A12. The following appeared in a memo from a vice president of Mama Mia's, a chain of Italian restaurants:
“Officials of the movie industry report that over 70% of the movies released last year targeted a teenage audience. Furthermore, national sales data indicate that the favorite food of teenagers is pizza. Since a branch store of Good Times Movie Rental opened on Center Street six months ago, sales of takeout pizza at our restaurant next door have been higher than at any other restaurant in our chain. Because the rental of movies seems to stimulate pizza sales, the best way to increase our profits is to open new Mama Mia's restaurants next to or very near all of the Good Times Movie Rental stores.”
According to the argument, the author recommends to open new Mama Mia's restaurants next to all of the Good Times Movie Rental stores. The major assumption underlying the conclusion is that Good Times Movie Rental stores stimulate sales of pizza. To buttress his claim, the author asserts that the favorite food of teenagers is pizza. Moreover, the author provides evidence showing that sales of one of Mama Mia's restaurants increase dramaticlly. Tha author's claim, however, is unwarranted for the following reasons.
To begin with, the author illogically asserts that the branch store of Good Times Movies Rental on Center Street causes the sales increase, only because the openness happens occasionally before the rise. The evidence provied is insufficient to establish a causal relationship between the two events. Many other factors may be responsible for the stimulated sales. For example, it is possible that the restaurant next to the branch of Good Times Movies RentalMama Mia’s restaurant on Center Street just innovates a new favor that is very popular among poplepeople. Or it is possible that this restaurant attracts clients by its superior service. Without ruling out these possibilities, the author reaches an unfounded conclusion.
Inaddition, the author offers statistics showing that 70% of movies target at teenagers, and teenagers generally love pizza. The information in the argument, however, is too vague to guarantee that teenagers will go to Good Times Movie Rental because most of the movies are produced for them. If the clients of Good Times Movie Rental mainly consists of adults, and teeagers rarly go to Good Times Movie Rental, it would be unlikely that teenagers will go to branches of Good Times Movie Rental, thus the potential clients of Mama Mia would not rise.
Last but not least, the author commits the fallacy of "all things equal". Even if teangers go to Good Times Movie Rental for movies, it is unlikely that this year the trend will continue. If the movies producers targets at adults or elders this year, teenagers will not go to rent movies. The triumph last year does not necessarily indicate a same seccess this year because the tendency may reverse. This possibility, if, if true, will greatly invalidate the author's proposal.
To sum up, it is unwise for a prudent manager to follow the recommendation provided in the analysis. The information in the argument is vague and and oversimplified. To bolster his assertion, the author needs to offer more concrete data to show that Good Times Movie Rental will increase the sales of pizza. Moreover, I will still suspect the success rate of the plan unless the author rule out all the potentialities mentioned above.
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