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.
believes A's campaign will increase the company's name recognition
believes A's campaign will decrease the company's name recognition
asks B for a campaign
asks A for an alternate campaign
believes the focus group did not respond positively to A's campaign
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