Established consumer behavior theories suggest that customers will invest additional browsing time as the range of available products expands, however...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Established consumer behavior theories suggest that customers will invest additional browsing time as the range of available products expands, however, retail researcher Dr. Sarah Kim discovered that shoppers actually desert crowded product displays when the items are ______: customers will exit departments offering restricted brand variety to pursue diverse alternatives in different locations.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
homogeneous
costly
time-specific
foreign-sourced
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Established consumer behavior theories suggest that customers will invest additional browsing time as the range of available products expands' |
|
| 'however, retail researcher Dr. Sarah Kim discovered that shoppers actually desert crowded product displays when the items are' |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| 'customers will exit departments offering restricted brand variety to pursue diverse alternatives in different locations' |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Research contradicts established theory by showing that shoppers actually leave product displays and seek alternatives when items lack variety.
Argument Flow: The passage sets up a theoretical expectation about consumer behavior, then presents contradictory research findings that show people actually abandon displays under certain conditions and seek more diverse options elsewhere.
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
- The missing word needs to describe items that would cause shoppers to leave crowded displays
- From our analysis, we know that customers 'exit departments offering restricted brand variety to pursue diverse alternatives in different locations'
- This tells us people are leaving because they want diversity but aren't finding it
- So the missing word should describe items that lack diversity - items that are all similar or the same in some way
- This would explain why people would abandon these displays to 'pursue diverse alternatives' elsewhere
- The right answer should describe items as being similar, uniform, or lacking in variety
homogeneous
✓ Correct
- 'Homogeneous' means similar or uniform in nature
- This perfectly explains why customers would leave - if all items are basically the same, shoppers would naturally seek 'diverse alternatives' elsewhere
- Creates a logical cause-and-effect relationship: homogeneous items → customers leave to find variety
costly
✗ Incorrect
- 'Costly' refers to high price
- While expensive items might deter some shoppers, this doesn't connect to customers seeking 'diverse alternatives in different locations'
- Price doesn't explain the specific behavior of leaving to pursue variety
time-specific
✗ Incorrect
- 'Time-specific' means limited to certain time periods
- This doesn't logically connect to why customers would abandon displays to seek 'diverse alternatives'
- The timing aspect doesn't explain the variety-seeking behavior described
foreign-sourced
✗ Incorrect
- 'Foreign-sourced' refers to products made in other countries
- The origin of products doesn't explain why customers would leave to pursue 'diverse alternatives'
- This characteristic doesn't create a logical reason for the abandonment behavior described