Question

Products sold under a brand name used to command premium prices because, in general, they were superior to non-brand rival products. Technical expertise in product development has become so widespread, however, that special quality advantages are very hard to obtain these days and even harder to maintain. As a consequence, brand-name products generally neither offer higher quality nor sell at higher prices' Paradoxically, brand 'names area bigger marketing advantage than ever.
Which of the following, if true, most helps to resolve the paradox outlined above?

• A. Brand names are taken by consumers as a guarantee of getting a product as good as the best rival product
• B. Consumers recognised that the quality of products sold under invariant brand names can drift over time
• C. In the acquisition of one corporation by another, the acquiring corporation is interested more in acquiring the right to use certain brand names than in acquiring existing production facilities.
• D. In the earlier days when special quality advantages were easier to obtain than are now, it was also easier to get new brand names established.

Answer 1

The correct option is A Brand names are taken by consumers as a guarantee of getting a product as good as the best rival product

According to the passage, these days brand-name products neither offer higher quality nor sell at higher prices. Still, brand names provide a bigger marketing advantage. This is because brand names guarantee to provide products that are as good as their rival's products. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.