Which term refers to the activities designed to inform and persuade customers toward a desired response?

The term that refers to the activities designed to inform and persuade customers toward a desired response is promotion. Promotion encompasses various strategies and techniques used by marketers to communicate value and benefits of a product or service to potential customers. This includes advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and personal selling efforts. The goal of promotion is to raise awareness, create interest, stimulate demand, and ultimately encourage customer action, such as making a purchase.

While the other options—place, price, and people—are important components of the marketing mix, they focus on different aspects. Place relates to distribution channels and how products are delivered to consumers, price refers to the pricing strategies and tactics used to set the value of a product, and people generally address the human element involved in service delivery and customer relationships. However, when specifically addressing activities intended to educate and influence customer behavior, promotion is the clear focus.