Mainstream economic theory holds that manufacturers, in deciding what kinds of products to manufacture and what form those products should have, simply respond to the needs and desires of consumers. However, most major manufacturers manipulate and even create consumer demand, as anyone who watches television knows. Since even mainstream economic theorists watch television, their motive in advancing this theory must be something other than disinterested concern for scientific truth. The claim that manufacturers manipulate and create consumer demand plays which one of the following roles in the argument? ['It provides supplementary background information.', "It states a possible objection to the argument's conclusion.", 'It is the conclusion of the argument.', 'It is one of the claims on which the conclusion is based.']