Advertising and sales promotion are the examples of which P of Marketing Mix?
Advertising and sales promotion are the examples of which P of Marketing Mix?
Options
Official answer
(b) Promotion — advertising and sales promotion are both communication tools used to inform and persuade customers, making them core elements of the Promotion mix.
Marking scheme
- 1.1 mark: selecting option (b) Promotion — no partial credit for this MCQ.
Hint
The 4 Ps are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion — which one is specifically about communicating with customers to create awareness and persuade them to buy?
Quick oral answer
Advertising and sales promotion are examples of the Promotion element of the 4 Ps of the Marketing Mix, which covers all methods used to communicate the product to target customers.
Common mistakes
- 1.Choosing 'Product' because advertising is associated with promoting the brand or product name, rather than recognising that the communication function belongs to Promotion.
- 2.Choosing 'Place' because both place and promotion involve reaching the consumer, without distinguishing between distribution channels (Place) and communication channels (Promotion).
- 3.Listing only advertising when asked about Promotion tools, omitting personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations from the complete Promotion mix.
Analysis and explanation
Advertising and sales promotion both fall under Promotion, the communication P of the marketing mix.
Concept
- Promotion covers every method a business uses to communicate with its target audience about a product.
- It includes: advertising (mass paid communication), personal selling (one-to-one persuasion), sales promotion (short-term incentives), and public relations (earned reputation).
- The unifying idea across all of these is the AIDA model — creating Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action.
Common mistakes
- Placing advertising under 'Product' (linking it to the brand) or under 'Price' (linking discount ads to pricing) — both are wrong; the function is communication, so it belongs to Promotion.
- Confusing Place with Promotion: Place is the physical/digital distribution channel, Promotion is the communication channel — they are not interchangeable.
Real-world
- Modern Promotion has expanded to social media marketing, influencer campaigns, search engine ads, and content marketing — all still classified under this one P.
- CBSE frequently tests the ability to correctly slot a given activity into one of the 4 Ps, so this classification skill is exam-critical.
Previously asked
To which element of the marketing mix does advertising belong?
Name the 'P' of marketing mix that includes personal selling, advertising and public relations.
How does the 'Promotion' element of marketing mix help in increasing sales?
Interesting facts
The global advertising industry was valued at approximately $740 billion in 2023, making it one of the largest service industries in the world — a testament to how central the Promotion P is to modern business strategy.
E. Jerome McCarthy introduced the 4 Ps framework in his 1960 textbook 'Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach', and despite being over 60 years old, the model remains the foundational framework taught in business schools worldwide.
During Super Bowl 2024, a single 30-second advertising slot cost $7 million — illustrating that companies are willing to pay extraordinary sums for promotional reach, even in an era of digital micro-targeting options.
Question details
Q7 of 31 questions
- Board
- CBSE
- Class
- Class 10
- Subject
- Marketing and Sales
- Year
- 2019
- Section
- Section A
- Marks
- 1
- Type
- MCQ
- Chapter
- Marketing Mix
- Topic
- Promotion Mix
- Bloom's level
- remember
- Syllabus topic
- Unit 2: Marketing Mix — The 4 Ps and Promotion Mix (CBSE Class 10 Vocational Studies: Marketing and Sales)
- Updated
- 2026-02-19
- Author
- Padhantu
- Reviewed by
- Padhantu
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Frequently asked questions
What are the 4 Ps of the Marketing Mix?
The 4 Ps of the Marketing Mix are Product (what is sold), Price (what is charged), Place (how and where it is distributed), and Promotion (how it is communicated to consumers). Together they form the controllable variables a marketer uses to meet customer needs.
What are the main tools of the Promotion Mix?
The Promotion Mix consists of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations (PR), and direct marketing. Each tool serves different communication objectives and reaches audiences through different channels.
How is advertising different from sales promotion?
Advertising is a paid, non-personal mass communication of ideas or products through media like TV, print, or digital channels — it builds long-term brand awareness. Sales promotion involves short-term incentives like discounts, coupons, or contests to stimulate immediate purchase.