Q7 - Packaging is vital to

[rbolden]

Please assist with this problem. I eliminated every choice and ended up choosing B. Can you please do an incorrect answer analysis for each and also explain why D is the correct answer?

Thanks.

[ManhattanPrepLSAT2]

We're looking for the answer that is most supported, and we know that the right answer may not be 100% provable. Typically, your best bet with an inference question is to see why 4 answers are not supportable.

(A) is not supported by the text. We don't have nearly enough evidence to show that packaging is more important than the actual product.

(B) is not supported by the text. We're told in the first sentence that packaging is important to success -- that in no way implies that packaging will generally lead to success. Then we are given one example of unsuccessful packaging that doesn't represent the nature of the product. This in no way implies that packaging that does represent the nature of the product will ensure the general success of the product (maybe it's a terrible product, in which case it doesn't matter what the packaging is).

(C) is not supported. Since packaging is vital, and since we've been given examples of packaging having an impact without any mention of change in product, we know (C) is definitely not supported.

(D) is the most supported answer. We are given an example of packaging that didn't create the correct expectations, and thus led to failure. Thus, it makes sense that the author suggests one shouldn't do this if one is attempting to achieve success.

(E) places too much emphasis on packaging. Perhaps a new item will sell worse because it is worse.

Hope that helps.

[rbolden]

Yes this helps! Thanks.

[nflamel69]

on E. how the the new item be worse off when it is explicitly said an improved version?

[timmydoeslsat]

on E. how the the new item be worse off when it is explicitly said an improved version?

Answer choice E is saying that it is necessary for the improved version to be packaged like the old version for a product not to sell well.

We know that it was true in this case, that the packaging caused the lack of sales, but we do not have support that this is necessary for a product not selling better than its predecessor. As Mike said, the product could just be really bad. The product in this stimulus was improved from the first, but perhaps others out there are not improvements.

[joseph.m.kirby]

I mistakenly chose (E) on this question. On a second run through the question, I correctly found answer choice (D).

The reason (E) is wrong--E says:
~packaged like other --> sell better
~sell better --> packaged like other

If a product is not packaged like the earlier version, it does not mean that the product will sell better. For example, perhaps I have a company that sells beepers and these beepers don't sell very well. Suppose that I then changed the packaging of the beepers and added some Christmas song ring tones. According to (E), since the packaging is not like the earlier version, the new beeper will sell well..... This answer is not supported by the argument.

[LSAT on Brain]

I agree that E makes claims that are unsupported - namely that the only thing which would prevent a new and improved product from selling better than the old is the same packaging.

However the langue in D threw me off - "creates expectations it does not meet" sounds like we are taking about creating the impression, through packaging, that the product is better than it really is. using the old packaging for an improved product would make it surpass expectations - not "not meet them."

[ptewarie]

I agree that E makes claims that are unsupported - namely that the only thing which would prevent a new and improved product from selling better than the old is the same packaging.

However the langue in D threw me off - "creates expectations it does not meet" sounds like we are taking about creating the impression, through packaging, that the product is better than it really is. using the old packaging for an improved product would make it surpass expectations - not "not meet them."

You need to read the stimulus more carefully:

Conclusion:

Success of product Depends Packaging of product

Why:

People didn't want to buy a product because it made them think it was similar to previous product(packaged same way) and IT DID NOT MEET THOSE EXPECTATIONS.

So the issue is that people thought it would be similar in taste because of same packaging, but it actually wasn't so people didn't buy it.

I think a lot of people here missed the last sentence, which is key.


D is a perfect paraphrase of the last sentence. It doesn't get more easier than this on inference. Treat this like a principle inference question.

E does not work because it does not address the full scope of the author's argument.

It's saying that an improved version will not sell only if its packaged like previous product. Or that if its not packaged like previous product then it will sell.

That's possible, but we can't infer that from author's point. The product in question didn't sell because it didn't meet expectations people had not simply because it was packaged like previous product.

[cserge18]

Another way I was able to knock off is by looking at conditional relationship between stimulus and answer choice E.

Packaging is vital to a product's commercial success.
Commercial success→Packaging Differently
Contrapositive: ~Packaged Differently→~Commercial Success

Answer Choice E.
~Sell better → ~Packaged Differently
Contrapositive: Packaged Differently → Sell better

Please feel free to share your thoughts. It looks like mistaken negation of what was stated in stimulus.

[christinachenn]

I think this answer is easily analyzed if you see the causal nature of what's being said in the stimulus, specifically the very last sentence.

Since the can was almost identical to the one used for the earlier beverage, making consumers expect something that is not true -> SO customers did not buy the product marketed(it was not commercially successful)

The only choice which reflects this statement is answer choice D which can be translated to the contrapositive of the above:

To succeed -> product should not be packaged in a way that creates false expectations

While it is jumping from a causal stimulus to a conditional answer, I think the statement supports what's happening in the stimulus based on what we know, that the product was packaged in a way which created false expectations.

The problem I had with answer choice E is that it discusses a product selling better than an earlier version, which is not precisely what the stimulus is concerned with.