The pace of new technology brings a constant stream of new

Question

The pace of new technology brings a constant stream of new devices to the market and many of them enjoy commercial success.But analysts warn that announcing new technology too soon after the introduction of a successful device can backfire: consumers may resent feeling pressured to spend money to replace a device they have just purchased, even if the new technology is clearly superior.The result is that consumers either do not buy the old device in anticipation of the new one, or they do not buy t he new device out of resentment over having already spent their money on the old one. So if a company wishes to introduce a new device, it should wait until purchases of the old device have begun to decline.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the claims made above?

A. New technology often becomes less expensive after an initial surge in sales.

B. Media outlets such as television and magazines often report on the planned introduction of new devices while sales of old devices are still strong.

C. Consumers are usually able to determine whether new technology is superior to current technology.

D. Surveys have shown that consumers prefer to make only one or two technology purchases per year.

E. Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies whose products they enjoy using.

TommyWallach · Accepted Answer

Hey All,

I was private messaged about this question, so I'm here to do my best with it. I've seen it before, but it's never been one of my favorites. Anyone know where it's from (maybe it's MGMAT!). Let's take a look:

The pace of new technology brings a constant stream of new devices to the market and many of them enjoy commercial success. But analysts warn that announcing new technology too soon after the introduction of a successful device can backfire: consumers may resent feeling pressured to spend money to replace a device they have just purchased, even if the new technology is clearly superior. The result is that consumers either do not buy the old device in anticipation of the new one, or they do not buy t he new device out of resentment over having already spent their money on the old one. So if a company wishes to introduce a new device, it should wait until purchases of the old device have begun to decline.

Conclusion: If introducing a new device, don't ANNOUNCE until old device purchases down.
Premise: Consumers don't want to buy new tech soon after old tech. This means they don't buy old tech if they know new tech is coming.

We want to strengthen this argument.

a· New technology often becomes less expensive after an initial surge in sales.
PROBLEM: We don't actually care about the amount of money made, only all the sales.

b. Media outlets such as television and magazines often report on the planned introduction of new devices while sales of old devices are still strong.
ANSWER: If media outlets report new devices even while sales of old devices are strong, then announcing it is super dangerous, because word will get out and people will stop buying the old product. Best not to announce until old sales have gone down, because then the coverage won't hurt the old device sales.

c· Consumers are usually able to determine whether new technology is superior to current technology.
PROBLEM: The issue isn't about what's better, just newer.

d· Surveys have shown that consumers prefer to make only one or two technology purchases per year.
PROBLEM: This strengthens the idea of not releasing technology too often, not the notion that one should wait to announce something until old sales are down.

e· Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies whose products they enjoy using.
PROBLEM: This has nothing to do with loyalty at all. The question is if people will keep buying new products from the same company if they know that something better is coming.

Hope that helps!

-tommy

ichha148 · Answer

This question is tough and i think in 700 bracket

Anyway , my take is B

Conclusion:-
if a company wishes to introduce a new device, it should wait until purchases of the old device have begun to decline. 
Option B suggests that introducing planned introduction of new devices while sales of old devices are still strong will lead to consumers resentment and impact on sales

BlueRobin · Answer

OK Corrected Ans is B

I get it now if the products are marketed then the people will stop buying the old products and wait for new

The Q and A are quite confusing as the Q is to strengthen the conclusion that companies should not release new products till the sales of old products have gone down.

And even though the ans makes sense, its quite illogical if the same company advertises itself to drive the sales of old products down to make way for new.

gsothee · Answer

P1-quick product launches bfire
P2-consmrs resent buying new 1 , even if better
P3-consmrs dont buy -either due to anticipation of new 1 or due 2 resentment of buying old 1
C* if comp. wants 2 launch new prdct, wait till sales of old decline.

Question stem: which of follow. if true, best support ==> strengthen Q

A.New technology often becomes less expensive after an initial surge in sales. 
Opposite, will make companies to launch products quickly as they can make higher profits due to cost reduction.
B.Media outlets such as television and magazines often report on the planned introduction of new devices while sales of old devices are still strong. 
Reporting new product while old sales are strong will make more people aware and reduce the sales of old P.
C.Consumers are usually able to determine whether new technology is superior to current technology. 
No impact on argument, as it is already stated that cnsmrs will not buy even if the new product is better.
D.Surveys have shown that consumers prefer to make only one or two technology purchases per year. 
Opposite answer, if companies know that consmrs will buy only one or two products, then its no point in addressing the resentment of earlier buys, anyways they are not going to buy new product. so companies will quickly launch new products.
E.Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies whose products they enjoy using.
Opposite or out of scope, if customers are loyal , new product launch will not cause any resentment in earlier buyers.

Its B.

whiplash2411 · Answer

Let's look at what the stimulus says and what the conclusion is.

Premise: New technology introduced immediately after the previous one can backfire. Why? 
1. Consumers may want to wait for the new one and not get the old one
2. Consumers who bought the old one will not want to buy the new one.

Conclusion: New devices should not be introduced until old device purchase goes down.

Now let's look at the answer choices.

semwal · Answer

CONCLUSIO N  - If a company wishes to introduce a new device, it should wait until purchases of the old device have begun to decline.

PREMISE -  Analysts warn that announcing new technology too soon after the introduction of a successful device can backfire...consumers may resent feeling pressured to spend money to replace a device they have just purchased, even if the new technology is clearly superior.The result is that consumers either do not buy the old device in anticipation of the new one, or they do not buy the new device out of resentment over having already spent their money on the old one.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the claims made above? ASK...... SO WHAT?

a· New technology often becomes less expensive after an initial surge in sales..... ..WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT THE TIMING OF THE LAUNCH....WHAT HAPPENS THEREAFTER IN TERMS OF COST DOES'NT MATTER..................

b. Media outlets such as television and magazines often report on the planned introduction of new devices while sales of old devices are still strong......SINCE RESENTMENT AT THIS STAGE IS HIGH AND SOME CUSTOMERS ALSO DONT WANT TO BUY OLD TECHNOLOGY, BETTER NOT TO LAUNCH THE PRODUCT NOW AND RATHER WAIT TILL SALES OF PRESENT PRODUCT REDUCES... CORRECT

c· Consumers are usually able to determine whether new technology is superior to current technology.... IRRELEVANT...

d· Surveys have shown that consumers prefer to make only one or two technology purchases per year. ...IRRELEVANT...

e· Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies whose products they enjoy using.....DOES'NT AFFECT THE ARGUMENT...

exsoldierz · Answer

i learned from my mistake, 
on first glance ,i crossed out A, C,E.

option D is quite enticing, if you were in rush, you might choose this answer
why option D is not right is if you replace the sentence becomes customer replace phone 3 or 4 or 5 or 6, does it strengthen the conclusion. No.

where we falter is we tend to think we buy phone every 1 or 2 years. but imagine someone who replace his new phone every 1 month, option D does not strengthen the conclusion.

option B is the correct one as it implies if customer will build resentment upon knowing new phone has been released just when he bought it, the ads will help. the ads helps by notifying the new phone will be released, this action is based on the principle that customer hate to spend on something that he just bought just to know the newer version has been released.

warrior1991 · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja   generis   egmat   GMATNinjaTwo

Can you tell me why is option E not correct??

If customers are NOT loyal to one company(company launched product Y lets say), they will switch to another companies product (considering the other company launched product X just 2 months after a customer purchased the product Y).

Kindly help

KarishmaB · Answer

I am not happy with this question.

Nowhere in the argument does it say that we are discussing the old and new devices of the same company. The argument talks about the entire industry as a whole and I would think that it is telling us to not introduce a new device soon after a successful old device (either own or someone else's). I did instinctively imagine both devices from the same company only because we KNOW how the actual tech industry works. When I read option (E), I went back to the argument and realised that it could be talking about the entire industry as a whole and hence, the question of different brands and loyalty is irrelevant.

As for (B), I am unable to understand this gap - Company introducing a device vs media outlets reporting it. Only if the company introduces will the media outlets report. A company introduces a device by asking the media outlets to report about it. How would media outlets know about a product until and unless a company introduces it?

If I have to choose an option, I would pick (D). At least it supports that people will either not buy the old one or not buy the new one.

marwaharuchika · Answer

doesn't B weaken the argument since the conclusion says that companies should wait but the answer choice says the media makes announcements. what should be targeted in strengthen questions? premise or conclusion?

The pace of new technology brings a constant stream of new

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The pace of new technology brings a constant stream of new

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