题目选项分析

Last week, an investigative journalist published an exposé in the newspaper, demonstrating that many of the shoes sold in a certain department store in California were made overseas in sweatshops that are alleged to use child labor. This week, the department store experienced a drop in shoe sales, after twelve weeks of robust sales of shoes. The management team of the department store maintains that the unfavorable article in the newspaper last week had nothing to do with their drop in shoe sales this week.

Which of the following, if true, most strongly supports the management team's position?

【选项】Stores typically only acknowledge the adverse effect of news on their business if they experience a sudden decline in sales.