GMAT Essays (AWA)

The following appeared in a market research report examining consumer perceptions of a chain of clothing stores:

"A recent survey commissioned by the market research department of XY Gen Stores indicated a high level of recognition among consumers of the brand and the nature of the apparel sold in XY Gen Stores. However, the survey also indicated that approximately 60% of those surveyed that recognized the name of XY Gen Stores had never shopped at one of the company's stores. Because of this result, XY Gen Stores executives should launch a significant rebranding and marketing campaign to change the company's image and thereby bring new consumers into the stores.

RESPONSE:
The author states that a recent survey of XY Gen Stores has indicated high level of recognition among consumers of the brand. Also, 60% of the people surveyed never shopped at XY Gen stores and as a result the company should launch rebranding and marketing campaign to change XY Gen's image and bring new consumers into the stores. In the preceding statement the author claims that" Because of this result, XY Gen Stores executives should launch a significant rebranding and marketing campaign to change the company's image and thereby bring new consumers into the stores". Though this claim may well have merit, the author presents a poorly reasoned argument based on several questionable premises and assumptions, and based solely on the evidence the author offers, we cannot accept his argument as valid.

The primary issue in authors reasoning lies in his unsubstantiated premises. The survey indicated a high level of recognition among consumers and approximately 60% of those surveyed had never shopped from XY Gen stores, but this does not mean that people do not like apparels, for example, it is possible that people may be shopping apparels from different stores and it is also possible that people may see eachother wearing those apparels and are attracted by them. Depending just on the survey to launch rebranding and marketing campaign may not be a very good option as company's image may already be well established and people may buy same products from other stores due to several reasons. The authors premises, the basis for his argument, lack any legitimate evidentiary support that render his conclusion invalid.

In addition the author makes several assumptions that remain unproven. The author assumes that a survey is exact information, but the case may be different. For instance, many people may not take surveys seriously and provide answers for the sake of answering. Furthermore, people not shopping at the company stores does not mean that the companies image is not well established. The author assumes that since people are not shopping at companies stores, the comapny should launch rebranding and marketing campaign which may do so. Instead, it is possible that the the number of consumers may not increase and stay the same. The author weakens his argument by failing to provide explication of links between survey informtion and rebrading because of that he assumes exists.

While there are issues with authors premises and assumptions, that is not to say the entire argument is without base. The author can provide examples to support his argument, he can state the reasons as to why people are not shopping from company's stores and why this will be affecting the companies image. Moreover, he can state the validity of the survey by mentioning various factors, such as, age, gender, place etc. Though there are several issues with authors reasoning at present, with research and clarification he could improve his argument significantly.

In sum, the authors illogical argument is based on unsupported premises and unsubstantiated assumption, that render his conclusion invalid. By providing the details of the survey as to where it took place and what was the age of population that took it and various other factors, the author could provide support for his argument. Also, just considering the information from survey to launch rebranding and marketing campaign may not be significant. If the author truly hopes to change his readers mind on the issue, he would have to largely restructure his argument, fix the flaws in his logic, clearly explicate his assumptions, and provide evidentiary support. without these things his poorly reasoned argument will likely convince few people.