CR- Conclusion

Q. Over the past 18 months, big-name retailers sharply scaled back on stocking the products made by Ivanka Trump’s fashion company. Online sales of her brand fell nearly 55% in the 12 months to June. It’s hard to pinpoint the precise reason for the brand’s decline: her own manifest amorality, her father’s coarse and destructive Presidency, or the poor USP of her products. Given that the segment under which Ms.Trump’s products sold is influenced by branding, rather than price or product differentiation, it is difficult to escape the notion that the first two were major factors in the falling sales of her company.

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the paragraph above?

  1. The falling sales of Ivanka Trump’s fashion company can largely be accredited to her amoral conduct and her father’s style of governance.
  2. The lack of focus on branding has been the primary factor responsible for the decline in sales of Ivanka Trump’s fashion company.
  3. Ivanka Trump’s fashion company can stem its falling sales by improving the products’ USP and investing in its branding.
  4. The problems ailing Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand can be narrowed down to her own amorality, her father’s crude Presidency, and the products’ attributes.

See our previous ‘Questions of the Day’: 

Verbal Question of the Day: 34

Verbal Question of the Day: 33

38 comments

    1. TG.Prabhat

      Hi Surbhi, please choose an option from the four options that have been provided in the question 🙂

  1. Pranshu Srivastava

    Option 1
    Option 1 and 4 are close. However, Option 4 also talks about product’s attribute due to which we can rule out this option.

    1. TG.Prabhat

      Hi Surbhi, please choose an option from the four options that have been provided in the question 🙂

  2. Mayank Khanna

    4
    Reason
    2- It talks about lack of branding as major issue which is against premise
    3- Investing in product USP will not help much as it is not the main problem major contributor are other factors

    Now 4 and 1 are close ones. But we see that passage says bad governance and amorality are major contributor to failure of firm in a sector which is dominated by packaging. So clearly he hints that packaging is important and so are others .

    In 1 it just mention 2 things but there are other factors as well so 4 is better .

    1. TG.Prabhat

      It’s great to see that you’re thinking through the questions, Mayank. It’s got you close to the answer. Do have a look at my explanation below. And attend a CR-4 class, even if in a different batch- you’ll enjoy doing these questions after. 🙂

  3. Priyanka rathi

    4
    As it concludes the major point and deals with fashion brand whereas 1 revolves around decline in sale

    1. TG.Prabhat

      Hi Priyanka, please have a look at the answer’s explanation in my comment below.

  4. Varnika Aggarwal

    Option 2 talks about lack of focus on branding, which is not talked about in the passage.
    Option 3 is ruled out as it directs towards improving the products’ USP, which is again not talked about.
    Option 4 misleads with the words ‘ products’ attributes’.
    So, option 1 is the answer.

  5. Ridhima Mehta

    1
    Option 4 can be ruled out because of ‘product attributes’. That introduces an external variable.

    1. TG.Prabhat

      Well done, Ridhima!
      A slight correction- product differentiation is closely connected with the products’ attributes. Thus, products’ attributes cannot be said to be a foreign variable.

  6. TG.Prabhat

    The answer is 1. The paragraph provides data and facts to show that the sales of Ivanka Trump’s fashion company have been falling. It narrows down to three reasons for the same. The argument concludes by attributing the decline in sales to primarily two factors, the reason being that fashion products are influenced by branding.

    Option 2 is beyond the scope of the argument as ‘lack of focus on branding’ is a foreign variable.

    Option 3 is also beyond the purview of the argument as the paragraph does not talk of ways in which Ivanka Trump’s company can limit its falling sales.

    4 is a peripheral or secondary point of the argument.

    There are 16 correct answers and 8 wrong ones. I’m clearly back to winning this game. Before I let my hubris take over, I must congratulate everyone who answered the question correctly. Keep it up 🙂

    In case you have any doubts, don’t hesitate to write back.

    An interesting parajumble for today (I’ll tell you all some trivia about it tomorrow).
    http://tathagat.mba/verbal-question-of-the-day-36/

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