Snack Sample

If you've spent any time hitting up the giant wholesalers or other markets this holiday season, you've probably figured out that you can make a full meal out of those [tasty:yummy] little samples they often dish out. Which seems like a good thing, for you...and for your wallet. But a new study shows that these tempting little treats really do entice you to buy what you try...and maybe some other stuff like it.Researchers tracked the sales in half a dozen stores that provided samples of [snacks:food] in four categories: healthy, salty, frozen, or branded by a large coffee-shop chain. They found that [noshing:nothing] while shopping convinces consumers to buy the [featured:registered] product more often than does simply seeing the product displayed at the end of the aisle.They also found that repeating the [sample:example] offering multiple times translates into [sustained:subsisted] interest in the product...and that stores that have a smaller assortment of products for sale benefit more than the warehouse-sized emporia.