Tech Toys CR question

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Tech Toys CR question

by crak.gmat » Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:58 pm
Analyst: The pace of technological development brings a constant stream of new devices to the market, and many of them enjoy commercial success. But announcing new technology too soon after the introduction of a successful device can backfire. Once consumers hear about the new device, they may stop buying the one currently on sale. So, if a company wishes to announce the upcoming sale of a new device, it should wait until purchases of the old device have begun to decline.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the analyst's main assertion?
New technology often becomes less expensive after an initial surge in sales.
Media outlets, such as television programs and magazines, often report on the planned introduction of new devices while the sales of old devices are still strong.
Many consumers are unable to determine whether new technology is superior to current technology.
Surveys have shown that some consumers make only one or two technology purchases per year, whereas others make more frequent purchases.
Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies whose products they enjoy using.


The correct answer doesn't make sense to me. Appreciate explanation along with your answer
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by AleksandrM » Sat Jul 26, 2008 2:41 pm
Analyst: The pace of technological development brings a constant stream of new devices to the market, and many of them enjoy commercial success.

Premise. Tech development = new technology. Many enjoy success.

But announcing new technology too soon after the introduction of a successful device can backfire.

Premise. An intro that is too speedy can backfire.

Once consumers hear about the new device, they may stop buying the one currently on sale.

Premise. Consumers might not buy the currently available tech because they are now waiting for the new stuff.

So, if a company wishes to announce the upcoming sale of a new device, it should wait until purchases of the old device have begun to decline.

Conclusion. Company should wait with its announcement of new stuff until current stuff starts to sell less.

Which of the following, if true, would best support the analyst's main assertion? [His main assertion is the conclusion. Once you realize this, things will be much easier. The answer choice has to be relevant to the conclusion.]

A. New technology often becomes less expensive after an initial surge in sales. [There is nothing about price mentioned in the argument.]

B. Media outlets, such as television programs and magazines, often report on the planned introduction of new devices while the sales of old devices are still strong. [If media outlets readily report on a company's announcements, then people will quickly learn of its plans and stop buying the presently available stuff, as the premises in the argument predict.]

C. Many consumers are unable to determine whether new technology is superior to current technology. [If anything, this weakens the authors assertion.]

D. Surveys have shown that some consumers make only one or two technology purchases per year, whereas others make more frequent purchases. [Neither the premises nor the assertion state anything about the frequency of purchases; just purchases in general.]

E. Consumers tend to be loyal to technology companies whose products they enjoy using. [Kool. I'll keep that in mind once I start my own company. As for the argument, this is useless information.]

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by crak.gmat » Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:13 pm
Thanks Aleksandr for your detailed explanation of the problem. Very helpful indeed!

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by reachac » Sat Jul 26, 2008 8:56 pm
IMO E

Whats the OA??

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by raunekk » Sat Jul 26, 2008 10:14 pm
IMO:B

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by AleksandrM » Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:37 am
reachac wrote:IMO E

Whats the OA??
Ask yourself, why did I just choose this answer? Often, it is useful to assume the opposite of what is stated in the answer choice and see if it significantly affects the argument. In this case, if buyers are NOT loyal to one company, does this really affect their overall purchase of technological devices. If you assumed that they purchase from one company, and that company does not release a new device sooner than others, then you went too far beyond the scope of the argument.

Keep the following in mind:

1. When you are asked to weaken or strengthen the conclusion of the argument - that is really what you are being asked when you are being asked to do this, since you cannot weaken premises for they are just facts as opposed to the conclusion, which is an opinion that can be argued - you should be able to do so based solely on the premises of the argument.

2. You should not have to make any additional assumptions that go beyond the scope of the argument in order to answer a question. If, after eliminating three answer choices, you are faced with 2 likely answers, you can eliminate one of them based on how far beyond the scope of the argument you have to go in your assumption in order to answer the question.

3. Whenever you are stuck between two answer choices, pay attention to the boundary words used in the argument and whether the answer choices parallel these words. If an answer choice is too weak or too strong, eliminate it.

Answer choice B above directly parallels the assertion - that is, the conclusion - and strengthens it by telling you that there is a readily available outlet for a company's statements about its projected product release.

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by kiranlegend » Sun Jul 27, 2008 9:20 am
IMO B

but C uses a word whether.. it could be either for for or against.. so i thought B is better.. but if we look at it closely, there is a good chance that C seems plausible.. since consumers are not sure, they might want to wait.. but stimulus tells has a premise: 'The pace of technological development brings a constant stream of new devices to the market, and many of them enjoy commercial success.' many means not all.

So B is better.. how is my explanation, guys? did i understood it correctly?? :shock:

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by reachac » Sun Jul 27, 2008 10:21 am
AleksandrM wrote:
reachac wrote:IMO E

Whats the OA??
Ask yourself, why did I just choose this answer? Often, it is useful to assume the opposite of what is stated in the answer choice and see if it significantly affects the argument. In this case, if buyers are NOT loyal to one company, does this really affect their overall purchase of technological devices. If you assumed that they purchase from one company, and that company does not release a new device sooner than others, then you went too far beyond the scope of the argument.

Keep the following in mind:

1. When you are asked to weaken or strengthen the conclusion of the argument - that is really what you are being asked when you are being asked to do this, since you cannot weaken premises for they are just facts as opposed to the conclusion, which is an opinion that can be argued - you should be able to do so based solely on the premises of the argument.

2. You should not have to make any additional assumptions that go beyond the scope of the argument in order to answer a question. If, after eliminating three answer choices, you are faced with 2 likely answers, you can eliminate one of them based on how far beyond the scope of the argument you have to go in your assumption in order to answer the question.

3. Whenever you are stuck between two answer choices, pay attention to the boundary words used in the argument and whether the answer choices parallel these words. If an answer choice is too weak or too strong, eliminate it.

Answer choice B above directly parallels the assertion - that is, the conclusion - and strengthens it by telling you that there is a readily available outlet for a company's statements about its projected product release.
Ok since u asked why I chose this answer,
If the consumer is switching between the companies, it wouldnt make sense for a particular company to hold back its new range of products as per the circumstance given in the stem...Well I don still agree with B, it just states the fact in stem with a new dimension(media outlets) thats it.

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by AleksandrM » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:05 am
kiranlegend wrote:IMO B

but C uses a word whether.. it could be either for for or against.. so i thought B is better.. but if we look at it closely, there is a good chance that C seems plausible.. since consumers are not sure, they might want to wait.. but stimulus tells has a premise: 'The pace of technological development brings a constant stream of new devices to the market, and many of them enjoy commercial success.' many means not all.

So B is better.. how is my explanation, guys? did i understood it correctly?? :shock:
You are focusing on the wrong part of the argument. The fact that many enjoy success is not relevant to your evaluation of answer choice C. If C is true, then consumers would not be able to assess if the new product is any different from the one available on the market, which voids the author’s assertion.

As for "whether," it is merely there in place of IF. You cannot say IF or IF NOT, that is just grammatically incorrect. "Whether" is not intended to make the answer choice go either way.

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by AleksandrM » Sun Jul 27, 2008 11:12 am
Ok since u asked why I chose this answer,
If the consumer is switching between the companies, it wouldnt make sense for a particular company to hold back its new range of products as per the circumstance given in the stem...Well I don still agree with B, it just states the fact in stem with a new dimension(media outlets) thats it.
You are assuming WAY beyond the scope of the argument.

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by reachac » Wed Jul 30, 2008 12:01 am
OA pleassssseeeee

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by agent47 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 10:09 pm
imo C

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by navami » Sun May 15, 2011 2:19 am
this is although a very old thread. IMO C is the correct one.

A-> irrelavant
B-> just an example, but that doesn't mean that this can be the case everytime.
C
D-> just a general survey which talks both ways
E-> doen't say anything about the probability of buying by the cunsumers.
This time no looking back!!!
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by Tani » Sun May 15, 2011 8:46 pm
I'm not crazy about any of the answers, but C does not seem to address the issue. The assertion we are supposed to support is that companies shouldn't announce "upcoming" product intros until the sales of the old product start to fall off. THe argument is all about timing so I would look for an answer that involves timing.

"Upcoming" here is key. It means that the product is not yet introduced, but will be in the relatively near future. The author is telling us that to maximize sales, the company needs to handle timing carefully. Our answer needs to have something to do with timing and the impact on sales.

Simply announcing the product would have little impact unless consumers hear about it. The participation of the media would make it more likely that the consumers would hear about it and therefore make it more likely that sales of the current product would suffer. That makes B correct.

The consumer's ability to judge the new product is not related to the timing of the announcement. Eliminate C.

"Enjoyment" is irrelevant. You could even say that if the company in question has a large group of loyal consumers this would work against the argument since a loyal consumer might be willing to hold off on a purchase of a new electronic device in order to wait for the upcoming one from his or her favorite company.

What is the official answer?
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by tanviet » Mon May 16, 2011 4:04 am
Tani Wolff - Kaplan wrote:I'm not crazy about any of the answers, but C does not seem to address the issue. The assertion we are supposed to support is that companies shouldn't announce "upcoming" product intros until the sales of the old product start to fall off. THe argument is all about timing so I would look for an answer that involves timing.

"Upcoming" here is key. It means that the product is not yet introduced, but will be in the relatively near future. The author is telling us that to maximize sales, the company needs to handle timing carefully. Our answer needs to have something to do with timing and the impact on sales.

Simply announcing the product would have little impact unless consumers hear about it. The participation of the media would make it more likely that the consumers would hear about it and therefore make it more likely that sales of the current product would suffer. That makes B correct.

The consumer's ability to judge the new product is not related to the timing of the announcement. Eliminate C.

"Enjoyment" is irrelevant. You could even say that if the company in question has a large group of loyal consumers this would work against the argument since a loyal consumer might be willing to hold off on a purchase of a new electronic device in order to wait for the upcoming one from his or her favorite company.

What is the official answer?
I like your explanation. but Tani, please, show me the assumption of strengthener B. I want to know this because Kaplan book teach us that strengthener must INCREASE BELIEFT in an assumption. Please, help