A recent survey of buyers of luxury cars in Beecham city has revealed

Question

A recent survey of buyers of luxury cars in Beecham city has revealed that males who are
between 40 and 50 years of age and who live in the Southern part of the city are more likely to buy these cars than is any other demographic group in the city. Maxpages is a magazine that contains articles primarily relevant to males in the age group of 40 to 50 years and is circulated only in the Southern part of Beecham city. Using the findings of this survey, Terence, who owns two luxury car showrooms in Beecham city, has decided to advertise in the Maxpages magazine.

Which of the following would be most useful to know in determining whether Terence should advertise in the Maxpages magazine?

(A) What is the exact number of luxury cars that were sold in all of Beecham city in the last one year?

(B) What percent of the total car market is the luxury car market in Beecham city?

(C) Do women and children play a major role in determining which luxury car to buy?

(D) Is the luxury car market in Beecham city expected to grow over the next few years?

(E) Would it be cheaper to advertise in some other magazine that is targeted at people of all age groups?

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AdarshSambare · Answer

Let’s analyze step by step and try to eliminate.
We have to find the best answer not the perfect answer.

Argument summary:
Survey shows: men aged 40–50 in the southern part of Beecham buy luxury cars more than any other group.
Maxpages: a magazine targeting exactly that demographic.
Terence: owns luxury car showrooms and decides to advertise in Maxpages.
We need to test whether this decision is a good idea.

Option A: Number of luxury cars sold in the city last year.
This tells us about the size of the market, but not about whether advertising in *this particular magazine* will influence buying decisions. Not directly useful.

Option B: Percentage of the total car market that is luxury.
Again, market size info but doesn’t tell us if the ad placement in Maxpages will reach the right buyers. Irrelevant to the decision about this specific magazine.

Option C: Do women and children play a major role in determining which luxury car to buy?
Very relevant. Even if men aged 40–50 in the South purchase the cars, if the decision-makers are their wives or children, then advertising in a male-focused magazine may not be effective. This directly affects whether Terence’s ad will work.

Option D: Is the luxury car market expected to grow?
Growth trend matters for long-term planning, but Terence’s immediate decision is about where to advertise, not about whether the market will expand. Not the most useful.

Option E: Would it be cheaper to advertise in a general magazine?
Cost matters, but effectiveness is more important. Even if another magazine is cheaper, if it doesn’t reach the key decision-makers, then the money could be wasted. So less useful than C.

Best answer: C
 Because the key assumption Terence is making is that targeting men 40–50 in the South will influence purchases. If women or children influence the buying decision, the assumption fails.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Explanation

Answer: C

The argument states that since most buyers of a particular product belong to a particular demographic group, it makes sense to advertise in a magazine that is targeted at that particular group. But what if the actual purchase decision was not taken by this group but by some other group such as women and children? Then it would make more sense to advertise in magazines targeted at women and children. Option C raises this point and is the correct answer.

(A) This fact has no bearing on which magazine Terence should advertise in.

(B) This could have a bearing on deciding whether Terence should open a luxury car showroom at all anywhere in Beecham City. However, that is not the question at hand.

(C) The correct answer.

(D) Same as B.

(E) Irrelevant. The idea is to advertise in the magazine that is targeted at the prospective customer.

iamjatinagrawal · Answer

How I got to the answer?

Terence, who owns two luxury car showrooms in Beecham city, has decided to advertise in the Maxpages magazine because Maxpages is a magazine that contains articles primarily relevant to males in the age group of 40 to 50 years and is circulated only in the Southern part of Beecham city.

(A) What is the exact number of luxury cars that were sold in all of Beecham city in the last one year?  - Number of cars already sold won't help in concluding whether Terence should still go ahead with the decision. It doesn't tell the reasons behind it, if it had told that the mentioned magazine was the major reason behind the sales of already sold car, then this might have been the answer.

(B) What percent of the total car market is the luxury car market in Beecham city?  - Market share of luxury car is irrelevant because it is not helping to conclude whether Terence should keep his decision or not. We are concerned whether the advertisements in the magazine will give the results Terence is expecting.

(C) Do women and children play a major role in determining which luxury car to buy?  - This is the answer because, if the answer to this particular question is "yes", then its telling us that whether the magazine contains articles primarily for man for the mentioned age group is not the only reason Terence should go on with the decision. But if the answer to this question is "no", then it would tell Terence that he can go ahead with the decision.

(D) Is the luxury car market in Beecham city expected to grow over the next few years?  - Whether it is expected to grow over the next few years is irrelevant because it will not help to make decision whether he should advertise in the magazine or not and the only reason Terence decided to advertise is because the magazine contains articles primarily relevant to Man in the age bracket of 40 to 50 years old.

(E) Would it be cheaper to advertise in some other magazine that is targeted at people of all age groups?  - This is also not helpful because even if there is some other magazine where it is cheaper to advertise for all age groups, we won't know how much of an impact this would create. What if there is a magazine where it is cheaper to advertise but it's not relevant for Terence because the readers of the magazine might not be interested in luxury cars at all.

Hence the answer is  Option (C)

A recent survey of buyers of luxury cars in Beecham city has revealed

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A recent survey of buyers of luxury cars in Beecham city has revealed

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

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