I was recently given a product sample when I went to Stockmans to buy some deodorant and aftershave. They gave me this small packet similar to the one shown on the right.
The lotion was some sort of moisturiser for your face after shaving. It felt good but I only barely managed to get a small drop out to actually use it. I liked the product but I didn’t really have enough of it to start using it – ie. my personal usage patterns of toiletry products would have had to be changed. I’m not used to that stuff.
However, if they would have given me enough lotion to use for maybe 5 times, I might have actually gotten used to it and walked back to Stockmans to get some more in proper pack. Didn’t happen – lost sale. I think this is still a problem especially with so called beauty products that people aren’t used to them and thus small samples don’t really do anything for the user. You’d be better of making sample sizes (at least for men) a bit larger and getting them using the product for a while.