In advertising, a hard sell is an advertisement or campaign that uses a more direct, forceful, and overt sales message. This approach works in opposition to a soft sell.
Theorists have examined the value of repetition for hard sell versus soft sell messages to determine their relative efficacy. Frank Kardes and others have concluded that a soft sell with an inferred conclusion rather than an overt hard sell can often be more persuasive.
Famous quotes containing the words hard and/or sell:
“Turtle Goddess
she of the hard shell
soft underneath
awaits enormously
in a dark grotto
the young Heroes....”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“Shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honors
For so much trash as may be grasped thus?
I had rather be a dog and bay the moon
Than such a Roman.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)