The following appeared in a memorandum written by the assistant manager of a store that sells gourmet food items from various countries:
“A local wine store made an interesting discovery last month: it sold more French than Italian wine on days when it played recordings of French accordion music, but it sold more Italian than French wine on days when Italian songs were played. Therefore, I recommend that we put food specialties from one particular country on sale for a week at a time and play only music from that country while the sale is going on. By this means we will increase our profits in the same way that the wine store did, and we will be able to predict more precisely what items we should stock at any given time.”
Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.
An argument’s soundness depends on its soundness of its premises, its logical structure, and its supporting evidence. The premise that playing accordion music increases sales of a particular wine shop’s inventory does not withstand close scrutiny
The argument assumes that playing accordion music makes the wine store’s customers more interested in French than Italian wine. However, it is unknown whether the store’s customers are more interested in French or Italian music. It is possible that the store’s customers do not care which music is played, as long as they are entertained. Also, the store could have a policy of playing only French music on Thursday, French music on Friday, and Italian music on alternate days. The accordion music being played on days when French music is being played could merely be coincidental
The argument that playing a particular type of music will increase sales of a particular type of wine does not logically follow from playing accordion music. The store could simply play accordion music because its customers would prefer it. However, if that were so, then the store would make more money by playing Italian music on days when Italian wine is on sale. Furthermore, the store could simply play accordion music because customers prefer to listen to French music, regardless of whether or not French wine is on sale
The conclusion of the argument states that by playing a particular type of music the store can anticipate what items should be stocked. However, this argument is fallacious because it assumes that playing accordion music results in increased sales of French wine. The store could be attracting customers who are interested in what it represents, not the wine. For example, the store might be a French-inspired bistro, and it might play only French music because French music represents France. Similarly, the store could play accordion music because its clientele consists of Italian expatriates, and customers might prefer Italian music to French music because they associate it with Italy. In addition, the store might play accordion music because it is in competition with an Italian wine store that also owns an accordion. In that case, playing Italian music might persuade customers to choose the store’s wine over the competitor’s wine, resulting in increased sales
The argument contains several logical fallacies and is not supported by sufficient evidence. Therefore, the conclusion is unsound and should not be used as a basis for action.