Companies wishing to boost sales

Answer choices

1. A

   Out of Scope: increasingly using1% picked this

   Companies are increasingly using in-store displays to catch

   We don't care whether this plan represents a growing trend or whether the author is the first one to think of it. We're only concerned with whether or not it works at boosting sales. If we negated this and said, "companies are not increasingly using in-store displays", that doesn't weaken. It only weakens if we learn that in-store displays do not help boost sales of merchandise.

   1%
2. B

   Out of Scope: at one time5% picked this

   Coupons and direct-mail advertising were at one time more effective means of boosting sales of merchandise

   The author's argument has nothing to do with the past, so she hasn't committed to any ideas about whether coupons and direct-mail were once more effective than now. This answer has nothing to do with in-store displays, so it has nothing to do with the argument core we're supposed to be evaluating. We only care about answers that deal with this question: "Given that 2/3 of buying decisions are made at the store, would in-store displays succeed at catching customers' attention and thereby boosting sales of merchandise?"

   5%
3. C

   Irrelevant Comparison9% picked this

   In-store displays are more likely to influence buying decisions made on the spot at the store than to

   If we negated this and said "in-store displays are equally likely to influence on-the-spot buying decisions as they are to influence other buying decisions" that would sound like a big weakening idea for this plan.

   9%
4. D

   Correct85% picked this

   In-store displays that catch customers’ attention increase the likelihood that customers will decide on the spot to

   Why this is right

   This sounds pretty obvious, which is why some students don't like it, but this plan is certainly assuming that in-store displays that succeed in catching customers' attention will thereby increase the potential sales of merchandise to that customer. If we negate this and say, "In-store displays that catch consumers' attention do not increase the likelihood that the customers will decide on the spot to buy the company's merchandise", that sounds like a big weakening idea to the plan. The author is saying these in-store displays are a way to boost sales of merchandise, but if customers who notice them are no more likely to buy the company's merchandise, then the author sounds wrong. On Necessary Assumption, if the negation of an answer badly weakens the argument, then that answer is correct.

   Skill tested: Necessary Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

   85%
5. E

   Weakens1% picked this

   Many of today’s shoppers are too busy to pay careful attention

   This is written as an objection to the plan. "Hey, author -- your plan sounds bad. After all, many shoppers are not going to even look at the in-store displays. They're too busy." Authors are never assuming something that weakens them. They're assuming the opposite of something that weakens them.

   1%