LSAT Explanation PT 35, S1, Q25: A company that produces men's cologne
LSAT Question Stem
Which one of the following, if true, best helps to explain why the sale of the company's cologne dropped that year?
Logical Reasoning Question Type
This is a Paradox question.
Correct Answer
The correct answer to this question is D.
LSAT Question Complete Explanation
Let's first analyze the information given in the passage. A company that produces men's cologne had been advertising in general-circulation magazines for several years. Then, they decided to advertise exclusively in sports magazines with a predominantly male readership. However, that year, the company sold fewer bottles of cologne than in any of the three immediately preceding years. The question type for this problem is a Paradox question, which asks us to find the answer choice that best helps to explain the apparent contradiction or discrepancy in the passage.
Now, let's go through the answer choices:
a) Television advertising reaches more people than magazine advertising, but the company never advertised its cologne on television because of the high cost.
- This answer choice doesn't provide an explanation for the drop in sales after the switch to sports magazines. It only tells us that the company never advertised on television, which is irrelevant to the paradox.
b) The general-circulation magazines in which the company had placed its advertisements experienced a large rise in circulation recently.
- While it might seem tempting to choose this answer, it doesn't explain why the switch to sports magazines led to a drop in sales. The rise in circulation for the general-circulation magazines could have occurred after the company stopped advertising in them, and it doesn't provide any information about the sports magazines.
c) Most men do not wear cologne on a regular basis.
- This answer choice doesn't explain the drop in sales after the switch to sports magazines. The fact that most men do not wear cologne on a regular basis would be true for both the general-circulation magazines and the sports magazines, so it doesn't provide a reason for the decrease in sales.
d) Women often buy cologne as gifts for male friends or relatives.
- This answer choice provides a plausible explanation for the drop in sales. By switching to sports magazines with a predominantly male readership, the company might have unintentionally excluded women from their target audience. Since women often buy cologne as gifts, the drop in sales could be attributed to the fact that they were no longer being reached by the advertisements. This answer choice best explains the paradox.
e) Successful advertisements for men's cologne often feature well-known athletes.
- This answer choice is irrelevant to the paradox, as it doesn't explain why the sales dropped after the switch to sports magazines. It only provides information about what makes an advertisement successful, but not why the change in advertising strategy led to a decrease in sales.
The correct answer is D, as it provides the best explanation for the drop in sales after the company switched from advertising in general-circulation magazines to sports magazines with a predominantly male readership.