The key steps of market research are i
dentifying the target audience, having the target audience sample the product, and to gather feedback from the target audience.A pure test of list parallelism essentially and some pronoun reference.
A) identifying the target audience, having the target audience sample the product, and to gather feedback from the target audience –
the gerunds identifying, and having do not go parallel with the infinitive ‘to gather’
B) identifying the target audience, to have the target audience sample the product, and to gather feedback from the target audience ---
same error as in A.
C) Identifying the target audience, having the target audience sample the product, and gathering feedback from the target audience -
Correct choice, though the repetition of the target audience could have been avoided. D) identifying the target audience, having them sample the product, and gathering feedback from it --- no suitable referent for them.
The audience is a collective noun and hence singular. E) identifying the target audience, having the target audience sample the product, and to gather feedback from --- same error as in A and B.