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This paper aims to investigate the impact of in‐store sample promotions of food products on consumer trial and purchasing behavior. The authors investigate differences in the trial rate for free samples across different products and consumer types, as well as the impact of sampling on product and category purchase incidence. The results of this study are relevant for retailers and manufacturers who invest in in‐store free sample promotions.

The authors use data from a field study, which leveraged an actual free‐sample program implemented by a US grocery store chain. Data was collected on six different products promoted by in‐store free samples over six different weekends. The data collected included consumers' trial and purchasing behavior with respect to the free sample, as well as their attitudes towards the free sample that day and free sample promotions in general.

Free sampling is very effective in inducing trial, especially among lower educated consumers. For consumers who are planning to buy the product in the promoted category, free sampling can encourage switching from the planned to the promoted brand. For consumers who do not have such previous plans, free sampling can “draw“ them into the category and encourage category purchase. Samplers' interactions with the person distributing the sample or with other samplers at the scene also seem to boost post‐sample purchase incidence.

Despite the importance of free samples as a promotional tool, few studies have examined consumer trial and purchasing behavior with respect to in‐store free samples. This paper presents one of the first known field studies that examines this topic.

The goals of this paper are to determine the effectiveness of product sampling in terms of usage, to draw a consumer profile who is reactive to free samples and to determine product characteristics that would lead to free samples usage.

An experiment and a questionnaire inquiry were conducted. An outlet database was also used. Perfume, skin care and make‐up samples were given away to 500 women. In order to test the hypotheses logit models were employed.

Launching product sampling campaigns is quite effective as free samples usage appears to be high (72 per cent). Managers should give away samples of new products involving important advertising budgets. They also should offer samples of product types with a high‐penetration rate. In addition, it is better to sample well‐known brands rather than unknown ones. Moreover, the authors recommend targeting family brand users when offering free samples. Also, it is not profitable to target consumers with low‐annual spending within the product category. Finally, the authors suggest giving away samples to non‐working housewives.

This is the first paper to examine the determinants of free samples usage. Moreover, the study considers three methods of data collection. Finally, it has interesting practical and theoretical implications.

The paper aims to report the findings of a research study into the “freebies” phenomena – the provision of free goods and services by companies. Such activities are seemingly an economic paradox because they should not occur in a profit‐based organization – either privately owned or publicly owned where there is a fiduciary duty to maximise the return for the shareholders.

Examples of freebies are given and used to construct a typology together with the underlying motivation or rationales for the provision of the freebies, as well as a determination of who pays for the freebies.

A major step forward in understanding the concept of “freebies” is achieved with the construction of the BIGI Model which identifies the four main reasons for freebies provision being Brand building (including new product launch), income generation, government legislation and information gathering.

This paper provides substantial insight into how “freebies” can be effectively utilized as a direct marketing tool and, alternatively, common errors to avoid when employing the use of “freebies”.

While the use of free samples of products has been widely employed by firms over a number of years, there has been no real systematic evaluation of the process in terms of its efficiency as a direct marketing tool.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on both the sales effects of free wine tastings and the effects on attitudes towards future purchases four weeks after the tastings.

Store scanner data for the four weeks before and after each of ten wine tastings are used to measure the effect tastings had on sales. A total of 170 consumers, who attended a free tasting in wine shops across 4 cities, are interviewed as they leave the store and 37 of these consumers respond to a call back survey one month after the free tasting.

Scanner data shows a 400 per cent increase in sales of the wines tasted on the day of tasting, and a small but significant effect on sales during the four weeks afterwards. The survey shows that there is no difference in purchasing between those attending a tasting with the intention to purchase and those just stopping by. Both groups purchase at about the same rate. Only about 33 per cent of the attendees purchase; the other two‐thirds are boozing.

Free tastings boost immediate sales just like most price promotions, but the effect on the intention to purchase is stronger for those who made a purchase. The study is conducted in one country among a small number of buyers, which limits its generalisability.

The results and implications of this research can be used by retailers and wine companies to make more informed decisions about free tastings. From this small study, attracting the maximum number of tasters to increase sales and long‐term purchasing intentions would be recommended.

Recent years have witnessed the popularity of social free sampling (SFS). That is, firms on social commerce platforms (e.g. Amazon Vine and Pconline Try) offer free sample products for consumers' applications, and the selected applicants are required to write a product trial report on the sites as a return. The main advantage of SFS is to leverage users' product trial reports to increase product exposure and attract prospective consumers. Thus, product trial reports play a central role in SFS. Despite that scholars have examined the rating bias of product trial reports in recent years' knowledge concerning how product trial reports influence user (i.e. readers of product trial reports) engagement remains sparse. To address the research gap, this paper aims to examine the drivers of user engagement with product trial reports.

This study utilized the Poisson regression model to analyze 3,419 trial reports collected from a well-known Chinese SFS site.

Based on the ELM model, the empirical results indicate that product rating, vividness, opinion balance, and reputation of the trial user are positively associated with user engagement. However, longer reports and reports with higher emotional intensity lead to weaker user engagement. Furthermore, product prices strengthen the positive impact of opinion balance but weaken the positive impact of trial users' reputations.

This study is among one of the first studies to investigate the impact of trial reports on user engagement in SFS. It yields actionable guidelines for SFS campaigns.

The purpose of this paper is to examine reported literature on the influence of medical representatives (MRs) and other promotional tools on drug prescribing behaviour, and to assess whether this effect is different in developed and developing countries.

A survey of the literature was conducted across online databases from 2000 to 2016. Eligible studies addressed MRs and other promotion tools used to influence drug prescribing in developed and developing countries.

A total of 40 reviewed studies met the inclusion requirements. In total, 22 of the studies were conducted in developed countries and 18 in developing countries. Out of ten studies that examined the influence of MRs on drug prescribing in developed countries, eight found a positive influence, one found only moderate and one finds no influence. Analogous results were found in developing countries. Six out of ten studies on the influence of MRs conducted in developing countries found a positive effect, three found only moderate effects, while one finds no influence. The influence of promotion tools on prescribing varied in developed countries, five found positive influence, four reported a small effect and one found negative influence. In developing countries, the size of effect also varied, five studies found positive influence of promotion tools on drug prescribing behaviour, five found a negligible or small effect, and one found no association. However, marked differences were observed between two sectors. In the developed countries, MRs are valued as a source of information and can have an effect on prescribing, while it is unreliable in developing countries. Sample drugs are more generally seen as an important promotional tool for prescribing in developed countries than developing countries.

The results derived from this review are based on studies with varying methodological consistency. The review provides the crucial information that will be valuable to researchers working on comparative analysis of marketing efforts in developing and developed countries.

This paper is one of the few systematic reviews on the influence of MRs and other promotional tools on prescribing. It compares the influence of MRs and promotional efforts in both developed and developing countries.

The statements which have recently been made in various quarters to the effect that Danish butter is losing its hold on the English market, that its quality is deteriorating, and that the sale is falling off, are not a little astonishing in face of the very strong and direct evidence to the contrary furnished by the official records. As an example of the kind of assertions here alluded to may be instanced an opinion expressed by a correspondent of the British Food Journal, who, in a letter printed in the March number, stated that “My own opinion is that the Danes are steadily losing their good name for quality, owing to not using preservatives and to their new fad of pasteurising… .”

This study aims to explore the innovative strategies of business model of the free-to-fee switch, the relationship between the business model innovation and customer knowledge and further develop a conceptual model.

This study adopts a multiple case study method with abductive research logic, following the replication logic to select samples. A total of eight outstanding companies with altogether 312 free-to-fee switch events were selected from 1998 to 2021.

A strategic matrix with four innovative business models for the free-to-fee switch is generated. The parallelism between the models and customer knowledge orientations is also found. Further, the study develops the conceptual model regarding customer knowledge orientation as a key mediation.

The study highlights the conceptualization definition of customer knowledge orientation and its mediation effect to the business model innovation of free-to-fee switch, which is a new issue compared with previous research. Furthermore, it reveals that there exists organizational ambidexterity, which brings a new definition of customer knowledge orientation.

This study suggests how to integrate customer knowledge orientations to support the marketing process of the business model of free-to-fee switch. It also proposes a specific mechanism to conduct the free-to-fee switch with the introduction of four innovative strategic models and eight evolutional paths.

This study creatively proposes the strategic matrix and the conceptual model of business model innovation of free-to-fee switch. Moreover, a new conceptual definition of customer knowledge orientation is specified.

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether investors tend to reward firms that resist the urge to borrow and operated with debt free balance sheet and penalize firms that have high levels of debt.

The performance of portfolios of debt free firms are compared to comparable portfolios of leveraged firms. Debt free firms are matched with conventional firms of the same size from the same sector. Two tests of differences in the performance are conducted for a long period and for a short period.

The results of the study indicate that investments in portfolios of debt free firms tend to generate higher returns than investments in their peers of portfolios of leveraged firms over long and short periods. The results have clear implications on investment decisions and investment performance. Investors tend to reward firms that resist the urge to borrow heavily and operate with debt free balance sheet and penalize firms that have high level of debt.

The results of the study can be of great interest to investors as well as firms specially during periods of financial crises. It raises again the question as to what is the optimal level of debt a firm should have in normal times and during periods of economic or financial crises.

A high-boron concentration solution is commonly used as a buffer system in the study of metal corrosion. However, it is impossible to apply such a high-boron concentration solution in the practical use because of the high-cost and environment problem.

In this study, the authors examined the effect of a low dosage of boric acid and borax mixture as inhibitor to suppress carbon steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solution by weight loss experiment and various electrochemistry methods (potentiodynamic polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectra and electrochemical noise).

Results showed that the borate mixture exhibited an anodic-type inhibitor characteristic, when the total boron concentration was in the range of 100∼150 mg L⁻¹. The passivation performance derived from the formation of a passive film with and FeBO₃-FeOOH structure, whose integrity and thickness gradually increased with the increasing boron concentration.

Low boron solution could protect carbon steel from the attraction of corrosive ions by forming a passive film with Fe-O-B structure. The findings broaden the application range of borate solution in the industry.