The correct answer is option B.Understanding the passage- Goal: To develop laundry soap products for a worldwide market
- Strategy used by some companies:
1. Understand the preference of each market segment
2. Identify which product will best fit all segments
Question StemWhich of the following is a questionable assumption made by those adopting the strategy above?
i.e. find the assumption made by these companies, in choosing this strategy over any other strategy
Pre-ThinkingConclusion: The strategy of 'one product that fits best for all market segments' is the correct choice for these companies
Falsification Question: In what scenario will the strategy of 'one product that fits best for all market segments' NOT be the correct choice?
Falsification Condition:
Let us remember that the Goal is to develop soap products for all the market segments (worldwide market). What if, one product that fits all segments will not be able to perform well in many of these markets, because it is not sufficiently tailored to these markets?
What if the better strategy is to make customised/tailored products for each segment based on their understanding of preference of each market segment?
If this is so, then the strategy employed by these companies would not be the correct strategy choice.
Assumption: These companies would not be able to get better results by developing tailored/customised products for each market segment
Option Choice AnalysisA) With respect to the probable success of this strategy, laundry soap does not differ from most consumer products intended for a broad market.Out of scope. We do not know from this comparison whether the strategy will be successful. The passage is specific to laundry soap. Probable success of other consumer products is put of the scope.
B)The companies would not achieve better results by tailoring separate products for the conditions under which laundry is done in individual segments of the market.Correct. As per out pre-thinking. Negate to check.
If companies would achieve better results by tailoring separate products for different segments, then the "one product for all markets" approach would definitely not be the best strategy. Conclusion breaks. Hence, this is the correct assumption.
C)Each segment of the market represents a single country, rather than a group of countries.Segment definition does not matter here - a segment may be a country, a group of countries or a region within a country, it does not impact the argument in anyway
D)Withing each market segment, there is currently a single market-leading laundry-soap product that is preferred by most consumers over all others.This tells us that a specific customised product already exists in each segment, which is a clear market leader. What this tells us is that a tailored product has a better chance of being successful in the market than a generic product. Hence, this option is actually a weakener.
A weakener cannot be an assumption made by the author in his/her argument. Incorrect choice!
E)There are no considerations that tend to support developing a product first and then attempting to influence the preferences of consumers.Out of scope of the argument.