's say there were  100  people in the survey.

When we apply this to our table, we see that  35  people chose TV ads,  22  people chose coupons,  18  people chose store displays, and  15  people chose samples.

35  +  22  +  18  +  15  =   90   
So, the table shows the results for   90   consumers

What fraction indicated either coupons or store displays?  
Among the   90   consumers surveyed,  22  chose coupons, and  18  chose store displays
 22  +  18  =   40  
Fraction =   40  /  90   
= 4/9

Answer: D

Cheers,
Brent

EgmatQuantExpert · Answer

Solution

Given:  
 • The table shows partial results of a survey in which consumers were asked to indicate which one of six promotional techniques most influenced their decision to buy a new food product

To find:  
 • Out of those consumers who indicated one of the four techniques listed, what fraction indicated either coupons or store displays

Approach and Working:  
If we assume the total number of consumers who responded is 100, then we can write:
 • Total consumers responded to the four mentioned techniques = (35 + 22 + 18 + 15) = 90
• Total consumers responded to either coupons or store displays = (22 + 18) = 40
• Therefore, the required fraction =  \frac{40}{90} = \frac{4}{9}

Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Answer: D

JeffTargetTestPrep · Answer

Notice that you are instructed to use the incomplete table; the percentages add up to only 90%. So first, you will add the percentages for “Coupons” and “Store Displays,” but then you must divide by the total of 90% to get the final answer, as shown here:

(22 + 18)/(35 + 22 + 18 + 15) = 40/90 = 4/9

Answer: D

KanishkM · Answer

When we add all the %'s we get 90 as total value

either coupons or store displays = 40/90

D

jfranciscocuencag · Answer

Why we should we add the other 10%?

Tracy95 · Answer

Could anyone help explain why the stem says " or " " what fraction indicated either coupons  or  store displays " then we have a sum (22+18)? I think it should be 22/90 or 18/90.

(22+18)/90 --> stem should be " what fraction indicated coupons  and  store displays "

mockingjay · Answer

This question tries to trick you ! Otherwise the maths is pretty simple
You should solve 40/90 and not 40/100

nathanmueller24 · Answer

If you found yourself bewildered why everyone is solving for 90% or why using 100 customers still means you use only the data available and solve for 90:

The question says "of the consumers who indicated  one of the four techniques listed ...". So, for example, rather than being able to use 22% (out of the usual 100%), the question wants you to use 22% out of the  90%  that responded to one of these four options.

Using Brent's example, 100 total consumers, but 90 responded to one of the 4 so that's our denominator.

(Problem Solving Question 129 in GMAT 2021 guide)

Kinshook · Answer

Technique    Percent of consumers   
  Television ads  35%  
  Coupons  22%  
  Store displays  18%  
  Samples  15%  
  All 4 methods  90%

Given: The table shows  partial  results of a survey in which consumers were asked to indicate which one of six promotional techniques most influenced their decision to buy a new food product. 
Asked: Of those consumers who indicated one of the four techniques listed, what fraction indicated either coupons or store displays?

The fraction indicated either coupons or store displays = (22%+18%)/90% = 40%/90% = 4/9

IMO D

MHIKER · Answer

Coupons + Store displays  =22%+18%=40%

Total Survey  = (35+22+18+15) % =90 %

The fraction  =\frac{40}{90} %= \frac{4}{9}

The answer is  D

GMATinsight · Answer

Answer: Option D

Video solution by  GMATinsight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXTG2xYYsNI

avigutman · Answer

Video solution from Quant Reasoning: Subscribe for more: https://www.youtube.com/QuantReasoning? ... irmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkXteKA5Ylw

MEChimpanzee · Answer

In probability, " or " means " either " or, more technically, the " union " of two events. In this case, the question is asking what fraction indicated "either coupons or store display." In other words, we have to find the   number of people who responded with "coupons"   and the   number of people who responded with "store displays"  . Coupons amounted to 22% and store display amounted to 18%, so the fraction is equal to 22+18/90 = 4/9.

On the contrary, " and " means " both " or the " intersection " of two events. If the question asked for the fraction that indicated "both coupons and store display," we would need the number of people who made both responses together. In other words, we would have to find the   number of people who responded with "coupons and displays. "  But since the question says " which one of six promotional techniques most influenced," it is clear that each respondent selected only one response, so there is no intersection between the two events, and no one made the two responses at the same time.

joe123x · Answer

I don't understand why we not took into account the missing 10.?

sumit99kr · Answer

The question clearly states "Of those consumers who indicated one of the four techniques listed".

One needs to consider out of four only and eliminate the 5th one. 
So your total will be 90% and not the entire 100%.

joe123x  hope this helps.

Posted from my mobile device

MasteringGMAT · Answer

Hi  Bunuel ,

If the question is framed as such - what fraction indicated the coupons & store displays?, then will we still be adding up the output from Coupon and Store Display to form the fraction?

Sorry I am trying to understand the difference between the below 2 statements to get some more clarity.

what fraction indicated the coupons & store displays

what fraction indicated either coupons or store displays

Thank you!

egmat · Answer

Hello  Traj201090

You have raised an interesting question. I will answer this in two main parts – (1) For this question (actual version vs your version) and (2) General.

THIS QUESTION

Let’s read through the question one more time and understand what all we are exactly given. I will highlight what I want you to most focus on:

“The table shows partial results of a survey in which consumers were asked to indicate which one of six promotional techniques most influenced their decision to buy a new food product. Of those consumers who indicated one of the four techniques listed, what fraction indicated either coupons or store displays?"

We shall list down every piece of information from the question:

The table has partial data. 
  There were 6 promotional techniques that influence the decision to buy a new food product; we have data about only 4.    
 Each consumer voted for “ONE of six” promotional techniques.  
 Of the people who had voted for one of the shown 4 techniques, we are asked the fraction that voted for “either coupons or store displays”.

EITHER-OR: (Actual question)

We needed the fraction of people who voted for “either coupons or store displays”. Since every consumer voted for only ONE technique, we got the required number of customers by taking the sum of: 
  Consumers who voted for coupons  
 Consumers who voted for store displays.

Why is directly taking the sum okay? Because there anyway is NO overlap between the two categories. (As I said, each customer chose only one technique.)

AND: (Your Version)

Okay, so you want to find the fraction of students who voted for “coupons AND store displays”. \
This is the group of consumers who voted for BOTH coupons and store displays. But we already know from the given question that a consumer can vote for only one technique. So, does that mean we cannot answer? 
Well, no. We can answer, but it’s interesting. 
Since there are no consumers who could have voted (indicated) for coupons and store displays both, the required fraction is 0/90 = 0!

Hope you clearly understand this difference between ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ in this question. Now, it’s time to see what generally the difference is between ‘OR’ and ‘AND’ – this will be when overlap is possible.

GENERAL

To understand the general meaning, let’s consider two sets, A and B. Then:

A or B 
 
In Math, “or” is inclusive. That is, A or B means either only A, or only B, or both A and B. To find the number of elements in A or B, we will use the following formula: 
  #(A or B) = #(A) + #(B) - #(A and B).  
Why the subtraction, you ask? Well, this is to remove the elements that belong in both sets A and B (because these would be counted twice – once with A and once with B - when we add the number of elements of A and those of B) 
In the question above, this part was 0 since no one could have voted for more than one technique. And so, only addition was enough there!

A and B

A and B simply means both A and B. This is more direct. 
Here, the number of elements that are in both A and B simultaneously are considered. So, the number of such elements, #(A and B), will be calculated by counting all the elements that are common to both A and B.

Hope this gives you perfect clarity!

Best Regards, 
Ashish 
Quant Expert, e-GMAT

GMATCoachBen · Answer

Short video solution (1:20):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBuGTQaGZUE
 
The most important habit to prevent errors is to read carefully!

1) Always double-check exactly what it's asking for!

2) Notice underlines or all-caps (for example, in this question, " partial " is underlined; on critical reasoning, the word "EXCEPT" is often in all-caps).

ManishaPrepMinds · Answer

Solution:
Coupons = 22%
Store displays = 18%
Total = 22% + 18% = 40%

The total for the four techniques listed = 90%

Fraction for coupons or store displays:
40% / 90% = 4/9

Final Answer:
(D) 4/9

The table shows partial results of a survey in which consumers were as

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Technique	Percent of consumers
Television ads	35%
Coupons	22%
Store displays	18%
Samples	15%
All 4 methods	90%

GMAT Problem Solving (PS) Questions

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