Argument

The following appeared in an announcement issued by the publisher of The
Mercury, a weekly newspaper.
“Since a competing lower-priced newspaper, The Bugle, was started five years
ago, The Mercury’s circulation has declined by 10,000 readers. The best way to
get more people to read The Mercury is to reduce its price below that of The
Argument 21
Bugle, at least until circulation increases to former levels. The increased
circulation of The Mercury will attract more businesses to buy advertising space
in the paper.”
Discuss how well reasoned... etc.

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In this argument the author states that , the low priced magazine bugle had attributed to the decline of circulation of mercury magazine. so the author suggests that the price of mercury magazine has to be brought down which will help to reinstate its sales and also in turn contributes to the increase in business through advertising spaces. However, the recommendations advanced in the report are questionable for two reasons.
First, The circulation of a magazine is directly attributed to the cost, which is a false anology when considered in the broader perspective. The sales of a magazine depends on various other contents like current afffairs, polictical neutrality, sports and show biz. Apart from this, the readers play a major role in the success of magazines. In America, Play boy magazine sells as much copies as a business magazine do. Going by cost factor, playboy magazine is costlier than anyother business magazine. This clearly exemplifies that cost is not a deciding factor in the sales of a magazine.
Second, The strategy suggested for improving sales is to reduce the cost of the magazine as low as bugle's. This could be most hampering decision for mercury as they have not taken the overall cost of manufacturing and delivering the product to the end customer. Also they have not mentioned the loss incurred with this new strategy over the cost incurred in running the magazine. They assume that reduced cost may increase circulation and attract more business, which is again not clearly explained with facts.
In conclusion, this is a weak argument. To strenghten the recommendation , the author would have to explain not only that price is the only factor that determines the sales of the magazine but also the direct relation between the circulation and business through advertisements. As the author fails to communicate his strategy with additional facts, this theory can be ruled out.