Which of the following points out a flaw in the marketing executive’s

QUESTION

Which of the following points out a flaw in the marketing executive’s argument?

A) It assumes that on average Google users are older than the users of most other social networking tools.
B) It assumes both that Twitter users are unhappy with the 140-character limit and also that Facebook users are unhappy with privacy issues.
C) It dismisses the possibility that most Facebook users are also users of Google.
D) It fails to account for the possibility that something other than developmental and launching costs were most crucial to Buzz’s success or failure.
E) It assumes that creative input was the most important factor in determining Buzz’s success.

ANSWER

Answer: D
Explanation: D) The marketing executive says that Google spent tons of money to develop and launch Buzz, and since all that money didn’t lead to success, then Google users must not be a good market for this type of tool. He is assuming, however, that a certain high amount of investment would have led to success if success were possible. His argument is not considering the possibility that all that money was ill-spent—wasted on blind alleys, for example, like developing new features when what users would be most concerned about might be other issues, like privacy. Choices A, B, and C introduce issues that the marketing executive never mentions in his argument for discontinuing Buzz. Choice E mentions an assumption that the marketing executive does not make and that would undermine his contention that financial investment was the determining factor.