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12 Days of Christmas GMAT Competition 2025 - Day 1: Marketing analyst:

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Rishi705

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15 Dec 2025, 12:50

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First, let's break down the argument the first is an opinion of small businesses that says that coupons reduce their revenue since they pay less.

No, the author counters by saying companies that have issued the coupons have seen growth in sales. then he gives another evidence saying there is a strong positive correlation between coupon downloads, and the revenue.

Tell her he refuting the small businesses open and quite well. But the conclusion takes a different turn. He is not talking about revenue anymore.

The conclusion states offering online discount coupons increases profits. now suddenly talking about revenue he's jump to profits so just by reading this before I go to the question, I feel like this is a gap in the argument, and I feel like this will be a weaken question.

It was a weekend question.

Option C, explicitly states this gap increase revenue does not mean increased profits maybe more tickets are being sold but the amount of money being made is so less that it is not breaking even.

A. this I feel can be excluded since it does not conclusion, it does not mention profits or if the coupon reduces or increases them, though it is a valid argument and maybe there is a third reason that is actually causing an increase in coupon, downloads and ticket sales. There is a war and everyone is filling the country but what about the profits? It does not address the profit.

B . Nothing indicates that the customer would have paid full price and if he did pay full price, it doesn't harm the fact that the coupons did act like an incentive. and again, this does not say anything about the profits.
D. it does not presume it. It states to fact about companies who have introduced coupons and seen growth. And observing the strong correlation between coupon, downloads and revenue to draw this idea.
E. yes, maybe it does ignore this that the businesses are different, but that fact doesn't really harm or conclusion does it. technologies, it knows that business are different, but that still wouldn't do anything to our conclusion.

Bunuel

Marketing analyst: Several small businesses complain that offering online discount coupons reduces their revenue, since customers who use the coupons pay less. However, companies that have issued such coupons in the past year have seen substantial growth in overall sales. Moreover, there is a strong correlation between increases in the number of coupon downloads and increases in a company’s monthly revenue. Therefore, offering online discount coupons clearly increases profits rather than reduces them.

The analyst’s reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on which of the following grounds?

A. It overlooks the possibility that two correlated trends may result from an independent factor rather than one causing the other.
B. It assumes, without justification, that customers who use coupons would not have purchased goods at full price.
C. It fails to consider that increased revenue does not necessarily imply increased profits.
D. It presumes that the growth in overall sales occurred only after coupons were introduced.
E. It ignores the possibility that businesses offering coupons differ in important ways from those that do not.

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Solution:

Option A is incorrect as the question stem asks about weakening the argument rather than the Causation effect.

Option B is incorrect; it has no impact on the argument.

Option C is the correct one, as it states that increasing revenue does not necessarily mean that its profit will increase.

Option D is the incorrect one

Option E is incorrect as it compares the businesses that offer coupons with the business that doesn't.

Bunuel

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Bunuel

A. Incorrect because it is out of scope
B. Incorrect because it does not matter if they do
C. Correct sales may increase and not translate into profits in case the coupons eat into the company profits
D. It does not matter
E. Out of scope

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Clear gap between the premise and the conclusion is that
[premise] coupon downloads -> increased revenue
[conclusion] using coupons -> increased profit

So the flaw is that increase in revenue is same as increase in profit. What if revenue has increased overall but the discount per product is so low that the net profit has gone down?

A. It can come from another independent factor but that is not the issue here
B. That is expected. Why would customers but it in full price when they have discount coupons. That assumption is not a flaw.
C. Correct Answer - As the flaw I mentioned above
D. No such assumption. It is stated as a fact and that is not a flaw.
E. Sure businesses can differ. But for a given business, the correlation stands.

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The analyst argues
1. Small businesses complain coupons reduce revenue - customers pay less
2. Companies using coupons have been substantial growth in over all sales and there is a strong correlation between coupons downloads and monthly revenue
3. Conclusion : Therefor coupons increase profits rather than reduce them

We can observed that analyst jumps from increased sale or revenue to increased profits, whihc is a mistake.

Generally, revenue = total money collected ( price * quantity)
and profit = amount left after all cost paid ( Revenue - cost)

so for business, the cost of offering coupons includes actual discount i.e., price reduction and cost of managing the coupon program.

If increase in sales revenue is less than cost of discounts given, the business could have higher revenue but still lower profit than if they hadn't offered the coupons.

Lets take an example, a business sells 100 items at 10 dollars , therefore revenue = 1000 dollars
if they have offered 2 dollar coupon and sales jump to 200 items , then revenue is 200 * (10-2) = 1600
here we can observe gain is 600 dollars in revenue but the cost of the 200 discounts was 200 * 2 = 400. They might still be profitable overall but the increase in profit is only 200.
However , the critical point is that overall operational cost might increase with larger volume of sales making the jump from revenue to profit uncertain. The analyst fails to consider the cost of discount itself and other operating costs.

lets check the options now.

option A : This addresses the correlation issue but its not primary , most obvious flaw in jump from revenue to profit.

option B : This is a common flaw in coupon arguments but it doesn't directly challenge the analyst jump from revenue growth to profit growth

option C : This perfectly matches our flaw. The discount is a cost. if cost of the discount out weights the extra revenue generated , profits will decrease even if revenue goes up.

option D : This states that companies have been substantial growth in overall sales, implying a before and after comparison , so this is unlikely to be main flaw

option E : This address a potenial sampling bias, but core evidence focuses on companies that did use coupons. Again, the most direct flaw is leap from revenue to profit

Therefore correct answer is C.

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The trend described by the analyst is an increase is purchasesd (revenue), when digital coupons are issued.
Immediate red flag in the question when the analyst switched from corrolating issuance of digital coupons to revenue to corrolating digital coupons with profit.

A) Yeah, the issuance of more coupons and growth in revenue could be acted upon by an outside force, but this is a VERY vunrable criticism.
B) Nothing in here really says the customer wouldn't have made the purchase without the digital coupon, only that revenue seems to grow when coupons are available
c) Yes. If a widget cost $75 to make and is sold for $100. A customer using a 50% off coupon, while increasing revenue, decrease profits. This Directly contradicts the last sentance.
D) Not a very strong point.
E) Sure, but not really super vunrable to criticism

Option C is the far most compelling criticism to the statements the analyst made.

Assume we have a 50% coupon of a widget. This widget is price at $100. The consumer will pay $50 for the widget after applying the coupon

Bunuel

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Bunuel

Using elimination:

A: This disputes facts in the passage, which clearly says that revenues are correlated with the use of coupons. We can't dispute facts in the passage, eliminate.
B: The passage only deals with decreased revenue from sales of discounted items, so this is out of scope. Eliminate.
C: The analyst is assuming that increased revenue = increased profits. This choice breaks the core assumption that the analyst relies on. Let's hold onto C.
D: The argument isn't that growth occurred at all, it's that growth happened because of the coupons. Not applicable, eliminate.
E: Whether or not coupons are different is irrelevant to the argument that coupons increase profits. Eliminate.

C is the clear winner.

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Updated on: 20 Dec 2025, 15:14

Originally posted by Oleksandra11 on 15 Dec 2025, 19:22.
Last edited by Oleksandra11 on 20 Dec 2025, 15:14, edited 1 time in total.

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C It is the closest one to the conclusion made by the author.

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15 Dec 2025, 19:27

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Bunuel

The analyst's reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on the grounds described in Option C - it fails to consider that increased revenue does not necessarily imply increased profits.

The analyst makes a classic mistake by confusing revenue with profit. The evidence discusses "substantial growth in overall sales" and "monthly revenue," but the conclusion claims coupons "increase profits." These are fundamentally different concepts. Revenue is just the total money coming in from sales, while profit is what's left after you subtract all the costs
Think about it this way: offering discount coupons might attract more customers and boost total sales volume, but each sale brings in less money because of the discount. Plus, there are costs associated with running coupon campaigns. So even though revenue increases, the profit margin on each sale could shrink enough that overall profits actually decrease.

Option A does point out a real issue - the correlation between coupon downloads and revenue doesn't prove coupons cause the revenue increase. However, that's a secondary concern compared to the fundamental mismatch between what the evidence shows (revenue trends) and what the conclusion claims (profit impact)
The other options either address minor points or bring up issues that aren't the argument's biggest weakness. The revenue-versus-profit confusion is the fatal flaw that undermines the entire conclusion

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Bunuel

The problem stated by small businesses is that giving online coupons decreases their revenue, as users who receive the coupons pay less. The analyst says that stores that give coupons have high sales and revenue, so stores should give coupons. Still, he misses the fact that an increase in the sales and revenue of stores he took into consideration need not be done by the users with a coupon, thereby he overlooks the possibility that two correlated trends may result from an independent factor rather than one causing the other.

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Premise: Discount coupons = reduced revenue.

Evidence (against): increased coupon offerings = sales growth & increased monthly revenue

Conclusion: discount coupons = increased profits

Option C because,

author fails to consider the costs side and makes a leap from increased revenue to increase in profits. Since, Profit = Revenue - Cost , higher revenue does not translate into higher profit if the cost of offering online discounts are higher.

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Q. type: Weaken the argument.

Con.:Offering online discount coupons clearly increases profits rather than reduces them.

Premise: Strong correlation between increases in the number of coupon downloads and increases in a company’s monthly revenue.

Assumption (holding link): Increase in revenue must have lead to increase in profit, which we know is not necessarily be true.

Hence, A is the answer.

C is not the answer because we can't question the argument & should accept that PROFIT also increased.

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15 Dec 2025, 21:46

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This is a tricky question as it's a perfect example of cause-effect relationship category. Main conclusion of the argument is Offering online discount coupons clearly increases profits rather than reduces them. From here two reasoning's are coming into picture : 1. Analyst's reasoning is that cause is offering discount coupons and effect is increasing profits rather than reduces them. 2. Second reasoning is Increase in revenue implies increase in profits. Now if we go deeper for two co relating events A and B ,then following cases can occur , A can cause B or B can cause A or there is an another event C causing A and B or A and B are occurring coincidently. Now let's go to options one by one :

A. It overlooks the possibility that two correlated trends may result from an independent factor rather than one causing the other. - Correct , since there can be another independent event that is causing both these events.

B. It assumes , without justification , that customers who use coupons would not have purchased goods at full price. - Irrelevant , there is no such reasoning which analyst is taking into consideration. It's a fact by small businesses.

C. It fails to consider that increased revenue does not necessarily imply increased profits - Can be considered , but not as strong as option A , since this is attacking only a sub part of reasoning. Option A is attacking whole reasoning of analyst. So this option is incorrect.

D and E options are irrelevant and nothing to do with analyst reasoning. So A is the correct answer.

Bunuel

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15 Dec 2025, 21:57

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The argument poses two things:

Coupons lead to disconut, that leads to less profit

BUT the author claims that coupons increase sales, and this, in turn, must increase the revenue

Since this is a 'flaw' question, we can already see the fault with the reasoning: there's a way when both phenomena happen at the same time, and the profit still goes down. That is, indeed, the sellers don't argue with the fact that the sales go up, and so does the revenue - this may well be true, and yet, since the prices of those sales are lower, the profits decrease.
Hence, there's a very possible scenario of profts going down WHILE sales go up.

Let's find this answer:

A. Doesn't resolve the contradiction of existing arguments, let alone adds a third.
B. Irrelevant, since this is not in scope of either side.
C. This is exactly what we've established, so it's the right answer.
D. Perhaps it does, but the sellers are making their argment within the same timeline.
E. Oher businesses are out of scope.

The right answer is C.

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The final sentence talks about increased profits while the whole pragaraph is talking about revenue. Thus, the answer is C

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16 Dec 2025, 00:39

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Marketing analyst: Several small businesses complain that offering online discount coupons reduces their revenue, since customers who use the coupons pay less. However, companies that have issued such coupons in the past year have seen substantial growth in overall sales. Moreover, there is a strong correlation between increases in the number of coupon downloads and increases in a company’s monthly revenue. Therefore, offering online discount coupons clearly increases profits rather than reduces them.

The analyst’s reasoning is most vulnerable to criticism on which of the following grounds?

A. It overlooks the possibility that two correlated trends may result from an independent factor rather than one causing the other. correct option as this provides alternate reason why revenue increased
B. It assumes, without justification, that customers who use coupons would not have purchased goods at full price. does not impact the conclusion
C. It fails to consider that increased revenue does not necessarily imply increased profits. not valid option with argument
D. It presumes that the growth in overall sales occurred only after coupons were introduced. irrelevant
E. It ignores the possibility that businesses offering coupons differ in important ways from those that do not. does not weaken the conclusion

OPTION A is correct

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16 Dec 2025, 00:55

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After a while, you start recognizing patterns even in CR questions. Profit and Revenue are often brought into the equation in CR questions (perhaps as a callback to QR). One assumption drilled into my head would be - Revenue doesn't equate profits. What if costs far exceed the revenue? That's a good line of thinking to begin such a question with.

A: This states that the increase in revenue hasn't necessarily caused the increase in profit, but then again, this means we're assuming there was a profit - something that the stem doesn't have any way to prove. Eliminate.

B: Irrelevant. Anyway, if customers who use coupons would have purchased goods at full price, then the sales would've been consistent even without discounts.

C: Correct, IMO. As stated above, increased revenue doesn't imply increased profits.

D: This isn't a presumption; this is the truth. Discount is levied. Said discount is followed by an increase in sales (even if another cause - like marketing the discount - had a stronger role to play, we cannot discount the importance of the discount).

E: Irrelevant. Even if this a product for which discount coupons are conducive, it doesn't mean there wasn't an increase in sales because of it.

Bunuel

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On analyzing the options given,

(A)- Not really relevant to the argument as the argument shifts it focus from revenues to profits in its conclusion. Eliminate
(B)- Again this is not really relevant to the argument at hand as we dont really care whether the customers used the coupons for full or half price here. Focus is on revenue. Eliminate
(C) - This makes sense as the argument clearly shifts focus from revenues to profits in its conclusion which is unwarranted as we know nothing of the expenses. Keep
(D) The argument does not really break even if this does not hold true. Maybe growth in sales was happening at a slower rate before the coupons were introduced. Eliminate
(E) This is Out of scope & has no bearing on the argument. Eliminate

The answer is option (C)

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The conclusion of the author is about the profit rather than Revenue. Revenue= Profit+Cost.; Increased Revenue does not imply increase in Profit as, if cost increases than profit will reduce. By providing more discount the company is bearing cost of extra discounting and will therefore reduce the profit of the business CONSIDERING the revenue is not substantially higher which will account for increased COST.

Bunuel

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16 Dec 2025, 01:35

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Answer: C

The question stem starts with talking about the reduction in revenue and ends by forming a conclusion about reduction in profit, with no clear information being given about profits. Thus, this clear mismatch suggests that the question assumes that an increase in revenue may not necessarily imply an increase in profit or vice versa. Thus, option C is the most suited.
Option A is not relevant to the conclusion. Option B, D, E are out of scope.

Bunuel