GMAT Essays (AWA)

Topic:

The following appeared as part of a campaign to sell advertising time on a local radio station to local business:

"The Cumquat Cafe began advertising on our local radio station this year and was delighted to see its business increase by 10 percent over last year's totals. Their success shows you how you can use radio advertisement to make your business more profitable."


Companies often use a multitude of strategies when it comes to marketing and advertising. In the above argument Cumquat Café has attributed their recent increase in sales solely to their radio advertising. The author then assumes that this story of success shows that business can become more profitable through this media outlet. However, in stating this conclusion, the author makes a number of false assumptions and errors in reasoning.

To begin, the increase in sales could be attributable to a number of other factors and not just the radio advertising campaign itself. For example, an improvement in food quality, service, or menu selection could have been the reason for the Café’s increase in business. In addition, if other competitors have left the market or declined in quality Cumquats sales could have increased as well. Overall, without knowing other factors, attributing the increase in sales to just one element could be misleading.

Furthermore, if evidence was provided that radio advertising was the reason for this increase, this strategy will not necessarily work for all other businesses. For instance, certain businesses may not have clientele that listen to the radio. Also, evidence about how cost effective the advertising was not given. These additional questions need to be answered before the authors general statement about how radio advertisements can help business can be validated.

Overall, the author’s assumption above is based on a limited example and needs to be strengthened. Additional evidence on the exact cause of the increase or sales and the effectiveness of Cumquat Café’s advertising could add to the above conclusion and improve the quality of the argument.