- A.A firm-wide culture, not just a department, in which every function generates and acts on customer and competitor intelligence.
- B.A management orientation that holds customers will not buy enough on their own — so the firm must mount aggressive selling and promotion. ✓
- C.Designing the offer and image so the brand occupies a distinctive, valued place in the target customer's mind relative to competitors.
- D.A management orientation that holds customers will not buy enough on their own — so the firm must mount aggressive selling and promotion.
The Selling Concept is a management orientation that holds customers will not buy enough on their own — so the firm must mount aggressive selling and promotion. The other options describe related but distinct concepts in Marketing Fundamentals — see the deep-dive guide for the full distinction.
How to think about questions like this
Common in industries with overcapacity or "unsought" goods (insurance, used cars, fundraising). Questions like this test whether you can distinguish The Selling Concept from neighboring concepts. The most common trap is choosing a closely-related concept that sounds similar but applies in a different context.
When you see a definition question on an exam, do two things: (1) translate the question into your own words, then (2) generate the answer in your own words before reading the options. This avoids the cognitive bias of recognizing a familiar phrase as correct just because it is familiar.