LSAT 59 - Section 2 - Question 24

This question is an MSS/Fill in the blank question, which we know from the question stem: Which one of the following most logically completes the market analyst’s argument?

Oooh market research! Exciting! Let’s dig in:

Ok so our trusty market analyst tells us that according to her research, 59 percent of consumers think they will pay off their credit card balances before the card companies start to charge interest. Furthermore, they suggest that they’re just using credit cards to avoid the hassle of using checks and cash.

What’s a quantifier we could fill in for 59%? How about most? Most is a quantifier that indicates a range that captures every value over half, right? What’s 59%? It’s over half! Therefore, we can say most. So let’s put a pin in that thought, and move on to the rest of the stimulus.

Ok without tackling the question of whether or not we really think 59 percent of consumers are going to pay their credit card bills on time–let’s see what other information our friendly market analyst has to share with us.

She goes on to say that her research also indicates that in order to win business, credit card companies focus on improving the services that their customers are most interested in. Hmm. Interesting! Are we seeing any overlap between these two arguments?

Let’s think about it: We already identified that most consumers don’t plan to carry a balance or accrue interest on credit card debt. We likewise determined that most consumers use credit cards primarily to avoid carrying cash or checks. We also know that credit card companies concentrate on improving the services that their customers are most interested in. Do you see why identifying that “most” is consistent with“59%” is useful? It connects these two sentences. We already know what services customers are most interested in! They’re interested in convenience( and they’re not interested in carrying a balance).

Now obviously, I read this question before I wrote this description (cat’s out of the bag!), so I knew that drawing this connection explicitly would be useful. But the fact of the matter is, once you are familiar enough with quantifiers, this connection is automatic! You don’t have to think about it. You will intuitively understand that 59% fits in the “most” category and alarm bells should be ringing when you see “most consumers” in the second sentence. If you’re struggling that’s ok! Go back and review the lessons on quantifiers.

Ok so we’ve synthesized the information in our first two sentences. Now let’s turn to the answer choices:

Answer Choice (A) We have no information to support this. We know from our first sentence that most consumers have specific wants and needs when it comes to credit cards. Presumably they would utilize the credit card company that best matches their needs.

Correct Answer Choice (B) Let’s revisit what we know about most consumers: they intend to pay off their credit card balances before they start to accrue interest. If credit card companies concentrate on services that most customers are interested in, they definitely shouldn’t focus on interest rates–because most consumers are not interested in carrying a balance and accruing interest. Therefore, this answer choice is strongly supported by the information in our stimulus.

Answer Choice (C) The only thing we know about consumers is most of them are explicitly not interested in paying interest in credit card debt. We have no information about bank loans and therefore, have no information on which to base a comparative statement like the one found in this AC.

Answer Choice (D) This answer choice completely clashes with the information we are given in the stimulus. Most consumers want to pay their balance before it starts to accrue interest. We don’t have any information to suggest they wouldn’t care about the timeline–and it stands to reason that they would be keenly aware of the payment due date so that they can avoid paying interest.

Answer Choice (E) There are a few things wrong with this answer choice. First, we have to provide it with an assumption to make the leap from what we do know (people use credit cards to avoid carrying cash and checks) to what we don’t (so I guess that would mean people care where the credit card is accepted). We also don’t know anything about the quality of competition between credit card companies. We know that, “in order to win business from their competitors” they tend to concentrate on areas that appeal to most consumers. But think about it this way, just because 59 percent of consumers are interested in replacing checks and money with credit cards doesn’t mean that a similar (or larger) percentage of consumers aren’t interested in some other aspect of credit cards. We don’t know which popular aspect of credit cards the companies might end up choosing to focus on or where the intensity of competition would be greatest.