Day 56 A recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money it spends on its patented Endure manufacturing process

The following appeared in a memo from the vice president of marketing at Dura-Sock, Inc.

“A recent study of our customers suggests that our company is wasting the money it spends on its patented Endure manufacturing process, which ensures that our socks are strong enough to last for two years. We have always advertised our use of the Endure process, but the new study shows that despite our socks' durability, our average customer actually purchases new Dura-Socks every three months. Furthermore, our customers surveyed in our largest market, northeastern United States cities, say that they most value Dura-Socks' stylish appearance and availability in many colors. These findings suggest that we can increase our profits by discontinuing use of the Endure manufacturing process.”

Write a response in which you examine the stated and/or unstated assumptions of the argument. Be sure to explain how the argument depends on these assumptions and what the implications are for the argument if the assumptions prove unwarranted.

五问：

（1）“These findings suggest that we can increase our profits by discontinuing use of the Endure manufacturing process”是结论，其余部分是事实，值得反驳吗？

（2）我们的顾客每三个月就会买一次新袜子，因此就能简单地认定他们并不在乎袜子的耐用程度吗？有哪些要素可能会促使顾客购买新的袜子？你能具体地列举其中的一两个吗？例如：袜子的价格较低或者顾客很喜欢袜子的样式等。

（3）原文的第二个论述点基于一项调查。请各位同学回顾一下：一次调查研究的有效性由哪些要素来决定？原文中是否考量了这些要素？

（4）在回答以上问题时应该注意：最大的市场能够代表所有的市场吗？例如：比较寒冷的地区可能更注重袜子的耐用度。顾客最看重样式和颜色，就意味着他们不关注其他方面了吗？比如耐用程度？

（5）原文的结论是要提高利润。请你回顾一下，利润由哪些因素决定？文中的策略是否只是诸多因素中的一个？这可能会产生什么不好的结果？放弃使用使产品更耐用的生产专利，可能会失去品牌的主要特征和优势。如果袜子耐用度降低，穿几天就坏了，即使有再多的样式和颜色，人们可能也不愿意购买。