A major retailer had assumed that customers prefer shopping environments with background music because it creates a pleasant, energetic atmosphere...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
A major retailer had assumed that customers prefer shopping environments with background music because it creates a pleasant, energetic atmosphere that encourages longer browsing and increased purchases. Marketing analyst David Torres proposed an alternative hypothesis: background music might actually reduce sales by distracting customers from focusing on products and making purchasing decisions. To investigate this possibility, Torres conducted an experiment across several store locations. Half the stores played ambient background music during peak shopping hours, while the other half maintained complete silence.
Which finding would be most important for determining whether the music itself, rather than other factors, accounts for any observed differences in sales performance?
Customer surveys revealed that most shoppers noticed whether music was playing during their visit.
The stores selected for each condition had similar customer demographics and product offerings.
Silent stores generated higher average sales per customer than stores with background music.
Both types of stores experienced similar foot traffic patterns throughout the day.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'A major retailer had assumed that customers prefer shopping environments with background music because it creates a pleasant, energetic atmosphere that encourages longer browsing and increased purchases.' |
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| 'Marketing analyst David Torres proposed an alternative hypothesis: background music might actually reduce sales by distracting customers from focusing on products and making purchasing decisions.' |
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| 'To investigate this possibility, Torres conducted an experiment across several store locations.' |
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| 'Half the stores played ambient background music during peak shopping hours, while the other half maintained complete silence.' |
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Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Torres designed an experiment to test whether background music actually hurts sales by comparing stores with music to stores without music.
Argument Flow: The passage moves from presenting the retailer's original positive assumption about music to Torres's opposing hypothesis that music might be harmful, then describes the experimental method he used to test this alternative view by comparing two groups of stores.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- For Torres to determine whether music itself caused any sales differences, we need to ensure that the two groups of stores (music vs. silence) were similar in every other way that might affect sales
- If the stores differed in other important characteristics, then any sales differences might be due to those factors rather than the music
- The right answer should help us rule out alternative explanations by showing that the experimental groups were properly controlled for other variables that could influence sales
Customer surveys revealed that most shoppers noticed whether music was playing during their visit.
- This tells us customers were aware of the music condition but doesn't help us determine whether music (versus other factors) caused sales differences
- The stores could still differ in many other ways that affect sales regardless of customer awareness
The stores selected for each condition had similar customer demographics and product offerings.
- This shows the experimental groups were matched on key variables that could influence sales
- If stores had similar customer demographics and product offerings, then these factors can't explain any observed sales differences
- This directly addresses the 'rather than other factors' part of the question by controlling for major alternative explanations
Silent stores generated higher average sales per customer than stores with background music.
- This gives us the experimental result but doesn't help establish causation
- Even if silent stores had higher sales, we couldn't conclude music was the cause without ruling out other explanations
Both types of stores experienced similar foot traffic patterns throughout the day.
- This controls for one potential confounding variable (foot traffic) but not others
- Stores could still differ in customer demographics, product mix, location quality, store layout, or staff effectiveness