soft sell

noun

A sales technique which is quietly persuasive and subtle, seeking to convince the buyer without being forceful.

Opposite
hard sell
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Meanings

noun

alternative soft-sell

  1. advertisingA sales technique which is quietly persuasive and subtle, seeking to convince the buyer without being forceful.

    The soft sell is based on images consumers may be able to project as a result of using a particular product. Ads that stress using a particular brand of toothpaste to give you sex appeal or drinking a certain type of beer to make you a “party animal” are soft-sell ads.

    2009, Bernardo J. Carducci, The Psychology of Personality, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 474

    Antonyms: hard sell

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA sales technique which is quietly persuasive and subtle, seeking to convince the buyer without being forceful.

Opposite
hard sell
Cite this entry
APA

soft sell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20sell

MLA

“soft sell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20sell. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “soft sell,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/soft%20sell.

Source: soft sell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.