LR Question 20 Explanation
QUESTION TEXT: Social observer: Advertising agencies are willfully neglecting…
QUESTION TYPE: Sufficient Assumption
CONCLUSION: Advertising agencies could maximize profits if they geared their advertisements mainly to older adults.
REASONING: Advertising agencies are wilfully neglecting older adults, the most profitable segment of the market. Older adults control more disposable income than the rest of the population combined.
ANALYSIS: We need something that acts as a missing link between the gaps in the argument. We know that older adults control the most disposable income, but we need to get from there to “gearing advertisements to adults will maximize profits”. We can’t assume that a group having the most disposable income means that they are the best market to advertise to – it could be true that that group doesn’t engage with advertisements.
The right answer will bridge the gap between disposable income and being the best group to market to in order to maximize profits.
___________
- This tells us why older people may have the most disposable income, but doesn’t solve our problem. We need to know that that makes them the best to advertise to in order to maximize profits.
- This might look appealing, but it’s the inverse of what we want. This tells us that an agency has to market to the group with the majority of the disposable income, but not that doing so will maximize profits.
- The business isn’t trying to improve its reputation. We want to maximize profits.
- This is like B. It tells us that not tailoring ads to older adults means you can’t maximize profits, but we want to know that tailoring ads to older adults is certain to maximize profits.
- CORRECT. This tells us that, because the older adults control over 50% of the disposable income, the agencies will maximize profits if they gear mainly to the older adults. This is exactly the missing part of the argument.
Recap: The question begins with “Social observer: Advertising agencies are willfully neglecting”. It is a Sufficient Assumption question. Learn more about LSAT Sufficient questions in our guide to LSAT Logical Reasoning question types.
More Resources for Sufficient Assumption Questions
- Conditional Reasoning Article: Learn about conditional statements.
- LR Diagrams Guide: Learn how to draw LR diagrams.
- Intro to Conditional Reasoning: Learn conditional reasoning basics.
- Intro Course lesson: This intro course lesson covers Sufficient Assumption questions.
- Mastery Seminar lesson: This LR Mastery seminar lesson covers sufficient assumption questions.
I chose E because it’s exactly in line with the stem (-0’d the section), but I seriously feel like B and D are exactly the same. The only reason I can justify B/D being wrong is that they could allow multiple paths to profit maximization, whereas E says ‘this is how you do it’. I guess it’s kind of a necessary sufficient issue? B/D establish the strategy as necessary, E says it’s sufficient. Is that right?
Exactly! B and D establish gearing ads toward the population with most disposable income as a necessary condition to maximizing profits. Which means that you must do this to maximize profits, but not that doing so will guarantee that you maximize your profits. In other words: “if you don’t do this you can’t maximize profits” (necessary). But we need: “if you do this, you WILL maximize your profits” (i.e. a sufficient condition, which is what E gives us).