Fred engages in self-promotion by always dressing professionally, appearing busy, constantly talking on his cell phone, and mentioning all the famous people he knows. Fred appears to be utilizing the strategy of:

the trappings of competence

Explanation:  

Trappings of competence have to do with those actions that a person performs to project an image. If a person wants other people to think something about how to act and to create an image for people to think about what that person wants.

This type of action is carried out in any area of society, where the person seeks to project a certain image that he believes will make other people respect him or have a different vision. In Fred's case, he always maintains a formal image, making believe that he is always busy and mentioning the famous people they know. With this Fred looks for people to believe that he is someone important and it may be so since he is creating that image.

answer; standardization;