Dynamic sales impacts of online physical product sampling

Xinlin Yao, Xianghua Lu, Chee Wei Phang, Sulin Ba

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

16 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Recently, firms start to offer samples of physical products online to reach wider audience. However, literature has mostly examined offline product sampling or online sampling of digital products that differ from physical products. To address the gaps, we build on the theoretical logic of uncertainty reduction and signaling perspective to consider physical product characteristics in developing our hypotheses, and employed a unique dataset from an e-commerce platform for hypothesis testing. Our analysis reveals that online sampling could increase the physical product sales, while popular brands enjoyed greater advantages in terms of increase in both immediate and lagged sales.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)599-612
Number of pages14
JournalInformation and Management
Volume54
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Difference-in-difference
  • Electronic commerce
  • Online sampling
  • Physical products

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Management Information Systems
  • Information Systems
  • Information Systems and Management

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dynamic sales impacts of online physical product sampling'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this