In this argument, the manager of the cafeteria suggests switching to PDQ Pizzeria to further increase profits from pizza sales. To buttress his claim, the author cites an online survey to demonstrate that PDQ pizza is highly popular in the neighboring town of
In the first place, the survey result on which the suggestion relies is too vague to be informative. No information is given about how broad the survey was and exactly how it was conducted. Therefore, it is hard to assess the reliability of the survey result. However, since the survey is limited to only readers of a certain magazine, at least we have good reason to doubt whether the survey result can represent the majority of people in town.
Perhaps only a small percentage, say less than 10% of pizza buyers in Hamiltonia town read the magazine, and still less of them ever responded to the online survey. Then the survey result might be far from representative. Addition evidence such as sales record may lend stronger support to the assumption that PDQ pizza is popular in the neighboring town.
In the second place, even if we accept the survey result, there is no guarantee that a pizza popular in one town would necessarily sell well in another. The manager fails to rule out possible differences concerning the tastes and preference between customers in the two neighboring towns that might affect the popularity of PDQ pizza. Perhaps people in Hamiltonia town prefer pizza with lots of cheese on it while people in the neighboring town prefer heavy ketchup sauce. Or perhaps PDQ pizza is famous for its seafood series, while most customers in this town are allergic to seafood. Without comparing the specific preferences and eating habits of people in the two adjacent towns, the manager cannot convince us that PDQ would also attract a lot of pizza buyers in a different town.
Finally, the arguer fails to mention the popularity of PDQ pizza that is already selling in town. Since PDQ has already opened a branch in town, and granted the fact that it sell pizzas at a price only slightly more than that of pizzas offered in the cafeteria, it is highly possible that customers to the cafeteria dislike PDQ pizza. Otherwise, pizza selling in the cafeteria might not have been so profitable. Moreover, since PDQ branch itself offers free daily delivery, why would people go to the cafeteria for the same food? If some customers find it more convenient to order directly from PDQ branch than to drop in the cafeteria, the cafeteria might lose these customers after it switch to PDQ. A rash decision without sufficient investigation may put company profits at peril.
To conclude, it is prudent for the manager to suggest switching to another pizza solely on the basis of the evidence presented. To better support the conclusion, the author would have to provide additional evidence to demonstrate that PDQ pizza is indeed popular with the majority of customers in H town and that PDQ pizza can be as popular in the town where the cafeteria operates.
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