My 2-nd essay. With a poll to make rating easier. Thank you

[DBushkalov]

Hi fellows,

I know that it is not easy to motivate yourself to rate someone else's essay, so I really want to thank you in advance for taking your time and giving me your feedback. I am aiming at around 5.5 on the AWA, so let me know what you think about my level so far.


Question:

"Since a competing lower-priced newspaper, The Bugle, was started five years ago, The Mercury's circulation has
declined by 10,000 readers. The best way to get more people to read The Mercury is to reduce its price below
that of The Bugle, at least until circulation increases to former levels. The increased circulation of The Mercury will
attract more businesses to buy advertising space in the paper."

My answer:

In the argument above the author proposes a plan to increase the circulation of the weekly newspaper "The Mercury". However, the plan is fundamentally wrong, in that the evidence it uses fails to provide a strong support for the author's claim.

First, the author asserts that lowering the price of "The Mercury" is the best way to attract more readers. Although this statement could be right under certain circumstances, there could easily be other reasons for the decline in the number of readers; for instance, the quality of the articles of "The Mercury" might have worsened throughout the last 5 years. Furthermore, it is possible that the number of competitors on the market has increased or that the number of all newspaper readers has decreased in general. Thus, in order to establish a sound basis for the conclusion, the author should consider if there are any other reasons for the decline in the number of readers in the last 5 years.

Second, the argument states that decreasing the price of "The Mercury" will have a positive impact on the circulation of the newspaper, but fails to account for possible side effect of this measure. For example, the reduce in price may also reduce the revenues so much that it becomes impossible to cover the cost of printing the newspapers and paying salaries to the employees in the company. This could further cause unsatisfaction among the workers and their motivation to work for "The Mercury". Hence, it is necessary to analyze if the decrease in the price will not have detrimental side effects for the situation within the company.

Finally, the author assumes that by lowering the price of "The Mercury" the competitor newspaper "The Bugle" will not undertake a price decrease as well. If this situation occurs, then the price decrease will fail to achieve its goal of increasing the circulation, because "The Bugle" will still be the price leader on the market, at least compared to "The Mercury". Even if "The Mercury" were in a position to establish the lowest price on the market, the measure to decrease the newspaper's price could result in a price war between the competitors, which may influence their business in a very negative way. Therefore, it is questionable to assume that the price decrease will indeed turn out to be the best way to increase the circulation of the newspaper, unless a clearer picture is drawn as if the initial decrease in the price of "The Mercury" will not cause a price war between the competitors.

To conclude, the author's proposed plan of action to increase the circulation of the newspaper "The Mercury" is unconvincing, because it is based on questionable assumptions and evidence that fails to support the argument's claim. It is necessary to conduct further analysis to clarify the causes for the decline in the circulation, to better evaluate the possible negative effects of the plan on the environment within the company and to find out if lowering the price will not lead to a price war on the market.