A Shoe Manufacturer Developed a Man-made Material that Looked and Felt GMAT Critical Reasoning

Question: A shoe manufacturer developed a man-made material that looked and felt just like natural leather. Over the course of a year, the manufacturer made its entire shoe line in both natural leather and man-made leather. During the year when both lines were sold, the man-made leather shoes outsold the natural leather shoes. The shoe manufacturer concluded that its customers prefer man-made leather to natural leather.

Which of the following statements, if true, casts doubt on the manufacturer's conclusion?

1. Shoe stores carrying this manufacturer's shoes did not distinguish between the two types of shoe material in their in-store displays.
2. Man-made leather lasts just as long as natural leather and is more water resistant.
3. Most customers care more about the content of the shoe material than the durability of the material.
4. Other manufacturers developed man-made material shoes that sold poorly.
5. The manufacturing process to make man-made leather is more cost effective than the process to make natural leather shoes.

“A Shoe Manufacturer Developed a Man-made Material that Looked and Felt” - is a GMAT question about critical thinking. A candidate may choose to either find evidence that would undermine the argument or present an argument that is illogical in order to respond to the question. The GMAT critical reasoning gauges a candidate's aptitude for logic and analysis.

This is a weaken argument-type question, candidates in this section need to assess and identify the statement. The statement mainly discusses the argument that reduces the belief of the candidates in that conclusion. To solve the Weaken questions, the candidate must detect the statement of the passage that conveys new data. This information tends to doubt the conclusion of the argument.

Answer: A
Explanation: One was sold more than the other since they weren't treated equally. The reason one was sold more than the other is the matter at hand. According to the firm, this is because some of its consumers favoured one over the other. The maker makes the assumption that the clients must have seen some identifying indication, such as a label stating which sort of leather is natural and which is man-made, allowing them to distinguish between the various varieties. It is impossible to prefer one product over another unless they are completely indistinguishable from one another. Option A is a weakening statement since it contradicts this assumption.

The following is the argument:
Observation: More people bought X (man-made leather) than Y. (natural leather).
Reason: Customers of that shoe maker favoured X over Y.
preference: increased sales

Option A: Correct
-If the consumers were unable to tell the difference between X and Y, then the conclusion (i.e., the explanation given above) cannot be correct. If X and Y appear to customers to be identical, then it is not feasible that the customers bought more X because they liked X. Therefore, something other than client choice must be the cause of increasing sales. A thereby weakens the case.

Option B: Incorrect
-Option B is irrelevant because the question states about man-made leather lasting the same as natural leather. It further adds it to be more water resistant.

Option C: Incorrect
-Option C is incorrect as it states more about the content of the shoe material than the durability.

Option D: Incorrect
-D is irrelevant because the topic at hand is that manufacturer's consumers, not customers of other manufacturers. Even while it's plausible that customers of other manufacturers didn't favour X, that doesn't mean that consumers of the specific company in issue would feel the same way. Nothing in the paragraph implies that the manufacturer's clients and clients of other manufacturers are comparable.

Option E: Incorrect
-Option E is incorrect as the question does not state about the manufacturing process. It only states that making man-made leather is more cost-effective than the process to make natural leather shoes.

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