Idioms – Choose the option that best explains the meaning of the highlighted expression in context. Sentence: Companies producing goods “play to the gallery” to boost their sales.

Introduction / Context:
“Play to the gallery” is an idiom meaning to behave in a way intended to win popular approval, often by appealing to mass tastes rather than to expert judgment or substance. In marketing, it implies flashy, crowd-pleasing tactics primarily aimed at sales and applause.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Target phrase: “play to the gallery.”
• Context: companies boosting sales.
• We need a paraphrase that captures deliberate pandering to popularity.

Concept / Approach:
The best paraphrase must include intention (attempt) and the object of appeal (popular taste). Mere “advertise” is too general; “depend upon the public for approval” is a truism about markets, not the idiom. “Cater to the public taste” is close, but “attempt to appeal to popular taste” more explicitly reflects the showy, crowd-pleasing strategy at the heart of the idiom.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
Substitute: “Companies … attempt to appeal to popular taste to boost their sales.” This preserves the sentence's argument and idiomatic sense.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• advertise: Marketing activity in general; does not equal pandering.
• cater to the public taste: Near-synonym but slightly less precise about the performative aspect.
• depend upon the public for approval: Trivially true of all sellers; not idiomatic.

Common Pitfalls:
Assuming the idiom condemns advertising per se. It criticises ostentatious, applause-seeking behaviour aimed at popular acclaim rather than merit.

Final Answer:
attempt to appeal to popular taste