The main goal of advertising is to increase sales, and using particular catch phrases in ads is one way advertisers...
GMAT Critical Reasoning : (CR) Questions
The main goal of advertising is to increase sales, and using particular catch phrases in ads is one way advertisers have pursued this goal. Many of these catch phrases were developed decades ago, but they continue to this day to boost sales, as is proven by the prevalence of commercials that still use them.
The reasoning above is most vulnerable to criticism that it
Passage Analysis:
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
| The main goal of advertising is to increase sales, and using particular catch phrases in ads is one way advertisers have pursued this goal. |
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| Many of these catch phrases were developed decades ago, but they continue to this day to boost sales, as is proven by the prevalence of commercials that still use them. |
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Argument Flow:
The argument starts with a general statement about advertising's goal and introduces catch phrases as a tool. Then it moves to the specific claim that old catch phrases still work today, using their continued use as evidence of their effectiveness.
Main Conclusion:
Old catch phrases (developed decades ago) continue to boost sales today.
Logical Structure:
The author uses circular reasoning - they claim that because old catch phrases are still widely used in commercials, this proves they boost sales. But this assumes that continued use automatically means continued effectiveness, which ignores other possible reasons why advertisers might keep using old phrases (habit, tradition, lack of creativity, etc.).
Prethinking:
Question type:
Misc. - This is a flaw question asking us to identify what makes the reasoning vulnerable to criticism. We need to spot the logical error in how the author reaches their conclusion.
Precision of Claims
The author makes a specific causal claim about effectiveness (catch phrases 'boost sales') and uses prevalence as evidence (many commercials 'still use them'). The precision lies in the connection between continued usage and proven effectiveness.
Strategy
For flaw questions, we need to identify the gap in reasoning or faulty logic. The author concludes that old catch phrases still boost sales and claims this is 'proven by' their continued prevalence in commercials. We should look for why this reasoning pattern is flawed - specifically, what alternative explanations exist for why catch phrases are still used that don't require them to be effective at boosting sales.
This directly hits the core flaw in the argument. The author concludes that old catch phrases still boost sales because they're still widely used in commercials. But wait - what if there are completely different reasons why these phrases stick around? Maybe companies use them out of habit, or because changing them would be expensive, or because of brand tradition. Choice A correctly identifies that the argument doesn't consider these alternative explanations for why old catch phrases remain prevalent even if they don't actually boost sales anymore.
This misses the mark because the argument isn't about comparing the effectiveness of old approaches versus new ones. The author isn't saying 'old catch phrases are the best we have' - they're specifically claiming these phrases still boost sales today. The flaw isn't about relative effectiveness compared to newer approaches; it's about assuming continued use proves continued effectiveness at all.
This is completely off-base. The argument never discusses future developments or claims that better catch phrases won't be created. The author is focused on proving that current old phrases still work, not making predictions about future advertising innovations. This choice addresses a flaw that simply doesn't exist in this argument.
This choice fundamentally misunderstands what the argument is doing. The author isn't arguing against reevaluating catch phrases or saying they shouldn't be changed. Instead, they're making a positive claim that old phrases continue to be effective. The argument is about proving ongoing effectiveness, not about whether methods should be reconsidered.
This goes in the wrong direction entirely. The argument is about catch phrases that ARE currently appearing in commercials (the author specifically mentions 'commercials that still use them'). This choice discusses phrases that haven't appeared for years, which isn't what the argument addresses. The memory aspect is irrelevant to the author's reasoning about current commercial prevalence.