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Free trial is an effective strategy to gaining users’ data so as to strengthen and optimize product design. The purpose of this paper is to understand the IT companies' dynamic decision-making behavior in the free trial of IT products and services context based on a three-stage theoretical framework and users' decision-making behavior in the respective stage.

A three-stage methodology is proposed to clarify relevant decision problems and actions in each stage from IT companies' and users' perspectives, respectively. It then investigates relating variables on IT companies' decision-making based on extant research and users' decision-making.

In this study, the authors argue that the IT companies have to make the offering, implementation and retention decision in different stage during the whole free trial process. Each decision is determined by several variables from their own and users, namely the offering decision is determined by product characteristics, network effects, product life cycle and WOM (word of mouth); the implementation decision is determined by the quality of products and services, trial type, incentive measures on user's usage and communication strategy; and the retention decision is determined by the product and price strategy.

The results are practical and can be used by IT companies as a decision basis or reference to make reliable decisions so that IT companies can take target measures to ensure the effectiveness of their free trial strategy so as to meet their users' needs based on products designed by data driven. Thus, the ultimate goal of supply chain management is achieved.

In this study, the decision-making process in the free trial of IT products and services context is investigated as a whole for the first time. From the IT companies' perspective, the process includes offering, implementation and retention decision stages, which are continuous and inseparable. The variables that determine IT companies' decision-making are identified based on users' decision and action. Hence, it represents a brand-new whole process perception to clearly understand the dynamic of the IT companies' decision-making. Considering users' decision and action, the final decisions of the IT companies will be more practical in respect of motivating, retaining and upgrading users.

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.

A high level of product involvement is typically assumed to accompany higher information search, a fewer number of acceptable alternatives, and a higher number of choice criteria than does low level of product involvement. Inferring the level of product involvement from these behavioral or evaluative characteristics is, however, potentially misleading. Two factors are identified as mediating the relationship between the high level of involvement and these characteristics: (1) product trial, and (2) the consumer learning stage. The results of the present study support this view. Even for high involving products, considerable variations exist in these characteristics, depending on product trialability and consumer learning stage. Several strategic marketing implications stemming from these results are offered.

Co‐branding is an increasingly popular technique marketers use in attempting to transfer the positive associations of the partner (constituent) brands to a newly formed co‐brand (composite brand). This research examines the effects of co‐branding on the brand equity of both the co‐branded product and the constituent brands that comprise it, both before and after product trial. It appears that co‐branding is a win/win strategy for both co‐branding partners regardless of whether the original brands are perceived by consumers as having high or low brand equity. Although low equity brands may benefit most from co‐branding, high equity brands are not denigrated even when paired with a low equity partner. Further, positive product trial seems to enhance consumers’ evaluations of co‐branded products, particularly those with a low equity constituent brand. Co‐branding strategies may be effective in exploiting a product performance advantage or in introducing a new product with an unfamiliar brand name.

The purpose of this paper is to look at television delivered to a mobile device, in order to better understand the adoption of such services. The research focuses on the role of trial in new technology‐based services adoption. The authors hypothesize that trial increases both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and that it is especially effective with women.

A field experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses of the study. A two group independent groups design was used to manipulate product trial, while the other variables were measured by questionnaire.

The authors' empirical results reveal that product trial positively impacts perceived ease of use, but not perceived usefulness. It is also shown that the relationship between product trial and ease of use is stronger for females than for males. Moreover, product trial, working through perceived ease of use, influences the intention to adopt the new technology.

In many cases where a service is provided by software, the cost of offering a trial is quite modest and management ought to give it serious thought as a promotional tactic.

Our research suggests that trial can be quite efficacious with women: it could help to increase confidence in consumers' ability to use new technologies.

While numerous researchers have studied the impact of communication on adopting new technology‐based services, the present studies emphasize that product trial is a key yet underutilized – and understudied – marketing tactic for such services.

Product trials are an effective way to influence consumer attitudes. While research has established several factors that influence whether consumers will try a product or not, it is less understood how marketers can optimize the trial experience itself. The purpose of this paper is to explore flow as an optimal state and the factors that give rise to it during a product trail.

This research consists of three experimental studies in which people trial new music. This paper explores the ability of curiosity to optimize consumers’ flow experience during the trial and their attitudes toward the trialed product. This paper manipulates curiosity before the trial using information about the music (Study 1) and music previews (Study 3) and also demonstrates that curiosity is naturally elevated among those high in openness to experience (Study 2).

The results demonstrate that curiosity before a product trial fosters an optimal experience during the trial in the form of flow states, defined as an enjoyable state of full engagement, which in turn mediates more positive attitudes toward the trialed product. This paper demonstrates that curiosity can be evoked using product information or a preview of the content and can vary based on individual differences in openness to experience. The relationship between curiosity and flow is moderated by the valence of the information that is used to elicit curiosity, such that negative-valence information thwarts the relationship.

While the studies conducted by the authors focus on the positive influence of curiosity in the trial of music, the effects may be different for other products. These studies are also limited to two different manipulations of curiosity.

This research has implications for marketers, as it demonstrates the relevance of flow and how to enable it in product trials to optimize effectiveness. The manipulations also demonstrate how to manage the amount of information that is given to consumers before they trial a product.

This research reveals that flow states optimize the product trial experience. This research also advances the understanding of the relationship between curiosity and flow by moderating their relationship with the valence of information that elicits curiosity. The findings also broaden the relevance of curiosity and flow in marketing by demonstrating their benefits within product trials.

Previous researchers have established that brand names are important in determining perceptions of brand quality and attitude towards the product. In this research we investigate the role of brand name in shaping consumers’ evaluation of search, experience, and credence attributes. The findings confirm that, prior to trial, brand name increases consumers’ perception of experience and credence attribute performance evaluations. However, prior to trial, brand name is found not to affect consumers’ perception of search attributes. Trial of the brand is found to reduce (and not eliminate) the advantage branded products have in enhancing consumers’ perception of experience and credence attributes.

The purpose of this study is to seek to investigate whether and how country of origin (COO) cues – category-country image (CCI) and typicality – and importers’ domain-specific innovativeness (DSI) influence importers’ propensity to the trial new value and premium products. Moreover, it aims to understand whether and how the relationship between the COO effect and industrial purchase intentions is moderated by importers’ propensity to innovate (DSI).

International importers completed a quantitative online survey. Factor analysis was used to summarize the latent constructs into orthogonal scores. General linear modeling was applied to the scores to test the hypotheses.

The results indicate that importers’ propensity to trial value products is directly influenced by CCI and importers’ DSI. For premium products, typicality has a positive effect on their propensity to trial. Also, CCI and DSI have positive effects on the trial of value products, and the effect is more pronounced than for premium products. Importers’ DSI positively moderates CCI in premium product trials, while it negatively moderates typicality in value products.

This research provides important managerial implications for practitioners seeking to increase foreign sales, strengthening importers’ product perceived value through COO cues. Exporters should distinguish between value and premium products and, in the selection of international channel partners, they must be attentive to importers’ personal characteristics, such as their propensity to innovate. Exporters selling value products should communicate CCI more clearly and, when targeting innovative importers, opt for atypical products instead of traditional ones. For premium products, which require more complex decisions, exporters should especially underscore product typicality and, with innovative importers, emphasize positive CCI.

By focusing on the two critical issues of product selection and price levels, this study’s original contribution is to emphasize that, for the same product category, in industrial purchasing decisions of value versus premium products, the COO effect can be different. It also highlights the importance of investigating the COO effect by concentrating on industrial buyers’ personal characteristics, here the DSI of importers, as moderating variables.

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.

This study aims to examine the factors that drive consumers' trial and repeat purchases of cobranded extensions, and the amount of spillover effects on host and ingredient brands.

The analysis uses a comprehensive consumer transaction dataset that includes the actual introduction of four cobranded extensions. The authors develop a conceptual framework and three empirical models to explain how consumers' prior experience with the parent brands affect their trial and repeat purchase behaviors, and how their experiences with the cobranded extensions further affect parent brand purchases.

The results from the study indicate that repeat purchases are higher for consumers with more joint purchase incidences in both host and ingredient categories when they have complementary features. In contrast to existing research on single‐brand based extensions, it is found that host brand loyalty has a positive effect on both trial and repeat purchases when the host brand is not a market‐leader. Due to the introduction of the cobranded extension, host brand experiences a negative spillover whereas ingredient brand experiences a positive spillover.

The results from the study suggest that while initial targeting for the cobranded extension should be focused on consumers who are loyal to both host and ingredient brands, later targeting should be focused on consumers who are loyal to only the host brand.

The study contributes to the existing literature on cobranded extensions by using actual purchase data to analyze the adoption of cobranded extensions.