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Sub 505 (Easy)|   Weaken|      
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Bunuel
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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in 13 Mar 2023, 01:30
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5% (low)

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88% (01:44) correct 12% (01:55) wrong based on 130 sessions

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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in grocery stores nationwide. The company set up promotional booths which were clearly marked with the SparkleFresh logo; customers who approached the booths were asked to participate in a "blind" taste test matching SparkleFresh against its most commercially successful competitors. Nearly 75 percent of participating customers chose SparkleFresh. Since customers did not know which soda was SparkleFresh and which ones were the competitors, these results prove that SparkleFresh is indeed the best-tasting soda among those brands tested.

Which of the following, provided it is true, most weakens the author's conclusion drawn above?


A. Participants who did not receive promotional gifts from the SparkleFresh representatives were less excited about the promotion than those who did.

B. The company's most commercially successful competitors publicly dispute the results of the SparkleFresh promotion.

C. Participants who did not choose SparkleFresh felt more strongly about their judgment than did participants who chose the product.

D. Those customers who are most likely to approach a company's promotional booth are those who use and prefer that company's product.

E. The test did not allow participants to compare SparkleFresh to some of its commercially less successful competitors.



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D
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Rabab36
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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in 13 Mar 2023, 02:45
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IMO
option D is correct

since they were accustom to taste
during blind test they would have automatically liked it most among other brands

therefore weakening author conclusion regarding SparkleFresh is indeed the best-tasting soda among those brands tested.
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ttiger21
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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in 13 Mar 2023, 08:01
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Can you walk through why the other answers are wrong and the reasoning here? Thank you!
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RICHA1189
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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in 13 Mar 2023, 09:14
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D is biased survey / approach towards a brand . The customers already like the brand and hence have participated in the promotional campaign.
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Ps1810
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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in 13 Mar 2023, 23:03
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Bunuel
The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in grocery stores nationwide. The company set up promotional booths which were clearly marked with the SparkleFresh logo; customers who approached the booths were asked to participate in a "blind" taste test matching SparkleFresh against its most commercially successful competitors. Nearly 75 percent of participating customers chose SparkleFresh. Since customers did not know which soda was SparkleFresh and which ones were the competitors, these results prove that SparkleFresh is indeed the best-tasting soda among those brands tested.

Which of the following, provided it is true, most weakens the author's conclusion drawn above?


A. Participants who did not receive promotional gifts from the SparkleFresh representatives were less excited about the promotion than those who did.

B. The company's most commercially successful competitors publicly dispute the results of the SparkleFresh promotion.

C. Participants who did not choose SparkleFresh felt more strongly about their judgment than did participants who chose the product.

D. Those customers who are most likely to approach a company's promotional booth are those who use and prefer that company's product.

E. The test did not allow participants to compare SparkleFresh to some of its commercially less successful competitors.



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I don't know why I imagined this happening in my nearby grocery store :). But, anyhow coming back to the question the argument says 75% of people who went and participated loved SparkleFresh and concludes that it is the best among other successful competitors. Now, we are asked to weaken the argument. Doing some pre-thinking will lead us to few options. The survey might have been rigged, meaning the people of their own company might have been disguised to come and taste and give the answer; it may be that people who are approaching to the stall are already familiar to the taste and hence favoured that- which is exactly what option D says.
A,C & E are irrelevant and B says the competitor disputes which is not a very strong weakener and not even close to what we need so B is out as well.

I hope this helps!
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The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in 13 Mar 2023, 23:23
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Bunuel
The SparkleFresh soda company recently ran a promotional campaign in grocery stores nationwide. The company set up promotional booths which were clearly marked with the SparkleFresh logo; customers who approached the booths were asked to participate in a "blind" taste test matching SparkleFresh against its most commercially successful competitors. Nearly 75 percent of participating customers chose SparkleFresh. Since customers did not know which soda was SparkleFresh and which ones were the competitors, these results prove that SparkleFresh is indeed the best-tasting soda among those brands tested.

Which of the following, provided it is true, most weakens the author's conclusion drawn above?


A. Participants who did not receive promotional gifts from the SparkleFresh representatives were less excited about the promotion than those who did.

B. The company's most commercially successful competitors publicly dispute the results of the SparkleFresh promotion.

C. Participants who did not choose SparkleFresh felt more strongly about their judgment than did participants who chose the product.

D. Those customers who are most likely to approach a company's promotional booth are those who use and prefer that company's product.

E. The test did not allow participants to compare SparkleFresh to some of its commercially less successful competitors.



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A campaign was held in which SF displayed its logo on booths and asked customers who approached them to participate in a blind tasting.
(They are given some unmarked testers and made to taste them. They pick the one they like more and are then told which brand it was.)
75% people picked SF.

Conclusion: Of the brands tested, SF is the tastiest.
Sounds reasonable, right? 75% prefer it over the other brands tested.

We need to weaken this now.

A. Participants who did not receive promotional gifts from the SparkleFresh representatives were less excited about the promotion than those who did.

Irrelevant. Which customers got gifts from the booth and which did not, doesn't matter. Their excitement level would anyway not impact our study since it is a blind tasting.

B. The company's most commercially successful competitors publicly dispute the results of the SparkleFresh promotion.

Irrelevant. What the competitors say about the study has no impact on what the study showed.

C. Participants who did not choose SparkleFresh felt more strongly about their judgment than did participants who chose the product.

Doesn't matter. Still 75% people liked SF over other brands. By how much they liked it more is not relevant. We are only trying to establish that SF is the tastiest. We don't need to try to establish that it is tastiest by a big margin taste-wise.

D. Those customers who are most likely to approach a company's promotional booth are those who use and prefer that company's product.

This does bring to a the fore a kind of bias the campaign had. The people who participated were the ones who already liked SF (they saw the logo and approached the booth to know what was going on) the best. So it was similar to conducting a blind tasting among SF users. Who would be the SF users? Those who already like it the most so they are most likely to pick SF in a blind tasting. Hence this makes us question the results of the campaign. We cannot claim that SF is the best tasting.
If another brand say mountain dew were to conduct such a campaign, then they would be likely to find that most people pick mountain dew in the blind tasting because people who approach the booth would be those who already like mountain dew more.
Hence the result of the campaign is suspect.
Correct.

E. The test did not allow participants to compare SparkleFresh to some of its commercially less successful competitors.

Irrelevant. Our conclusion specifically mentions "...among those brands tested."
So the brands not tested are out of scope.

Answer (D)
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