GMAT Essays (AWA)

The following appeared in a letter from the circulation manager of the Muse, a monthly arts magazine, to the magazine ’ s publisher.

“ Our circulation has declined steadily since the launch of a competing magazine, the Apollo, two years ago. The Apollo includes more color photographs than the Muse does. If we want to increase our circulation to its former level, we need to add more color photographs. This will enable us to increase our circulation and therefore sell more advertising. ”

Discuss how well-reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counter-examples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

The manager of the "Muse" is concerned with the decline in circulation. The manager believes to have pin-pointed the reason, and believes it is because the new competing magazine, "Apollo," which offers "more color photographs than the "Muse" does." The manager thinks the company needs to add more color photographs, which will enable them to increase the circulation once again, and this in turn will allow them to sell more advertising. The managers belief is deeply flawed, because there could be numerous other reasons for the decline in circulation.

The manager believes the color photographs in "Apollo" attracts consumers to their magazine, and if the "Muse" follows suit then it will regain its consumers. there could easily be many other issues which attract consumers to "Apollo," such as better articles to read. The quality of articles in "Apollo" could be better than the muse, which attracts people to magazines, just as much as nice colored pictures do.

Another thing that consumers look at when trying to decide which product to choose is price. This is a crucial deciding factor for many consumers, especially given today's economy, when we are all trying to save a penny. This information is lacking in the manager's letter, which again flaws the argument.

Another figure that should be shown above is if the decline in the Muse's circulation has shown an increase in the Apollo's circulation. Did the consumers who dropped from the muse's circulation switch to Apollo? This is the most crucial information to know, because this will tell you if your competitor is truly taking your business. The decline in circulation could be because the "Apollo" but it could also be because consumers are just not interested anymore.

As the publisher I would need to see two more pieces of information; the price comparison between the two magazines and the data to show the increase of circulation in the Apollo versus the decline of circulation in the Muse. As the publisher of a magazine I could not make a decision to revamp the style of the "Muse" based on the information given to me by the manager. The persuasive technique is very weak, and lacks evidence. A strong manager is one who can present a vast amount of data to prove his or her idea, but this manager fails to prove anything.


I said 5.