A certain towns pizza shop initiated an advertising campaign to bring

Question

A certain town’s pizza shop initiated an advertising campaign to bring in new customers and increase sales in December. The advertising campaign consisted of sending emails that promoted a two-for-one deal on sheet pizzas. Even though the pizza shop sent out thousands of these email advertisements, sales remained about the same in December as they had been in previous months.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to explain the apparent discrepancy between the volume of advertisements and the volume of sales?

(A) The emails did not list every type of pizza on the pizza shop’s menu.

(B) In December, a new coffee shop opened in the same neighborhood as the pizza shop.

(C) Not every resident in the pizza shop’s delivery area had an email address.

(D) The pizza shop had email addresses only for customers who were members of its rewards club, which offers members weekly specials.

(E) The other two pizza shops in town specialize in gourmet pizzas, which are more expensive on average than items on this pizza shop’s menu.

This is a  CR Butler Question

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proddnav · Answer

My analysis: 
This is a resolve the paradox question. Here the right option shall resolve the paradox. The pizza shop did email marketing with the objective to bring in "new customers and increase sales". However, despite the campaign the pizza shop couldn't meet its objective

Let's evaluate options:
Option A: Out of scope information. This option requires us to assume things and it is not an apparent reason for why the pizza shop failed to acquire new customers.

Option B: This is a classic distractive option. In GMAT world, introduction of something doesn't automatically attribute for the shortfall of something. In a real world this option might be attributable but in GMAT it isn't.

Option C: This is a trap answer. This answer talks about delivery radius of the pizza shop and the co-relation with email address. This looks attractive however, the question doesn't mention anything about dine-in and delivery sales. This option is out of scope

Option D: Answers the question on point. The email addresses to which the pizza shop marketed was existing customers and hence the pizza shop couldn't get "new customers"

Option E: This fails for the same reason as Option B

Hope this is clear.

Thanks

Karan0912 · Answer

Option D clearly says that the emails were sent only to people who were existing customers and not new customers.

Bunuel · Answer

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE QUESTION TYPE 
The question stem asks you to “explain the apparent discrepancy,” so this is an Explain question. Furthermore, you know from the question stem that the mystery will involve advertisements and sales.

STEP 2: UNTANGLE THE STIMULUS 
The stimulus should be viewed as a set of statements that present an apparent contradiction. The key words “even though” in the stimulus indicate a contrast or discrepancy. The discrepancy here is that pizza sales in December did not increase despite an increase in the number of emailed advertisements.

STEP 3: PREDICT THE ANSWER 
The correct answer must explain why sales remained flat despite the fact that thousands of people were offered a two-for-one deal on sheet pizzas. There may be some reason this deal was unappealing to the people who received the emails. Alternatively, perhaps many people who took advantage of the sale would normally have bought pizzas at full price, so overall revenues did not increase.

STEP 4: EVALUATE THE CHOICES 
 (D) states that the emails were sent only to customers who were already loyal customers and already getting special deals on pizza. This explains why they did not increase their pizza purchases and is the correct answer.  (A) does not account for the advertisement’s lack of effect on sales because the emails promoted a special price and not the variety of pizzas available. (B) mentions that a new coffee shop opened nearby, but because it’s a very different kind of restaurant, it would not be a direct competitor to the pizza shop. Therefore, its presence does not explain the lack of appeal of two-for-one pizzas. The fact that some people in the area don’t have email doesn’t explain why the advertisement failed to attract those who do have email, so (C) doesn’t explain the mystery. (E) mentions that the two other pizza shops in town offer more expensive gourmet pizzas. This would explain why not everyone would buy pizza at this pizza shop, but it doesn’t explain why emails offering a special deal failed to attract more business from people who don’t want more expensive pizza.

A certain towns pizza shop initiated an advertising campaign to bring

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A certain towns pizza shop initiated an advertising campaign to bring

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