Multiple choice

Directions: For this question, select the best of the answer choices given.

Department Store Manager: Since 1985, when our department store enjoyed its highest sales figures ever, customers have increasingly turned to mail-order merchants for clothing and household appliances. We plan to halt this trend by reorganizing those departments in our store, simplifying our displays, and making individual items easier to find. Which of me following, if true, most strengthens the viability of the department store's plan?

  1. Many department stores have increased their sales by placing small luxury items near cash registers, where customers waiting to pay are tempted to buy them on impulse.

  2. Some consumers who receive mail-order catalogs consider them to be a good source of information about current fashion and new products.

  3. Former customers indicated that they had often been frustrated trying to locate individual items in the department store's merchandise displays.

  4. The department store's customers have changed their lifestyles since 1985, spending less on clothing and household appliances today than they did at that time.

  5. Since 1985, there has been a sharp rise in the number of mail-order merchants who sell clothing and household goods.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

The department store's plan to reorganize displays and make items easier to find would most effectively counter the mail-order trend if customer frustration with finding items was actually driving their away. Option C directly addresses this by stating former customers were frustrated trying to locate items in the store's displays, making the reorganization plan directly responsive to the problem. Other options either discuss unrelated factors (luxury items, catalogs, lifestyle changes) or would weaken rather than strengthen the plan's viability.

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