@texasjohnrh this is a Illustration Principle question so we are looking for the answer choice that most closely conforms to the principle illustrated in the stimulus.
The stimulus tells us, "Due to wider commercial availability of audio recordings of authors reading their own books, sales of printed books have dropped significantly."
Note that audio books are a substitute for printed books, i.e. different ways to consume the same information.
So the principle being illustrated here is that when a new product, which is a substitutes for previous product, become available, the use of the older product declines.
Okay, so let's take a closer look at (A) and (B).
(A) is eliminated because it deals with finding a substitute for farm labor due to the rising cost. This is not the principle that was illustrated in the stimulus.
(B) is eliminated because it deals with compliments, not substitutes as we encountered in the stimulus.
(C) is the correct answer here because the new brand of soft drink is a substitute for an established brand and consumers have reduced their consumption of the established brand (i.e. less sales) with the entrance of the new brand.
Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any other questions.
jcefalu88@gmail.comSeptember 14, 2020
Doesn't the availability of audiobooks present a technological improvement, therefore a superior product, as being the force behind the change? I interpreted answer choice C to be a equal product entering the market, offering nothing other than brand name difference to the established product, and therefore not representative of the principle described. A tells us a superior product entered the market and is driving out the older, less efficient product. I'm confused as the correct answer's line of reasoning seems to tell us that audiobooks are an equivalent and technologically similar product to printed books, maybe I'm looking way too deep but this was a confusing question and justification.
