Sale Analyst: When polled, all consumers consistently say that

Question

Sale Analyst: When polled, all consumers consistently say that, for household staples, they would buy the lowest cost items. Even when other factors, such as inherent product quality, are introduced, all consumers still argue that low cost should be the highest priority in buying household staples. Therefore, these responses demonstrate how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions.

The conclusion above is properly drawn if which of the following is assumed?

The argument says consumers claim price matters most, but concludes that these claims show people do not really understand what drives their choices. So the argument must assume that what people say is not what their actual buying behavior shows. Without that gap, the conclusion does not follow.

(A) Many people on restricted incomes are not able to afford any brands of household staples more expensive than the lowest cost items.

This weakens the argument. If people truly cannot afford higher-priced items, then saying price matters most may be completely accurate.

(B) Consumers do not always have the motivation to be truthful about their real motivations when responding to a stranger giving a poll.

This is too weak and slightly off-target. The conclusion is about lack of awareness, not dishonesty. People could lie and still be fully aware of their real motives.

(C) Often, higher priced brands of household staples, especially organic versions, are more nutritious and are rated better-tasting in double-blind tests.

This does not help. It gives facts about quality, but it does not show that consumers’ stated priorities are false.

(D) People often give unreliable and self-contradictory explanations after the impulse purchase of a snack or dessert.

This is irrelevant. The argument is about household staples, not impulse purchases of snacks or desserts.

(E) For many household staples, famous name brands with recognizable ads consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products.

This is the best answer. If more expensive name brands outsell cheaper alternatives, then consumers’ real purchasing behavior does not match their stated priority of lowest cost. That supports the conclusion that people are not fully aware of what actually drives their decisions.

Answer: (E)

Rumikido3 · Accepted Answer

This was a tough one! Here I show my analysis:

Conc: Responses of poll demonstrate how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions.
P1: When polled, all consumers would buy the lowest cost HS.
P2: Even when other factors (quality), are introduce, all consumers still argue that low cost should be the highest priority in buying household staples.

Prethinking:  
The conclusion states implies that there is a contradiction between what customers answered in the poll (buy the lowest cost) and what they really did (with little awareness)
 Falsifying conclusion : In which scenario, the responses of the pool demonstrate that   people are aware   of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions? Indeed, if there is a piece of evidence that shows that customers actually buy low price products vs products with other attributes (ex: quality).  So the assumption for this argument is the negation of this scenario . Piece of evidence that shows that people actually  don't buy  low price products. This will make the conclusion stronger.

Answer analysis  
(A) Many people on restricted incomes are not able to afford any brands of household staples more expensive than the lowest cost items.  Incorrect 
 Scope is reduced to an specific group of people (with low income).

(B) Consumers do not always have the motivation to be truthful about their real motivations when responding to a stranger giving a poll.  Incorrect 
 I think this option weakens the conclusion. If they are lying when responding to the poll. They are probably aware about their actual priorities when purchasing household staples.

(C) Often, higher priced brands of household staples, especially organic versions, are more nutritious and are rated better-tasting in double-blind tests.  Incorrect  OFS. Results of double-blind test is not stated.

(D) People often give unreliable and self-contradictory explanations after the impulse purchase of a snack or dessert.  Incorrect  OFS. The validity of people's responses when they buy snack or dessert is not in discussion. The argument focusses on household staples.

(E) For many household staples, famous name brands with recognizable ads consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products.  Correct!. Aligned with pre-thinking; if negated, the conclusion is shattered. If famous brands sell more than less expensive brands of the same products, it means that people are not actually buying the lowest priced products (as they stated in the polls), so they are little aware of their actual priorities.

ladridge · Answer

My take:
Evidence : price is the main driver in purchasing decisions
Conclusion : this shows how little most consumer are aware of their motivations

assump? 
 despite what they answer to the poll, they don't buy cheapest staple.

A-> out of scope : level of income not discussed
B -> negated , very little change for the conclusion , so out
C-> out of scope 
D -> unless staple is a desert, definitely out of scope; any inpulsive is out of scope
E -> why not, negated? conclusion does not stand.

my answer is E

Skywalker18 · Answer

Consumers say that they will buy the lowest cost item . Cost of an item should be of highest priority in deciding the item to be purchased .However , as per sales analyst many consumers buy brands of household staples that are not the cheapest.
Therefore , they are not aware of their actual purchasing patterns.

(A) Many people on restricted incomes are not able to afford any brands of household staples more expensive than the lowest cost items.
Out of scope as many people of restricted incomes is a small segment of the entire consumer base .

(B) Consumers do not always have the motivation to be truthful about their real motivations when responding to a stranger giving a poll.
Incorrect .On applying the negation test the conclusion still holds true . On the contrary , this option seems like a strengthener that consumers are unaware of their purchasing patterns.

(C) Often, higher priced brands of household staples, especially organic versions, are more nutritious and are rated better-tasting in double-blind tests.
Incorrect . Out of scope

(D) People often give unreliable and self-contradictory explanations after the impulse purchase of a snack or dessert.
Incorrect .

(E) For many household staples, famous name brands with recognizable ads consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products.
Correct . If many famous name brands with recognizable ads consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products , then 
a large number of consumers are buying them . This gives a justification for the given consumer behaviour .

Answer E

Spovil · Answer

mike

Do not agree with the question choices. E is definitely a strengthener, but, its not an assumption. The statement simply provides a fact that supports sales analyst conclusion but does not bridge logic gap between premise and conclusion.

A possible assumption - Sales analyst assumes that consumers always do what they say in a poll or Sales analyst assumes that consumers do not intentionally hide their interest or actual motivations that drive their buying decisions.

mbaprep2016 · Answer

HI 
From where you got this statement "However , as per sales analyst many consumers buy brands of household staples that are not the cheapest"

its no where mentioned in argument.

suramya26 · Answer

Hi I still don't get why E is the answer to this Question
By our premises we know that people actually prefer cheaper staples and Our conclusion says that very less aware of the actual priorities 
E is contrary to the conclusion...

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear Spovil & mbaprep2016 & suramya26 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

Here's the prompt again: Sale Analyst : When polled, all consumers consistently say that, for household staples, they would buy the lowest cost items. Even when other factors, such as inherent product quality, are introduced, all consumers still argue that low cost should be the highest priority in buying household staples. Therefore, these responses demonstrate how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions. This is an interesting prompt. The sales analyst talks about what consumers say, and suddenly jumps to the conclusion that what they say doesn't match how they spend their money. If there's a mismatch, and they say that they buy the cheapest items, then it must be true that when they actually make a purchase, they buy something that is not the cheapest. That is the missing end of the mismatch implied in the conclusion. Here's a simplified version of the prompt. " Consumers say they buy the cheapest household staples. What they say is different from how they spend their money ." The only way their purchases could be different from what they say is if they bought household staples that were not the cheapest. Thus, the sales analyst implies quite clearly that " many consumers buy brands of household staples that are not the cheapest " (the words of Skywalker18 ) That is not explicitly stated, but is a direct and undeniable implication of the prompt. That is my response to mbaprep2016 's objection. To Spovil , I think you may be drawing too sharp a distinction between what a strengthener is and what an assumption is. Many times, these are interchangeable. In its simplest form, an assumption is any statement not stated in the argument that makes the argument work. Is (E) is the only possible assumption? Absolutely not! Of course, there would be other ways to state the assumption, but (E) is definitely something not stated explicitly that makes the argument function as a whole. The assumptions you suggest don't work. The sale analyst clearly has access to what the consumers says and he also has access to the data on their buying decisions. He is not simply assuming something in the abstract about the truth content of their statements; instead, he is in a position to compare their statements about buying to data about their actual buying patterns. Finally, suramya26 , do you understand all this? Please let me know if there are any more questions. Mike :-)

suramya26 · Answer

This is an interesting prompt. The sales analyst talks about what consumers say, and suddenly jumps to the conclusion that what they say doesn't match how they spend their money. If there's a mismatch, and they say that they buy the cheapest items, then it must be true that when they actually make a purchase, they buy something that is not the cheapest.

Mike,
How can you infer that the consumers are not acting the way they say i.e. they don't buy the cheapest household staples.
Which line signifies the mismatch..I know its a follish question..But I still dont get the mismatch..that is how can you infer they dont spend as they say ??

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear suramya26 , I'm happy to respond. :-)

My friend, the whole mismatch, the crux of this prompt argument, takes place in the final sentence. The first two sentences simply recount what people say: Sale Analyst : When polled, all consumers consistently say that, for household staples, they would buy the lowest cost items. Even when other factors, such as inherent product quality, are introduce, all consumers still argue that low cost should be the highest priority in buying household staples . All of that is simply what people say, their statements about how they behave--or how they think they behave. As we all know, sometimes people's behaviors match their words, and sometimes they don't. One has only to listen to politicians to realize there there are times that people's words don't match their actions! Furthermore, guaranteed way to lose money in the business world is to believe unquestioningly that every single person is going to do exactly what they say they are going to do! The GMAT CR ruthlessly punishes gullibility, precisely because the real business world punishes it even more harshly. In this CR argument, in the first two sentences, all we have at this point are people's words. We have no reason either to believe them or doubt them so far. Then, the heart of the argument is this last sentence: Therefore, these responses demonstrate how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions . If I were to say to Person X: " what you say demonstrates how little you know !" I would be saying to Person X that I think he is wrong and that his words indicate an error in thinking. It's an extremely powerful statement to tell someone that their words demonstrate how much they don't know, that their words prove an error in their understanding. That is the potent kind of statement the sales analyst is making in this last sentence. I'm be more specific. Let's say that I said to Person X, " what you say proves how much you don't know about math ." What I am saying is that something in Person X's words demonstrated quite clearly some definite mathematical mistakes. If I say that to person X, a clear inference would be that I thought that I have found mathematical mistakes in what person X said. If other people hearing this trusted my own understanding of math, they would conclude that Person X didn't understand math that well.--I hasten to add that saying it this way is quite blunt and therefore harsh and insensitive: I would never address a real student on GC this way, because it would sound like a bald insult. This is an uncompromisingly direct way of stating the fact, which is precisely what makes it so powerful as a point of argument. In the rhetoric of argument, we will say powerful things in the abstract to make a point, but we would not say such powerful things to real people in way that would hurt their feelings. Now, think about this final sentence. What does the sales analyst say that people don't understand? " the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions ." In other words, people are wrong about what makes them buy some things and not others. We just found out, in the previous sentences how the people were thinking, what they said about their priorities, and then, in the final sentence, we get this powerful statement: what they say about their buying priorities is wrong. In other words, there's a mismatch between the priorities that they verbally espouse and the priorities that drive their actual buying choices. What they say and what they really do don't match. Well, if people say their priority is always to buy the cheapest household staples, and what they say about their priorities is wrong and doesn't match what they do, then it's an inescapable conclusion that sometimes people buy household staples that are not the cheapest. We cannot avoid drawing this conclusion from the last sentence, once we fully appreciate what it says. Does all this make sense, my friend? Mike :-)

cledgard · Answer

I agree with Spovil: choice E is not an assumption.

Premises say that consumers  say and argue that lowcost is the highest priority .
Conclusion:  how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions .

Choice E, ” famous ... outsell less expensive brands of the same products, ” shows that  customers say one thing and do the other;  the statement   does not refer to the awareness of their decisions .

Their actions are not consistent with their claims, but  is customer awareness the reason for this discrepancy?   They may be or may not be aware.  They may have lied on purpose, they may not have checked prices, or there may be other reasons for the discrepancy.

Let’s try the negation test.

famous name brands with recognizable ads  do not  consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products.

Do we know if customers are  aware of their purchasing decisions?  Still,  they may be or may not be  aware of their decisions .

pkshankar · Answer

Gone through this discussion, but I still don't get how 'É' is an assumption and not a strengthener.
 mikemcgarry  - can you please look into my query ?

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear pkshankar , I'm happy to respond.

_ My friend, the short answer is that there really isn't that much difference between an assumption and a strengthener. One of the best ways to strengthen an argument is to give explicit support to the argument's assumption. In this sense, every assumption is potentially a strengthener as well. Admittedly, there are other ways to strength an argument, so not every strengthener would be an assumption. Nevertheless, if you believe assumptions and strengtheners are two completely different things, then you are missing something important about GMAT CR questions. See: Arguments and Assumptions on the GMAT Does this make sense? Mike

auradediligodo · Answer

Hi everyone,

Context 
Sale Analyst: When polled, all consumers consistently say that, for household staples, they would buy the lowest cost items.

Evidence to draw the conclusion: 
Even when other factors, such as inherent product quality, are introduced, all consumers still argue that low cost should be the highest priority in buying household staples.

Conclusion: 
 Therefore, these responses demonstrate how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions.

The conclusion above is properly drawn if which of the following is assumed?

Pre-thinking:
 The first two sentences gives us the opinion of the people interviewed: low cost=highest priority
The conclusion on the other end suggests that they somehow are not telling the truth

Note that the question stems asks for a sufficient assumption.

Assumption: there is another factor which is more important than the low cost in determining buying choices

(A) Many people on restricted incomes are not able to afford any brands of household staples more expensive than the lowest cost items.

(B) Consumers do not always have the motivation to be truthful about their real motivations when responding to a stranger giving a poll.

(C) Often, higher priced brands of household staples, especially organic versions, are more nutritious and are rated better-tasting in double-blind tests.

(D) People often give unreliable and self-contradictory explanations after the impulse purchase of a snack or dessert.

(E)  For many household staples, famous name brands with recognizable ads consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products.
 Correct

All other choices are irrelevant

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi  KarishmaB , can you please help me with this question? Is E really a necessary assumption, as word "many" is confusing me here, and what would be the negation of option E here?

Below is my negation
For many household staples, famous name brands with recognizable ads  do not consistently   outsell less expensive brands of the same products.

But for many, it might still be the case and conclusion can still hold.

guddo · Answer

Sale Analyst: When polled, all consumers consistently say that, for household staples, they would buy the lowest cost items. Even when other factors, such as inherent product quality, are introduced, all consumers still argue that low cost should be the highest priority in buying household staples. Therefore, these responses demonstrate how little most people are aware of the actual priorities that drive their purchasing decisions. 
 
The conclusion above is properly drawn if which of the following is assumed?

The argument says consumers claim price matters most, but concludes that these claims show people do not really understand what drives their choices. So the argument must assume that  what people say is not what their actual buying behavior shows . Without that gap, the conclusion does not follow.

(A) Many people on restricted incomes are not able to afford any brands of household staples more expensive than the lowest cost items.

This weakens the argument. If people truly cannot afford higher-priced items, then saying price matters most may be completely accurate.

(B) Consumers do not always have the motivation to be truthful about their real motivations when responding to a stranger giving a poll.

This is too weak and slightly off-target. The conclusion is about lack of awareness, not dishonesty. People could lie and still be fully aware of their real motives.

(C) Often, higher priced brands of household staples, especially organic versions, are more nutritious and are rated better-tasting in double-blind tests.

This does not help. It gives facts about quality, but it does not show that consumers’ stated priorities are false.

(D) People often give unreliable and self-contradictory explanations after the impulse purchase of a snack or dessert.

This is irrelevant. The argument is about household staples, not impulse purchases of snacks or desserts.

(E) For many household staples, famous name brands with recognizable ads consistently outsell less expensive brands of the same products.

This is the best answer.  If more expensive name brands outsell cheaper alternatives, then consumers’ real purchasing behavior does not match their stated priority of lowest cost. That supports the conclusion that people are not fully aware of what actually drives their decisions.

Answer: (E)

KarishmaB · Answer

It is not a necessary assumption question. It is looking for sufficient assumption. 
 
The conclusion above is  properly drawn  if which of the following is assumed?

So negation technique will not work here. You are looking for the option which, if true, would establish the conclusion.

Sale Analyst: When polled, all consumers consistently say that

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Sale Analyst: When polled, all consumers consistently say that

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