GMAT Sample Essays 3 - Daily Gazette Grocery Essay Prompt
Written below is an example of a GMAT Essay Prompt and a sample essay:
The following appeared as part of a promotional campaign to sell advertising space in the Daily Gazette to grocery stores in the Marston area:
"Advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette will help you increase your sales. Consider the results of a study conducted last month. Thirty sale items from a store in downtown Marston were advertised in The Gazette for four days. Each time one or more of the 30 items was purchased, clerks asked whether the shopper had read the ad. Two-thirds of the 200 shoppers asked answered in the affirmative. Furthermore, morethan half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store."
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
(No copyright infringement is intended.)
Sample Essay #1:
The writer of this promotional campaign insists the merit of advertising to the Daily Gazette by citing two statistical data, what percentage of all shoppers who bought advertised items read the advertisement and how much those shoppers purchased at the store. This argument, however, has serious flaws that weaken the conclusion.
First, "two-thirds" certainly seems a considerable figure, but the writer should have showed a figure regarding the other people. That is, the readers cannot judge whether the "two-thirds" is a good figure or not, unless the figure of what percentage of all people in the area read the advertisement. For instance, if the Daily Gazette is a major newspaper in the area and almost all residents there usually read the advertisements, "two-thirds" is not necessarily a good figure. In other words, the advertisement fails to inspire peopleto buy its items. Therefore, the argument is weak and the writer should include the kind of information.
Second, although the writer cites the data that more than half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store, this citation makes no sense. That is, if the average of amounts that all shoppers spend at the store is also more than $100, the advertisement fails to increase the store's sales, and this means that this citation fails to support the argument. In order to convince the readers, the writer at least should have showed the comparable figure like the average of all shoppers.
To sum up, since the writer fails to show how much value the advertisement has, the argument is very weak. Thus the argument fails to convince the readers to advertise in the Daily Gazzeta. To strengthen the argument, the writer should cite meaningful data that the readers can compare the case of advertising with the case of not.
Sample Essay #2:
The argument states that advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette has increased the sales of grocery stores in the Marston area. The results of a study conducted last month indicate that thirty sale items from a store in downtown Marston were advertised in The Gazette for four days, each time one or more of the 30 items were purchased, clerks asked whether the shopper had read the ad. Two-thirds of the 200 shoppers asked agreed with the statement. Moreover, more than half the customers who answered had spent over hundred dollars at the store.
Firstly, I agree with this argument in general. The strategy adopted by grocery stores for selling grocery items will be greatly beneficial to the stores in the near future. More people will be aware and familiar about the ads hence the sales of the grocery items will increase significantly. The results of the study conducted prove that the ads published in the newspaper have influenced the sales of grocery items. Unsold and out-dated items can be sold out through this strategy. Furthermore, grocery stores can promote their advertisements on various sources of media such as television, radio, social networking websites and brochures. This will also raise the revenues and profits of the grocery store.
Secondly, the store could conduct sales promotional campaigns that offer free samples, price reductions and discount coupons. This would increase the profits of the grocery store immensely as well as the number of buyers will increase dramatically. Greater number of people will be interested and keen to purchasing products from the grocery store. Thus, the grocery store will have a strong position when compared to other grocery stores in the Marston area. The grocery store should listen to the views and opinions of the customers which would enable them to improve their services. In addition, they should fulfill the needs and wants of the customers in order to assure that the customers are satisfied with the brand. The grocery store should keep their customers updated about any recent additions or changes being made to the store.
In conclusion, advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette will be advantageous to the grocery stores in the Marston area as their sales will rise significantly. Other types of advertising strategies can be used such as television, radio, social networking sites and brochures causing an increase in the profits and revenues of the store. As a result, more people will be familiar and aware about the store. The grocery store should play a great emphasis on fulfilling the needs and wants of its customers this could be done by listening to their views and opinions regarding the store. By doing so, their services would improve dramatically.
Sample Essay #3:
The author argues that promotion, which was done in the Daily Gazette, will help increase product sales in the Marstom area. The writer show a research done last month as an evidence for his or her assertion. However, the author's assertion is flawed for two reasons.
In the assertion the writer says that most of the customers who purchased the advertised items in the Daily Gazette had read the ad so that the promotion was effective. However, this assertion is unconvincing since it never shows that if the customers had purchased the advertised products frequently before or not. To be specific, there is the possibility that the customers who had purchased some of the promoted products were used to buy that products, so they just buy it before without being affected by the ad although they have read it.
Also, the writer asserts that over half the customers who answered that they have seen the ad spent over $100 at the store, so it means that the sales increased from the effect of the ad done in Daily Gazette. But this argument is not entirely logical because total number of the shoppers is not shown in the writing. The author is just suggesting the ratio without the total number of customers. It means that there could be just 6 customers who purchased the promoted items and two-third of them is just 4 and half of them is just 3 and this amount is too trivial to be a evidence to show the effectiveness of the advertisement done in the Daily Gazette.
In conclusion, as the bulk of evidence shows the reasoning in the assertion is not logically sound. To strengthen the author's assertion he or she has to show the customers who bought the promoted items usually buy that products or not, also he or she has to notify the total number of the shoppers who were taking part in the study.
Sample Essay #4:
The argument claims that advertising the price of item of a grocery store in the newspaper The Gazette will help in increase of sales of the store. To support this statement, the author cites evidence and suggests considering its results. It stated that last month a store Marston advertised thirty articles of its store for four days in Thee Gazette and each time there was seen one or more products sold. Moreover, when the clerks of the store asked the shopper if they had read the ad in the newspaper, they got positive answers.
Additionally, the author stated half of the shoppers who responded positively, spent above $100 at the store. The author here manipulates the facts and conveys a distorted way of the situation. The conclusion also relies on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is weak and has several flaws.
Firstly, the author compares the products of a grocery store to another store Marston. The author failed to mention whether Marston is also a grocery store or not, which is a serious flaw. If Marston is not a grocery store, then the products of the grocery cannot be compared with that of Marston’s. Because products of similar nature are to be compared. On the contrary if Marston is also a grocery store, it is not again not good enough to compare because it might be possible that the thirty items which Marston advertised were of good quality and lower in price. And due to this factor there was increase in sales of Marston. Giving an advertisement of an article which is not of good quality will be of no help in increase of sales. Therefore, the author must have specified the quality of the articles or any other description of the articles in order to prove himself right.
Secondly, as the author states that half of the customers who responded affirmative spent over $100 at the store. This might be because all the products of the store are priced above $100 and then it is natural that the spending at that store will be above $100. The author here failed to give sufficient information regarding the thirty articles of Marston, due to which the argument remained full of flaws. If the author had mentioned that there were also articles which were of low price say, ranging from $10 to $90 or something, then it would have been right to think that there was increase in the sales at the grocery store. The statement reveals examples of leap of faith, poor reasoning and ill-defined. Without any convincing answers to the question. One is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence.
In conclusion, the argument is flawed due to the above-mentioned reasons and is therefore unconvincing. It could have been considerably strengthened if the author had provided any description of the thirty products which he had mentioned. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors. In this particular case, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.
If you want us to grade your essay, leave a comment below. If you would like an experienced tutor to give you detailed comments, you can check out this tutor.
Read more GMAT Sample Essays on our website.
The following appeared as part of a promotional campaign to sell advertising space in the Daily Gazette to grocery stores in the Marston area:
"Advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette will help you increase your sales. Consider the results of a study conducted last month. Thirty sale items from a store in downtown Marston were advertised in The Gazette for four days. Each time one or more of the 30 items was purchased, clerks asked whether the shopper had read the ad. Two-thirds of the 200 shoppers asked answered in the affirmative. Furthermore, morethan half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store."
Discuss how well reasoned . . . etc.
(No copyright infringement is intended.)
Leave a comment if you want us to grade your essay.
Sample Essay #1:
The writer of this promotional campaign insists the merit of advertising to the Daily Gazette by citing two statistical data, what percentage of all shoppers who bought advertised items read the advertisement and how much those shoppers purchased at the store. This argument, however, has serious flaws that weaken the conclusion.
First, "two-thirds" certainly seems a considerable figure, but the writer should have showed a figure regarding the other people. That is, the readers cannot judge whether the "two-thirds" is a good figure or not, unless the figure of what percentage of all people in the area read the advertisement. For instance, if the Daily Gazette is a major newspaper in the area and almost all residents there usually read the advertisements, "two-thirds" is not necessarily a good figure. In other words, the advertisement fails to inspire peopleto buy its items. Therefore, the argument is weak and the writer should include the kind of information.
Second, although the writer cites the data that more than half the customers who answered in the affirmative spent over $100 at the store, this citation makes no sense. That is, if the average of amounts that all shoppers spend at the store is also more than $100, the advertisement fails to increase the store's sales, and this means that this citation fails to support the argument. In order to convince the readers, the writer at least should have showed the comparable figure like the average of all shoppers.
To sum up, since the writer fails to show how much value the advertisement has, the argument is very weak. Thus the argument fails to convince the readers to advertise in the Daily Gazzeta. To strengthen the argument, the writer should cite meaningful data that the readers can compare the case of advertising with the case of not.
Sample Essay #2:
The argument states that advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette has increased the sales of grocery stores in the Marston area. The results of a study conducted last month indicate that thirty sale items from a store in downtown Marston were advertised in The Gazette for four days, each time one or more of the 30 items were purchased, clerks asked whether the shopper had read the ad. Two-thirds of the 200 shoppers asked agreed with the statement. Moreover, more than half the customers who answered had spent over hundred dollars at the store.
Firstly, I agree with this argument in general. The strategy adopted by grocery stores for selling grocery items will be greatly beneficial to the stores in the near future. More people will be aware and familiar about the ads hence the sales of the grocery items will increase significantly. The results of the study conducted prove that the ads published in the newspaper have influenced the sales of grocery items. Unsold and out-dated items can be sold out through this strategy. Furthermore, grocery stores can promote their advertisements on various sources of media such as television, radio, social networking websites and brochures. This will also raise the revenues and profits of the grocery store.
Secondly, the store could conduct sales promotional campaigns that offer free samples, price reductions and discount coupons. This would increase the profits of the grocery store immensely as well as the number of buyers will increase dramatically. Greater number of people will be interested and keen to purchasing products from the grocery store. Thus, the grocery store will have a strong position when compared to other grocery stores in the Marston area. The grocery store should listen to the views and opinions of the customers which would enable them to improve their services. In addition, they should fulfill the needs and wants of the customers in order to assure that the customers are satisfied with the brand. The grocery store should keep their customers updated about any recent additions or changes being made to the store.
In conclusion, advertising the reduced price of selected grocery items in the Daily Gazette will be advantageous to the grocery stores in the Marston area as their sales will rise significantly. Other types of advertising strategies can be used such as television, radio, social networking sites and brochures causing an increase in the profits and revenues of the store. As a result, more people will be familiar and aware about the store. The grocery store should play a great emphasis on fulfilling the needs and wants of its customers this could be done by listening to their views and opinions regarding the store. By doing so, their services would improve dramatically.
Sample Essay #3:
The author argues that promotion, which was done in the Daily Gazette, will help increase product sales in the Marstom area. The writer show a research done last month as an evidence for his or her assertion. However, the author's assertion is flawed for two reasons.
In the assertion the writer says that most of the customers who purchased the advertised items in the Daily Gazette had read the ad so that the promotion was effective. However, this assertion is unconvincing since it never shows that if the customers had purchased the advertised products frequently before or not. To be specific, there is the possibility that the customers who had purchased some of the promoted products were used to buy that products, so they just buy it before without being affected by the ad although they have read it.
Also, the writer asserts that over half the customers who answered that they have seen the ad spent over $100 at the store, so it means that the sales increased from the effect of the ad done in Daily Gazette. But this argument is not entirely logical because total number of the shoppers is not shown in the writing. The author is just suggesting the ratio without the total number of customers. It means that there could be just 6 customers who purchased the promoted items and two-third of them is just 4 and half of them is just 3 and this amount is too trivial to be a evidence to show the effectiveness of the advertisement done in the Daily Gazette.
In conclusion, as the bulk of evidence shows the reasoning in the assertion is not logically sound. To strengthen the author's assertion he or she has to show the customers who bought the promoted items usually buy that products or not, also he or she has to notify the total number of the shoppers who were taking part in the study.
Sample Essay #4:
The argument claims that advertising the price of item of a grocery store in the newspaper The Gazette will help in increase of sales of the store. To support this statement, the author cites evidence and suggests considering its results. It stated that last month a store Marston advertised thirty articles of its store for four days in Thee Gazette and each time there was seen one or more products sold. Moreover, when the clerks of the store asked the shopper if they had read the ad in the newspaper, they got positive answers.
Additionally, the author stated half of the shoppers who responded positively, spent above $100 at the store. The author here manipulates the facts and conveys a distorted way of the situation. The conclusion also relies on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is weak and has several flaws.
Firstly, the author compares the products of a grocery store to another store Marston. The author failed to mention whether Marston is also a grocery store or not, which is a serious flaw. If Marston is not a grocery store, then the products of the grocery cannot be compared with that of Marston’s. Because products of similar nature are to be compared. On the contrary if Marston is also a grocery store, it is not again not good enough to compare because it might be possible that the thirty items which Marston advertised were of good quality and lower in price. And due to this factor there was increase in sales of Marston. Giving an advertisement of an article which is not of good quality will be of no help in increase of sales. Therefore, the author must have specified the quality of the articles or any other description of the articles in order to prove himself right.
Secondly, as the author states that half of the customers who responded affirmative spent over $100 at the store. This might be because all the products of the store are priced above $100 and then it is natural that the spending at that store will be above $100. The author here failed to give sufficient information regarding the thirty articles of Marston, due to which the argument remained full of flaws. If the author had mentioned that there were also articles which were of low price say, ranging from $10 to $90 or something, then it would have been right to think that there was increase in the sales at the grocery store. The statement reveals examples of leap of faith, poor reasoning and ill-defined. Without any convincing answers to the question. One is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence.
In conclusion, the argument is flawed due to the above-mentioned reasons and is therefore unconvincing. It could have been considerably strengthened if the author had provided any description of the thirty products which he had mentioned. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors. In this particular case, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.
If you want us to grade your essay, leave a comment below. If you would like an experienced tutor to give you detailed comments, you can check out this tutor.
Read more GMAT Sample Essays on our website.
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