Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [99]
It is often helpful to try to change behavior before trying to change attitudes. Free trials and samples are useful in this way.
5.12.1. Consider advertising a free trial or sample for products new to the target market
In 1869 an English magazine, Golden Hours, published the following ad: “Trial before Purchase. The Wilcox & Gibbs Silent Sewing Machine sent for a free month’s trial, free and carriage paid to any station in the Kingdom.”
When facing resistance, say because someone is currently loyal to another brand, it may be more effective to try to change behavior directly, rather than by trying to first change attitudes. This can be done through free trials or samples. Once people are using a new product, advertising—such as package inserts in the free trial or follow-up advertising—can be used to support the behavior.
Hopkins (1923) said that it was of limited value to offer a product to people with a money-back guarantee. What works, he said, is to send the products to customers and say, “Use them for a week, then do as you wish.”
Free trials are especially persuasive for new experience goods with strong arguments. The trial can help customers to learn about the product. It will help to reduce uncertainty about whether the product will do what the ad states. If consumers find that the product works well, they are less likely to go out of their way to consider other options. It can also help to establish the norm of reciprocity. Finally, simply possessing a product leads people to value that product more highly; this is known as the endowment effect. Even the possession of a coupon for the product can create the endowment effect.
As an alternative to a free trial, use point-of-purchase advertising to encourage people to touch the product. This is especially important where the feel of the product is important, such as the weight, size, smoothness, and contours of a cell phone. Touching also leads to the endowment effect.
For low-involvement goods, such as a new candy bar, it is common to provide free samples. Example: In 1886, Coca-Cola distributed cards saying, “Good for a Coca-Cola for you and your friend.”
Free trials are often used for expensive products. An ad for the Bose Wave stated, “We don’t expect you to take our word for how good the Bose Wave radio sounds.” It then offered a free trial.
When introducing its cars to the United Kingdom in 1996, Daewoo advertised that it was looking for 200 “test drivers” to drive the cars for a year for free. “If you’d like to be one of our test drivers, call and tell us why we should pick you.” This was part of a successful campaign, which received an IPA award for advertising effectiveness (Duckworth 1997).
Evidence on the effects of free trials or samples
Reb and Connolly (2007) described five studies that supported the endowment effect. They then conducted two lab experiments. In one experiment, some subjects were given a chocolate bar, while others were not. Those with physical possession of the chocolate bar were then allowed to sell the bar to those who did not receive one. They valued it 27 percent higher than did the subjects who had not been given a chocolate bar. Reb and Connolly extended the study by using coffee mugs from the subjects’ university and by varying the time of possession. The possessors valued the mugs 28 percent more than did the non-possessors. Furthermore, subjects who possessed the object longer valued it even more.
A series of four lab experiments involving ballpoint pens, headbands, key chains, pillowcases, and washcloths, consistently supported results from four prior studies showing that customers valued products more after touching them. This finding was attributed to the fact that the customers gained relevant information (Grohmann, Spangenberg, and Sprott 2007).
However, there is another explanation for the value of touching a product. People start to feel a sense of ownership (the endowment theory again). This was tested in a lab experiment where 14 groups, with six participants