A shoe manufacturer developed a man-made material that looked and felt

Question

A shoe manufacturer developed a man-made material that looked and felt just like natural leather. Over the course of a year, the manufacturer made its entire shoe line in both natural leather and man-made leather. During the year when both lines were sold, the man-made leather shoes outsold the natural leather shoes. The shoe manufacturer concluded that its customers prefer man-made leather to natural leather.

Which of the following statements, if true, casts doubt on the manufacturer's conclusion?

A. Shoe stores carrying this manufacturer's shoes did not distinguish between the two types of shoe material in their in-store displays.
 B. Man-made leather lasts just as long as natural leather and is more water resistant.
 C. Most customers care more about the content of the shoe material than the durability of the material.
 D. Other manufacturers developed man-made material shoes that sold poorly.
 E. The manufacturing process to make man-made leather is more cost effective than the process to make natural leather shoes.

AR15J · Answer

I was confused between A and D, and finally selected D. Please help why A is a preferred choice.

AR15J · Answer

I was confused between A and D, and finally selected D. Please help why A is a preferred choice.

sayantanc2k · Answer

The conclusion is about the customers of the particular shoe manufacturere referred in the passage (conclusion: "  its   customers prefer man-made leather to natural leather.)

How customers of other manufacturers behaved is irrelevant. Hence D is out of scope.

NaeemHasan · Answer

Hi,  sayantanc2k !
Can you please describe why A is correct?

sayantanc2k · Answer

The conclusion: "The shoe manufacturer concluded that its customers prefer man-made leather to natural leather."

Customers may prefer one to another, only if they can distinguish one from the other. If the customers cannot distinguish, then the fact that one is sold more than the other is merely a coincidence or bear some other reason and not because the customers preferred one to the other. Hence A is the correct answer.

abhishekdadarwal2009 · Answer

Hi Sayantanc2k,

I support option D to be a better answer as a weakener because option A describes that the shoes were not differentiated based on their material and were Displayed/sold as equal products while it was upto the customer to by whichever shoe he likes. Option A actually supports the conclusion of the manufacturer by removing the angle of prioritization by the stores as they sold the shoes as equal.How can it weaken the claim that only one was preferd over the other while they were both treated equally.

sayantanc2k · Answer

They were not treated equally - one was sold more than the other. The question is why one was sold more than the other. The manufacturer thinks that the reason is that its customers preferred one to the other. The manufacturer here assumes that the customers must have seen some distinguishing mark, e.g. a label indicating which one is of man-made leather and which of natural, enabling them to distinguish the different types. Unless one product cannot be distinguished from the other, it is not possible to prefer one to the other.   Option A states the opposite of this assumption   and hence a weakening statement.

The argument is as follows:
Observation: X (man made leather) sold more than Y (natural leather). 
Reason: That shoe manufacturer's customers preferred X to Y.

Preference -----> more sales

Suppose those customers were unable to distinguish between X and Y - then the reason stated above (i.e. the conclusion) cannot be true - if X and Y both seem alike to customers, then it is not possible that the customers purchased more X because they preferred X. The reason for higher sales then has to be attributed to something else, not the customers' preference. Thus A weakens the argument.

D is irrelevant - the discussion is about the customers of that particular manufacturer, not customers of other manufacturers. It is possible that the customers of other manufacturers did not prefer X, but that does not justify why customers of the particular manufacturer in question would do the same. Nothing in the passage states that the customers of the manufacturer and those of other manufacturers are alike.

warriorguy · Answer

Opening line: Man-made leather looked and felt exactly like natural leather along with option A - they were displayed as two separate types weakens the conclusion that customers prefer one over the other

brs1cob · Answer

I think it was relatively easy question, but it is showing difficulty level (45%).
Option A is the clear winner over D.

as mentioned above, we are concerned about the particular manufacturer in the question stem, not any other manufacturer .

chesstitans · Answer

I picked E b/c I thought E gives an alternative explanation, but it turns out that I was wrong.
A shows a shift from the manufacturer to the retailer. This shift is a common pattern in gmat. -> A is correct.

VerbalBot · Answer

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A shoe manufacturer developed a man-made material that looked and felt

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A shoe manufacturer developed a man-made material that looked and felt

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