AN EMPIRICAL-TEST OF PRODUCT SAMPLING AND COUPONING

Sales promotion techniques such as product sampling and couponing are widely believed to encourage trial among non-users, but few published studies have verified this belief empirically. This paper reports the results of a study that examined the effectiveness of mail-drop product samples and coupons as means of promoting trial behaviour among non-users of three products. The results indicated that samples and coupons encourage more trial when delivered in combination than when delivered separately, and that coupons delivered alone are an ineffective means of generating trial. The study recommends that trial rates for product sampling be based on the number of samples actually delivered and incorporate an estimate of delayed trial, and that current product users be excluded from the analysis.