Explanation
Correct answer: A.
Choice A is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of when the subscription model benefits retailers. In this context, “inertia” means a tendency to remain inactive or unchanged. The text describes a subscription model in which consumers continue to pay recurring fees unless they actively cancel and indicates that retailers profit when consumers fail to cancel even after they have stopped valuing the subscription. The text reinforces this by stating that sellers profited from canceling customers’ “passivity in the interim”—that is, the period during which those customers had ceased valuing their subscriptions but had not yet acted to cancel. This context supports the idea that the model benefits retailers when consumer inertia is high—that is, when consumers tend to remain inactive rather than take action to cancel.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice B
Choice B is incorrect because saying that the subscription model benefits retailers when consumer “decisiveness,” or quick and firm action, is high would contradict the text. The text indicates that retailers profit from consumer “passivity”—the failure to act—and decisive consumers would presumably cancel subscriptions promptly once they stopped valuing them, eliminating the retailers’ benefit.
Choice C
Choice C is incorrect because saying that the subscription model benefits retailers when consumer “evasion,” or active avoidance, is high wouldn’t make sense in this context. Evasion implies deliberate action to avoid something, but the text describes consumers as passive—they fail to cancel not because they actively avoid doing so but because they don’t take action at all.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect because saying that the subscription model benefits retailers when consumer “turnover,” or the rate at which customers are replaced by new ones, is high would contradict the text. The text indicates that retailers profit when consumers continue paying without canceling, which means retailers benefit from retaining consumers, not from a high rate of consumer replacement.
Student discussion
mrfoodmister 1 likes
I need a better explanation - anyone?