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An Assessment of When, Where and Under What Conditions In-Store Sampling is Most Effective

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  • Chandukala, Sandeep R.
  • Dotson, Jeffrey P.
  • Liu, Qing

Abstract

In-store product sampling is a commonly used promotional technique designed to give prospective consumers an opportunity to experience a product prior to purchase. While prior research has documented a positive relationship between short-term sales and perceptual measures of the customer shopping experience, little is known about the long-term impact of sampling or factors that moderate its success. In this paper, we develop an empirical approach that allows us to study the short-term and long-term effects of in-store sampling on both own and competitive products. We apply our approach to six store-level scanner data sets across four different product categories and show that in-store sampling has both an immediate (short-term) and sustained (long-term) impact on sales. We also show that the impact of sampling on sales is moderated by the characteristics of the store conducting the event, and that repeated sampling for a single product leads to a multiplicative increase in its long-term sales performance. We find that, unlike many types of in-store promotion, sampling results in a category expansion effect as opposed to a pure substitution effect. We contrast the immediate and long-term sales patterns for in-store sampling to those of product displays and discuss managerially relevant differences. Finally, we demonstrate incremental profit implications and store selection scenarios for different incremental costs of conducting the in-store events using constrained optimizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Chandukala, Sandeep R. & Dotson, Jeffrey P. & Liu, Qing, 2017. "An Assessment of When, Where and Under What Conditions In-Store Sampling is Most Effective," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(4), pages 493-506.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jouret:v:93:y:2017:i:4:p:493-506
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretai.2017.07.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Hagtvedt, Henrik & Chandukala, Sandeep R., 2023. "Immersive retailing: The in-store experience," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(4), pages 505-517.
    4. Scholdra, Thomas P. & Wichmann, Julian R.K. & Reinartz, Werner J., 2023. "Reimagining personalization in the physical store," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(4), pages 563-579.

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