Final answer:
Marketing strategies that highlight a product's uniqueness can lead to fewer substitutes available in the market, increasing sales as consumers find fewer alternatives. This differentiation is significant in monopolistically competitive markets where products vary in many aspects, as opposed to perfectly competitive markets with undifferentiated goods.
Step-by-step explanation:
Marketing strategies often focus on stressing the uniqueness of a product to enhance its appeal. When a product is successful in asserting its uniqueness, it becomes less replaceable in the market, meaning there are fewer substitutes available. This situation can potentially lead to an increase in sales because consumers see fewer alternative products that can fulfill the same need or desire.
In a perfectly competitive market, products are largely undifferentiated, and there are plenty of substitutes available. However, in a monopolistically competitive market, products are differentiated by a variety of styles, flavors, characteristics, and locations. This differentiation reduces the availability of close substitutes, making a product unique in the consumers' eyes and possibly increasing their willingness to purchase it.
If a product has no close substitutes, it may hold a monopoly-like position in the market, but if there are a range of similar options, the firm faces monopolistic competition. The extent to which substitutes are seen as 'close' can impact the perceived demand for the product and affect the market dynamics significantly.