The chain of logic in this argument is as follows:
play songs that were popular hits fifteen to twenty-five years ago --> attract an audience made up mainly of people between thirty-five and forty-five years old --> strong market appeal to advertisers.
This argument is relying on the following assumptions:
- 35-45 yr olds will prefer music from 15-25 yrs ago to music from other time periods.
- 35-45 yr olds will actually tune in to this station (rather than other music stations / talk radio, etc)
- 35-45 yr olds are particularly appealing to advertisers
To STRENGTHEN this argument, we need to find answer choices that make these assumptions more likely to be true.
(A) People tend to remain very fond of the music that they heard when they were in their teens and early twenties.
Yes, this supports the assumption that 15-25 yr old music will be particularly appealing to 35-45 yr olds.
(B) In a number of cities demographically similar to Greenfield, radio stations that play recordings of popular music from fifteen to twenty-five years ago have succeeded commercially.
Yes, this gives us more reason to believe that advertisers would want to target this group.
(C) People in the thirty-five- to forty-five-year-old age group are more likely to listen to the radio for news than for music.
No, this weakens the argument. If 35-45 yr olds are actually listening to something else when they turn on the radio, then it won't matter when the station plays music that they prefer. They won't be tuning in.
(D) The thirty-five- to forty-five-year-old age group is one in which people tend to have comparatively high levels of income and are involved in making household purchases.
Yes, this supports the idea that this age group is particularly appealing to advertisers.
(E) Among the few radio stations in the Greenfield area, there is none that plays music from this particular period for more than a few hours per week
Yes, this supports the idea that people who prefer this type of music will actually tune in to this station.
The only answer that does not strengthen the argument is C.
Ceilidh Erickson
EdM in Mind, Brain, and Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education