Over the past five years, the price gap between name-brand cereals and less expensive store-brand cereals has become so wide...

GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions

Source: Official Guide

Critical Reasoning

Weaken

MEDIUM

...

Notes

Post a Query

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?

There is no significant difference among manufacturers of name-brand cereals in the prices they charge for their products.

Consumers who have switched to store-brand cereals have generally been satisfied with the quality of those cereals.

Many consumers would never think of switching to store-brand cereals because they believe the name brand cereals to be of better quality.

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.

Total annual sales of cereals—including both name-brand and store-brand cereals—have not increased significantly over the past five years.

Solution

Passage Analysis:

Text from Passage	Analysis
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.	What it says: The price difference between name-brand and store-brand cereals has grown really big over 5 years, causing people to buy more store brands even though name brands are seen as better quality What it does: Sets up the current problem situation by showing how price changes led to consumer behavior shifts What it is: Author's premise describing market conditions Visualization: 5 years ago: Name brand $5, Store brand $3 (gap = $2) → Today: Name brand $6, Store brand $2.50 (gap = $3.50). Consumer switches: 30% → 60% choosing store brands
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.	What it says: Name-brand cereal makers want to reduce the price difference to even smaller than it was 5 years ago to win back customers What it does: Presents the manufacturers' solution strategy that directly responds to the problem described earlier What it is: Author's premise describing the proposed plan Visualization: Current gap = $3.50 → Planned gap = less than $2 (what it was 5 years ago). Goal: Win back the 30% of consumers who switched

Argument Flow:

We start with a problem - big price gaps drove consumers away from name brands to store brands. Then we get the proposed solution - manufacturers plan to make the price gap even smaller than it was 5 years ago to win those consumers back.

Main Conclusion:

Several name-brand cereal manufacturers plan to narrow the price gap to less than what it was five years ago in order to attract back consumers who switched to store brands.

Logical Structure:

This is a plan-based argument where the conclusion (the manufacturers' plan) is directly supported by the premise that explains why the plan is needed (consumers switched due to wide price gaps). The logic assumes that reducing prices will reverse the consumer behavior described in the premise.

Prethinking:

Question type:

Weaken - We need to find information that reduces belief in the conclusion that narrowing the price gap will successfully attract back a large percentage of consumers who switched to store brands

Precision of Claims

The claim is about quantity (large percentage of consumers) and activity (attracting back consumers who switched). The plan involves a specific action (narrowing price gap to less than what it was 5 years ago) with an expected outcome (winning back customers)

Strategy

To weaken this plan, we need to think about why reducing the price gap might NOT work to bring back consumers. Even though the passage tells us consumers initially switched due to price, there could be other factors that would prevent them from switching back even if prices become more competitive again. We should look for scenarios where the original reason for the plan (price sensitivity) is no longer the main factor, or where other barriers exist

Answer Choices Explained

There is no significant difference among manufacturers of name-brand cereals in the prices they charge for their products.

This tells us that name-brand manufacturers charge similar prices to each other. However, this doesn't affect whether narrowing the gap between name brands and store brands will succeed in winning back consumers. The plan is about the relationship between name-brand and store-brand prices, not about competition among name-brand manufacturers themselves.

Consumers who have switched to store-brand cereals have generally been satisfied with the quality of those cereals.

This directly undermines the plan's likelihood of success. If consumers who switched to store brands are satisfied with their quality, they've essentially discovered that the name brands' main advantage (better quality) isn't as significant as they originally thought. Even if the price gap narrows, these satisfied consumers have less reason to switch back since they're getting acceptable quality at lower prices. This removes a key motivation for returning to name brands.

Many consumers would never think of switching to store-brand cereals because they believe the name brand cereals to be of better quality.

This actually supports the manufacturers' plan rather than weakening it. If many consumers still believe name brands are better quality and won't switch away, this suggests there's still strong brand loyalty that could help the plan succeed when combined with more competitive pricing.

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.

While this explains why stores can offer lower prices, it doesn't directly address whether narrowing the price gap will bring consumers back. The manufacturers' plan acknowledges they need to reduce their price gap - this choice explains the competitive landscape but doesn't weaken the plan's potential effectiveness.

Total annual sales of cereals—including both name-brand and store-brand cereals—have not increased significantly over the past five years.

Information about total cereal sales remaining flat doesn't directly impact whether the plan will succeed in shifting consumers from store brands back to name brands. The plan is about market share redistribution, not about growing the overall market.

Rate this Solution

Tell us what you think about this solution

...

Forum Discussions

Start a new discussion

Post

Previous Attempts

Loading attempts...