Marketing strategist: Agency A designed an advertising campaign that our company is about to test with a focus group. We...
GMAT Two Part Analysis : (TPA) Questions
Marketing strategist: Agency A designed an advertising campaign that our company is about to test with a focus group. We are wondering whether a new ad campaign will increase our name recognition among consumers. As a contingency, we have decided that we might ask Agency B to design an alternate campaign. However, if we find that A's campaign elicits positive responses from the focus group, we will not ask B for a campaign.
A statement that must be true if the marketing strategist's statements are true: After the focus testing is complete, if the company 1 _, then it must also be the case that the company 2 _. Select for 1 if and 2 then the two different options that create a statement that must be true if the marketing strategist's statements are true. Make only two selections, one in each column.
Phase 1: Owning the Dataset
Argument Analysis Table
| Passage Statement | Analysis & Implications |
| "Agency A designed an advertising campaign that our company is about to test with a focus group." |
|
| "We are wondering whether a new ad campaign will increase our name recognition among consumers." |
|
| "As a contingency, we have decided that we might ask Agency B to design an alternate campaign." |
|
| "However, if we find that A's campaign elicits positive responses from the focus group, we will not ask B for a campaign." |
|
Key Patterns Identified
- Established Facts:
- A's campaign will be tested
- B is contingency option
- Positive focus group response eliminates need for B
- Critical Relationship: The passage establishes a clear if-then conditional
- Logical Implication: We can use contrapositive reasoning
Phase 2: Question Analysis & Prethinking
Understanding Each Part
- Part 1 (If): Looking for a condition that triggers a consequence
- Part 2 (Then): Looking for what must follow from Part 1
- Relationship: These must form a logically valid if-then statement
Valid Inferences Generated
From the passage's conditional statement:
- Direct Reading: If positive response → Won't ask B
- Contrapositive: If asks B → No positive response
The contrapositive gives us our strongest inference possibility.
Phase 3: Answer Choice Evaluation
Let me analyze each option:
- "believes A's campaign will increase the company's name recognition"
- This relates to the ultimate goal but isn't directly tied to the focus group conditional
- "believes A's campaign will decrease the company's name recognition"
- Not supported by passage facts
- "asks B for a campaign"
- This triggers our contrapositive logic
- If this happens, something specific must be true
- "asks A for an alternate campaign"
- Not mentioned in passage
- "believes the focus group did not respond positively to A's campaign"
- This follows necessarily if B is asked
Answer Selection Process
For Part 1 (If): Choice 3 - "asks B for a campaign"
- This is the trigger condition in our contrapositive
For Part 2 (Then): Choice 5 - "believes the focus group did not respond positively to A's campaign"
- This must be true if B is asked (based on contrapositive logic)
Verification
The complete statement reads: "After the focus testing is complete, if the company asks B for a campaign, then it must also be the case that the company believes the focus group did not respond positively to A's campaign."
This is logically valid because:
- Passage states: Positive response → No B
- Contrapositive: Ask B → No positive response
- Our answer captures this perfectly
Final Answer
If: asks B for a campaign
Then: believes the focus group did not respond positively to A's campaign