Over the past five years, the price gap between name-brand cereals and less expensive store-brand cereals has become so wide that consumers have been switching increasingly to store brands despite the name brands’ reputation for better quality. To attract these consumers back, several manufacturers of name-brand cereals plan to narrow the price gap between their cereals and store brands to less than what it was five years ago.
Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the likelihood that the manufacturers’ plan will succeed in attracting back a large percentage of consumers who have switched to store brands?
(A) There is no significant difference among manufacturers of name-brand cereals in the prices they charge for their products.
(B) Consumers who have switched to store-brand cereals have generally been satisfied with the quality of those cereals.
(C) Many consumers would never think of switching to store-brand cereals because they believe the name brand cereals to be of better quality.
(D) Because of lower advertising costs, stores are able to offer their own brands of cereals at significantly lower prices than those charged for name-brand cereals.
(E) Total annual sales of cereals—including both name-brand and store-brand cereals—have not increased significantly over the past five years.
The argument says that
1) the price gap between name-brand cereals and less expensive store-brand cereals has become very wide
2) Because of this, consumers have been switching increasingly to store brands despite the name brands’ reputation for better quality.
Conclusion/name-brand manufacturers' plan- To attract these consumers back,
the name brand manufacturers have decided to reduce the price of their cereals to less than what it was five years ago.
We need to find an option that would question/weaken the likelihood that the manufacturers’ plan will succeed in attracting back a large percentage of consumers who have switched to store brands
Option A- There is no significant difference among manufacturers of name-brand cereals in the prices they charge for their products. The comparison is not between the prices of name-brand cereals and store-brand cereals but among the manufacturers of name-brand cereals in the prices they charge for their products. This does not affect our conclusion and is incorrect.
Option B- Consumers who have switched to store-brand cereals have generally been satisfied with the quality of those cereals.
Even when the name-brand cereals had the reputation for better quality, consumers switched to store-brand cereals because of the huge difference in the price. Option B says that consumers who switched to store-brand cereals are satisfied with the quality of those cereals. This would make it all the more difficult for the name-brand manufacturers to bring back these consumers even with a reduction in price. This seriously weakens the manufacturers’ plan and is hence the correct answer.
Option C- Many consumers would never think of switching to store-brand cereals because they believe the name brand cereals to be of better quality
If many consumers still continue to use name brand cereals, there’s no need for the new plan at all. Option C does not affect the conclusion and is incorrect.
Option D- Because of lower advertising costs, stores are able to offer their own brands of cereals at significantly lower prices than those charged for name-brand cereals- irrelevant to the plan discussed in the conclusion. Eliminate option D.
Option E- Total annual sales of cereals—including both name-brand and store-brand cereals—have not increased significantly over the past five years.
does not affect the manufacturers’ plan of reducing the price of their cereals- eliminate option E.