PrepTest 155, Section 4, Question 5
An online auction site conducted a study of(65 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(20 more words not shown)
- AMost people are(15 more words not shown)
- BPeople are likely(21 more words not shown)
- CProspective buyers are(21 more words not shown)
- DListing defects in(18 more words not shown)
- EWith thousands of(19 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Would you rather see a brief description of a used car, or one that also admits what is wrong with it?
I can see the appeal of the first. If nobody mentions defects, you might not think about them. But the second could make the seller seem more honest. Maybe the list of problems reassures buyers that they are getting the full picture instead of being surprised after the purchase.
That's the direction the results take. More cars sold when their listings disclosed defects, and comparable cars that sold in that group brought higher prices. So we need more than a reason buyers would tolerate the disclosure. We need a reason it would make the cars more attractive.
What we’re looking for
My prediction is that admitting defects builds trust. If buyers feel less worried that the seller is hiding something, they may be more willing to buy and more willing to pay. Let's look for an answer that explains that advantage over the listings without defect disclosures.
Working the answers
- A
General skepticism applies to online auction descriptions in both groups. By itself, it doesn't tell us why listing defects would reduce that skepticism or improve sales. It gives us a possible problem with online listings while leaving the difference between the two groups unexplained.
- B
This points the wrong way. If reporting no defects makes buyers think a car has been maintained better, that would give an advantage to the listings without defects. We need to explain why cars with disclosed defects sold more often and fetched higher prices.
- C
Overlooking the defects could explain why mentioning them didn't hurt sales. But the results go further: the cars with defects listed did better. If buyers simply failed to notice the extra information, we would still lack a reason for that information to create an advantage. Avoiding a disadvantage isn't the same as explaining an improvement.
- DCorrect
Disclosure makes buyers think major problems haven't been hidden. That fits the trust prediction: a list of defects may be reassuring because buyers believe they know what they are getting. A listing that admits no problems can leave them worried about undisclosed ones. The greater confidence helps explain both the higher chance of a sale and the higher prices for comparable cars.
- E
Buyers may skim only a small fraction of listings, but why would that favor the group that lists defects? This doesn't tell us that buyers select those cars or trust those descriptions more. As with C, limited attention doesn't explain the better results for the second group.
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