Q6 - Three major laundry detergent manufacturers

[tamwaiman]

I recognize (E) as the better answer.
But I don't know why (C) is wrong; is it because SOME analysts are not representative?
Thank you.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT1]

Ahhh! Don't get turned around! Answer choice (C) weakens the prediction. If it costs more per load, that makes it less likely that the concentrated format will be adopted.

That's one of the most common ways the LSAT has of creating incorrect answers on Strengthen/Weaken questions. For some reason, relevant answer choices, even if they accomplish the exact opposite of what the question asks for, are tempting!

Does that answer your question?

[WaltGrace1983]

This is a strengthen question in which we are given some information about new laundry detergents.

New laundry detergents are sold in smaller packages to reduce packaging/cost
→
New laundry detergent manufacturers (80% of the market share) will make the old-style detergents disappear

While we are asked to strengthen the prediction, it seems that the whole core of the argument is relevant. Since this is a strengthen question, we should think a little bit about the flaws and the assumptions, knowingly perfectly well that the flaw might be a little bit more odd or vague then we initially thought about. When I read this, the first thing I thought was, "well what if the customer's don't like and won't buy the new detergent? What if they like bulky detergent? What if they think that a more concentrated and smaller detergent isn't as effective?" The correct answer may answer one of these questions, saying something like "the customers are going to really like the new style of detergent and buy more of it!"

(A) This one I initially skipped because it hinges on the assumption that the customers are going to like smaller detergents and buy smaller detergents. However, in light of everything else, I think that you may even consider this a weakening answer. If the smaller manufacturers aren't willing to make smaller packages, then maybe they will actually disappear when the customers find out about this new, awesome, laundry detergent. I wouldn't consider this an auto-elimination, but it definitely isn't the best answer right out of the gate.

(B) This is a very soft weakening answer. Why? Well we know that consumers will be skeptical initially, which makes it seem like they aren't going to like the new detergent and thus the old detergent won't disappear. However, that word "initially" trips me up a bit because we don't exactly know if they will be skeptical later on. Either way, the part about being "skeptical" is really hard to ignore and so we should probably just eliminate this and move on.

(C) As said before, this will be a definite weakener. If the consumers have to pay more money per load then why should we believe that the new detergent will wipe out the old detergent? Maybe people care more about the cost to their pocket than the cost to the environment.

(D) This one doesn't seem to have any bearing on the conclusion. So what if the new detergents won't have to pay less to display their product? If this was saying that the detergents will have to pay substantially more to display their product then maybe this will make the cost of the detergent more and people will be less likely to buy it. Either way, this is all heresy and we can just eliminate it because it doesn't do much to the argument.

(E) This is a great strengthener! Consumers are consistently persuaded by environmental concerns - the very same concern that the new detergents have an answer to! If consumers like eco-friendly detergents, they will probably refuse to buy the old detergents!