CAT 2019 Slot 1 — VARC Question 25
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders alerted the public to the psychoanalytical techniques used by the advertising industry. Its premise was that advertising agencies were using depth interviews to identify hidden consumer motivations, which were then used to entice consumers to buy goods. Critics and reporters often wrongly assumed that Packard was writing mainly about subliminal advertising. Packard never mentioned the word subliminal, however, and devoted very little space to discussions of “subthreshold” effects. Instead, his views largely aligned with the notion that individuals do not always have access to their conscious thoughts and can be persuaded by supraliminal messages without their knowledge.
Answer & solution
Packard held that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ understands the hidden motivations of consumers and works at the supraliminal level, though the people targeted have no awareness of being persuaded.
- B
Packard argued that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ understands the hidden motivations of consumers and works at the subliminal level, on the subconscious level of the awareness of the people targeted.
- C
Packard argued that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ works at the supraliminal level, wherein the people targeted are aware of being persuaded, after understanding the hidden motivations of consumers and works.
- D
Packard held that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ builds on peoples’ conscious thoughts and awareness, by understanding the hidden motivations of consumers and works at the subliminal level.
Easy
For a para-summary, fix the passage's central claim, then reject options that distort, add, or omit. Here two facts are load-bearing: (a) Packard's argument works at the supraliminal level, and (b) the targeted people have no awareness of being persuaded. Crucially, the passage explicitly says Packard never used the word "subliminal", so any summary using it is automatically out of context.
Option 1 — keep. It states advertising as a "hidden persuasion" reads consumers' hidden motivations and works at the supraliminal level, while the targets are unaware of being persuaded. This matches both load-bearing facts exactly, with no addition or distortion. This is the answer.
Option 2 — cut. It uses "subliminal" and "subconscious", a word and idea the passage says Packard pointedly avoided. Distortion of the source.
Option 3 — cut. It says the targets are "aware of being persuaded". The passage states the opposite: persuasion happens "without their knowledge". Direct contradiction.
Option 4 — cut. It claims the technique "builds on peoples' conscious thoughts and awareness" and works at the "subliminal" level. This reverses the passage (individuals do not always have access to their conscious thoughts) and again imports the forbidden word "subliminal".
The correct answer is Option 1: supraliminal persuasion of consumers' hidden motivations, of which the targets remain unaware.