Section: Verbal

42) Which of the following best completes the passage below?

People buy prestige when they buy a premium product. They want to be associated with something special. Mass-marketing techniques and price-reduction strategies should not be used because ___________ .

1. continued sales depend directly on the maintenance of an aura of exclusivity
2. expansion of the market niche to include a broader spectrum of consumers will increase profits
3. manufacturing a premium brand is not necessarily more costly than manufacturing a standard brand of the same product
4. affluent purchasers currently represent a shrinking portion of the population of all purchasers
5. purchasers of premium products are concerned with the quality as well as with the price of the products
6. No Answer Selected

The incomplete passage calls for an explanation of why price-reduction and mass-marketing methods should not be used for premium products. The first choice, which states that sales of these products require that they appear special, provides such an explanation. This is the best answer.