Much research has been devoted to investigating what motivates consumers to try new products. Previous consumer research suggests that both the price of a new product and the way it is advertised affect consumers’ perceptions of the product’s performance risk (the possibility that the product will not function as consumers expect and/or will not provide the desired benefits). Some of this research has concluded that a relatively high price will reduce a consumer’s perception of the performance risk associated with purchasing a particular product, while other studies have reported that price has little or no effect on perceived performance risk. These conflicting findings may simply be due to the nature of product advertisements: a recent study indicates that the presentation of an advertised message has a marked effect on the relationship between price and perceived performance risk.

Researchers have identified consumers’ perception of the credibility of the source of an advertised message—i.e., the manufacturer—as another factor affecting perceived performance risk: one study found that the greater the source credibility, the lower the consumer’s perception of the risk of purchasing an advertised new product. However, past research suggests that the relationship between source credibility and perceived performance risk may be more complex: source credibility may interact with price in a subtle way to affect consumers’ judgments of the performance risk associated with an advertised product.

415:  Which of the following if true, would most tend to weaken the conclusions drawn from “some of this research” (the highlight part)?
A) In a subsequent study, consumers who were asked to evaluate new products with relatively low prices had the same perception of the products’ performance risk as did consumers who were shown the same products priced more expensively.
B) In a subsequent study, the quality of the advertising for the products that consumers perceived as having a lower performance risk was relatively high, while the quality of the advertising for the products that consumers perceived as having a higher performance risk was relatively poor.
C) In a subsequent study, the products that consumers perceived as having a lower performance risk were priced higher than the highest priced products in the previous research.
D) None of the consumers involved in this research had ever before bought products from the manufacturers involved in the research.
E) Researchers found that the higher the source credibility for a product, the more consumers were willing to pay for it.

416: The passage is primarily concerned with
A) challenging the implications of previous research into why consumers try new products
B) suggesting new marketing strategies for attracting consumers to new products
C) reconciling two different views about the effect of price on consumers’ willingness to try new products
D) describing a new approach to researching why consumers try new products
E) discussing certain findings regarding why consumers try new products

417: The passage is primarily concerned with
A) challenging the implications of previous research into why consumers try new products
B) suggesting new marketing strategies for attracting consumers to new products
C) reconciling two different views about the effect of price on consumers’ willingness to try new products
D) describing a new approach to researching why consumers try new products
E) discussing certain findings regarding why consumers try new products

418: Which of the following if true, would most tend to weaken the conclusions drawn from “some of this research” (the highlight part)?
A) In a subsequent study, consumers who were asked to evaluate new products with relatively low prices had the same perception of the products’ performance risk as did consumers who were shown the same products priced more expensively.
B) In a subsequent study, the quality of the advertising for the products that consumers perceived as having a lower performance risk was relatively high, while the quality of the advertising for the products that consumers perceived as having a higher performance risk was relatively poor.
C) In a subsequent study, the products that consumers perceived as having a lower performance risk were priced higher than the highest priced products in the previous research.
D) None of the consumers involved in this research had ever before bought products from the manufacturers involved in the research.
E) Researchers found that the higher the source credibility for a product, the more consumers were willing to pay for it.