Company spokesperson: Most brands of shampoo, including our brand, Max

Question

Company spokesperson: Most brands of shampoo, including our brand, Maxxus, will adequately clean hair that has a normal level of moisture. When hair is particularly dry, however, Maxxus restores moisture far better than the shampoos of our major competitors. If customers want to ensure that their shampoo maximizes the health of their hair, they should use Maxxus.

Select Strengthen for the option that would, if true, most support the spokesperson’s conclusion. Select Weaken for the statement that would, if true, most undermine the spokespersons’ conclusion. Make only two selections, one in each column.

Deepakjhamb · Answer

Strengthen Weaken 
Maxxus shampoo is the market leader for men over the age of 35 :  irrelvant , does not add to belief in being better than competitors for hair health , it could be leader due to being very cheap  
Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.
Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture:  irrelevant , as it does not even point out that maxxus is not more effective than others  
A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with dyed hair in such a way as to increase the risk of breakage and split ends.
Maxxus shampoo is a premium product sold only at hair salons:  irrelevant - as premium product is not necessarily 
the best product that maximizes gains for hair , it just shows that it has better quality than normal ones

answer :

strengthener :Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair :

conclusion is that: If customers want to ensure that their shampoo maximizes the health of their hair, they should use Maxxus. which assumes that Maxxus is overall better than other competitors in increasing the health of hair

so definitelty we already have Maxxus better than competitors for particularly dry hair , for normal moisture hair it has same level of performance as competitors , so definitely if we have it being best for oily hair - it makes it a candidate 
for overall better than other competitors considering different types of hair . So this does strengthen the belief in conclusion
 
 weakener :A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with dyed hair in such a way as to increase the risk of breakage and split ends.

answer explaination : this option says that a chemical component in Maxxus reacts with dyed hair to cause damage to health of hair . So this is direct attack on the assumption that Maxxus is overall better than other competitors in increasing the health of hair as we find a problem with Maxxus which directly hurting the health of hair .

Sumi1010 · Answer

Premise  - Working similar to the most brands in normal level of moisture,Maxxus restores moisture far better than others if the hair is dry.
 Conclusion  - If customers want to ensure that their shampoo maximizes the health of their hair, they should use Maxxus.

Prethink Assumptions -  
Maxxus cleans adequately in case of dry hair as well. 
Restoring the moisture helps in maintaining the health of the hair. 
The use of Maxxus is not restricted to a limited categories of customers.

Select Strengthen for the option that would, if true, most support the spokesperson’s conclusion. Select Weaken for the statement that would, if true, most undermine the spokespersons’ conclusion.

STRENGTHEN
Maxxus shampoo is the market leader for men over the age of 35.
 This does not add any support to the conclusion that Maxxus will ensure the maximized health of the customers' hair. 
Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.
 This statement adds the information that the use of Maxxus is not restricted to a limited categories of customers and many customers can use it  
Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture.
 This statement gives the limitation of Maxxus and does give no reason to edge Maxxus over competitors.  
A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with  dyed hair  in such a way as to  increase the risk  of breakage and split ends.
 This again tells a disadvantage of using Maxxus.  
Maxxus shampoo is a premium product sold  only at hair salon . 
 While it calls the product premium, this information adds a limitation on the use of Maxxus.

WEAKEN
Maxxus shampoo is the market leader for men over the age of 35.
 This does not add any support to the conclusion that Maxxus will ensure the maximized health of the customers' hair. 
Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.
 This actually strengthen the conclusion. 
 Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo  is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture.
 This weakens the claim that Maxxus has an edge over others because of its moisture restoring nature. Irrespective of the feature, the product is similar to other shampoo in effect. 
A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with  dyed hair  in such a way as to increase the risk of breakage and split ends.
 Though this information talks the disadvantage of the product,the conclusion is not specific to Maxxus application on dyed hair. We don't know the proportion of people who have such dyed hair. 
Maxxus shampoo is a premium product sold only at hair salon.
 While it adds a limitation on the use of Maxxus., this information calls the product premium.

Thus, 
 Strengthen : Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.
Weaken : Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture.

TarunKumar1234 · Answer

Conclusion:  If customers want to ensure that their shampoo maximizes the health of their hair, they should use Maxxus.

Premises  : 1) For normal moisture hair, Maxxus cleans like any other product in the market, 2) for dry hair, Maxxus restores moisture better than any products. It looks like 2nd point is an USP (Unique selling point).

Weaken:  Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture. (It is undermining the USP of Maxxus, which will make the spokesperson claim incorrect.)

Strengthen:  Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair. (I think, it will add further to Spokesperson claim of the best product)

rocky620 · Answer

Premise:  Maxxus is  adequate  for cleaning  hair with normal moisture level , like other brands.
 Premise:  Maxxus is  better  for  cleaning dry hair  than do other competitor brands.

Conclusion: - If customers want to ensure that their shampoo maximizes the health of their hair, they should use Maxxus.

We need to identify the  proportion of customers  with different hair types / cost effectiveness to arrive at Strengthening or Weakening.

Maxxus shampoo is the market leader for men over the age of 35...... We are narrowing the customers range. How about the female customers. Men and women both can equally desire a good hair health.

Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.....  Strengthen. We already have positive premises for two hair type. This stem is giving another positive feedback for a different hair type.

Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture..... It is just a re wording of premises

A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with dyed hair in such a way as to increase the risk of breakage and split ends..... This can be both, depending on the the proportion of people who dye their hair. If Low then strengthen, If high then weaken

Maxxus shampoo is a premium product sold only at hair salons......  Weakening. Firstly that the product is premium. Secondly the availability is limited. So there are Cost factors as well as convenience(in) factors, which indicates that it is a weakener.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Hello

This is a hard question, OA is posted it is:

Strengthen:  Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.
 Weaken:  A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with dyed hair in such a way as to increase the risk of breakage and split ends.

Nice catch by  Deepakjhamb

Official explanation will be posted soon.

Thank you

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Official Explanation

The question asks you to both strengthen and weaken the spokesperson’s conclusion. Treat this problem as a Critical Reasoning Strengthen and Weaken: deconstruct the argument, try to spot the assumptions, and then find a statement that makes the argument a little more likely to be valid (to strengthen) and one that makes it a little less likely to be valid (to weaken).

According to the spokesperson, Maxxus has a particular advantage when a person’s hair is dry: it is better able to restore moisture to hair than are the shampoos of major competitors. The spokesperson then concludes that using Maxxus will help to maximize the health of the customer’s hair.

Is restoring moisture the same thing as maximizing overall health? The spokesperson assumes so, but the argument provides evidence only about restoring moisture. It would strengthen the argument to provide any other information about how Maxxus helps hair health. On the flip side, it would weaken the argument to provide any information about how Maxxus might hurt hair health.

(A)  Whether men of a certain age prefer Maxxus does not address hair health, specifically. These men might prefer Maxxus for the cost or the smell or some other attribute that does not have to do with hair health.

(B)  Strengthen.   If Maxxus shampoo is particularly good for people with oily hair, too, then Maxxus has another “healthy hair” advantage. This strengthens the idea that Maxxus is good for overall hair health, as it works for people with normal moisture levels and is particularly good for people with dry hair or oily hair.

(C)  This choice appears to Weaken the argument, but it’s a trap. Even if Maxxus is not as good on dry hair as it is on normal hair, the argument already establishes that Maxxus is one of the best shampoos for dry hair. In other words, it is still better than the major competitors. This choice doesn’t weaken the argument after all.

(D)  Weaken.   This choice introduces a negative effect for a particular type of hair: Maxxus is more likely to cause dyed hair to break or split. This choice makes it less likely, then, that Maxxus will maximize the overall health of any type of hair, as the spokesperson claims.

(E)  Where the product is sold does not address hair health. There are many reasons a salon might sell a particular brand of shampoo, not all of which have to do with hair health.

Column 1: The correct answer is (B).
Column 2: The correct answer is (D).

agrasan · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray   IanStewart

I had selected option E for  strengthen  but later realised my mistake and wanted to confirm my reasoning.

Is option E wrong because we have to make our own assumption that products sold at premium hair salons are effective? This assumption isn't be supported by the argument.

Please let me know if this is the correct reasoning.

cheshire · Answer

Yes, thats the main part of it. The product being premium and only sold at salons doesn't directly support that it's the best shampoo. Rather, its an inference that may or not be correct in this context.

IanStewart · Answer

We have no idea what criteria salons use to choose which shampoo to sell, so the mention of salons in answer E doesn't help much. I suppose if you interpret "premium" (which the question doesn't define) to mean "high quality", then E helps a bit, but if you take it to mean "high priced", that doesn't tell us anything. The word can have either connotation (or both), so we're left to guess how helpful E is.

I'm not sure what answer is best here, because the "right" answer is obviously flawed. The conclusion is that Maxxus "maximizes" hair health. The ostensibly correct strengthener says Maxxus "is  one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair." In other words, Maxxus is  not  the best shampoo for oily hair, only "one of the best". But the conclusion is that Maxxus "maximizes" hair health -- that is, the conclusion is that Maxxus  is  the absolute best shampoo. When the "right" answer tells us Maxxus is not the best shampoo, that is a weakener to my view, not a strengthener.

Does anyone know the source of the problem? I don't see it listed anywhere.

Company spokesperson: Most brands of shampoo, including our brand, Max

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Strengthen	Weaken
		Maxxus shampoo is the market leader for men over the age of 35.
		Maxxus shampoo is one of the best shampoos for people with particularly oily hair.
		Like any other shampoo, Maxxus shampoo is less effective on dry hair than on hair of normal moisture.
		A chemical component unique to Maxxus shampoo reacts with dyed hair in such a way as to increase the risk of breakage and split ends.
		Maxxus shampoo is a premium product sold only at hair salons.