Towards a clarification of soft-sell and hard-sell advertising approaches: study of French consumer perceptions

The objective of this article is to highlight the perceptions of the French consumer towards the soft-sell and hard-sell approaches. An exploratory study by semi-structured individual interviews is carried out with a sample of 26 French consumers using an interview guide. The results indicate that the French consumer has a more favorable attitude towards soft-sell type messages and that he resists messages that extol the strengths of the product in a direct and aggressive way. The managerial contribution of this study lies in the light it can give advertising professionals on the persuasive potential of the dimensions of the soft-sell message in a French context as well as on the brakes that a hard-type message could generate. sell on intent to purchase. The conclusion shows the managerial implications and the research avenues that emerged from this study.