Advertising tends to have a greater influence on consumer preferences regarding brands of yogurt than it does on consumer preferences regarding brands of milk. Yet, since the LargeCo supermarket chain began advertising its store-brand products, sales of its store-brand milk increased more than sales of its store-brand yogurt.
Which one of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the apparent discrepancy described above?
(A) There has recently been increased demand at LargeCo stores for the chain’s own brand of yogurt as well as for other brands of yogurt.
(B) The typical shopper going to LargeCo for the purpose of buying milk does not go with the intention of also buying yogurt.
(C) Shoppers at LargeCo tend to purchase the chain’s own brand of dairy products more frequently than other brands of dairy products.
(D) Supermarkets throughout the entire nation have experienced a sharp decrease in sales of yogurt recently.
(E) Consumers tend to purchase store brands of yogurt, but purchase whichever brand of milk is least expensive.
A. This isn’t helpful—it provides no information about milk. To explain the difference in sales trends, we need something that compares yogurt and milk directly.
B. Irrelevant. The question is about shifts in yogurt and milk sales, not whether people buy them together. What matters is why each product is purchased.
C. This doesn’t clarify anything. Since both yogurt and milk are dairy products, this offers no meaningful distinction between them.
D. Correct. This provides a solid explanation. It suggests that the yogurt ad campaign wasn’t the only factor affecting yogurt sales. A broader nationwide decline in yogurt purchases could have offset the campaign’s positive effects, which helps explain the difference in sales outcomes between yogurt and milk.
E. This adds confusion. If milk sales are mostly driven by price, and there’s no indication of a price change, then the ad campaign shouldn’t have impacted milk—yet the sales rose, making this harder to interpret.
