Both foreign and domestic cigarettes are widely sold in the Gondian Republic, but until three years ago advertisements for foreign...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
Both foreign and domestic cigarettes are widely sold in the Gondian Republic, but until three years ago advertisements for foreign cigarettes were banned within the country to protect Gondian tobacco companies. Since then, the proportion of cigarette sales that are accounted for by foreign tobacco companies has not increased, even though foreign cigarettes have been heavily advertised. This does not show that brand advertising has little effect on Gondian smoking habits, however, since total cigarette consumption has risen and __________________.
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| Both foreign and domestic cigarettes are widely sold in the Gondian Republic, but until three years ago advertisements for foreign cigarettes were banned within the country to protect Gondian tobacco companies. |
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| Since then, the proportion of cigarette sales that are accounted for by foreign tobacco companies has not increased, even though foreign cigarettes have been heavily advertised. |
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| This does not show that brand advertising has little effect on Gondian smoking habits, however, since total cigarette consumption has risen and ________. |
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Argument Flow:
The argument starts with background info about foreign cigarette advertising being allowed 3 years ago. Then it presents data showing foreign market share didn't increase despite heavy advertising. Finally, it challenges the obvious conclusion by pointing out that total cigarette consumption rose, suggesting the blank will explain why advertising was actually effective.
Main Conclusion:
Brand advertising does have an effect on Gondian smoking habits (contrary to what the market share data might suggest)
Logical Structure:
The author uses the premise that total cigarette consumption increased to counter the evidence that foreign market share stayed flat. The missing piece should explain how foreign companies benefited from advertising even though their percentage of sales didn't change - likely because they sold more cigarettes in absolute numbers due to the growing market.
Prethinking:
Question type:
Logically Completes - We need to find a statement that makes the author's counter-argument complete and logical
Precision of Claims
The key claims involve proportions (market share percentages), quantities (total cigarette consumption), and activity (advertising effectiveness). We need to be precise about how these different measures relate to each other.
Strategy
The author is arguing that even though foreign cigarette market share stayed the same, this doesn't prove advertising is ineffective because total consumption rose. We need to complete this logic by showing how advertising could still be working even with unchanged market share. The key insight is that if the total market grew, foreign companies could be selling more cigarettes in absolute numbers while maintaining the same percentage share.
'domestic cigarettes have always accounted for most cigarette sales in the Gondian Republic' - This tells us about historical market dominance but doesn't explain why foreign advertising could be effective despite unchanged market share. It doesn't address the relationship between total consumption rising and advertising effectiveness. This is just background information that doesn't complete the logical argument.
'Gondian tobacco companies have increased the number and sophistication of their advertisements to match those of their foreign competitors' - This perfectly completes the argument! Here's why: If total cigarette consumption rose AND domestic companies responded to foreign advertising by ramping up their own ads, then both sides could be selling more cigarettes while maintaining the same market share percentages. Foreign advertising worked (it grew the overall market), but domestic companies competed effectively to maintain their slice of the bigger pie. This explains how advertising can be effective even when market share stays constant.
'neighboring countries have also seen a rise in total cigarette consumption, even though there has been no change in regulations governing cigarette advertising in any of those countries' - This information about other countries doesn't help explain what happened in the Gondian Republic. We need to understand why foreign market share stayed flat in Gondian Republic specifically, not what happened elsewhere. This is irrelevant comparative data.
'among the tobacco companies whose cigarettes are widely available in the Gondian Republic, the great majority are foreign companies' - This actually makes the situation more puzzling rather than explaining it. If most companies are foreign, why didn't their heavy advertising increase their collective market share? This doesn't help the author's argument that advertising was actually effective.
'Gondian tobacco companies formulate their cigarettes especially to appeal to the taste of Gondian cigarette consumers' - While this might explain some competitive advantage for domestic companies, it doesn't connect to the key issue of advertising effectiveness or explain the relationship between rising total consumption and stable market shares. Product formulation is different from advertising impact.