Product sampling reaches 70 million consumers every quarter, and one-third of customers who try a sample will buy the sampled product in the same shopping trip, according to the "Product Sampling Study" by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, reports MediaBuyerPlanner.

Sampling also secures considerable results in both brand awareness and loyalty, according to Arbitron. More than half - 58 percent - of those surveyed report that they would buy the product again.

Consumers were grouped into three categories: Acquisitions, or those who were new to the sampled product; Conversions, or those who had heard of the product but had never bought it; and Retentions, or those who had previously purchased the product.

Fully 85 percent of the Retentions and 60 percent of the Conversions said they would in the future purchase the sampled product; samples encouraged nearly half (47 percent) of the Acquisitions to purchase the product in the future.

"This is exciting news for marketers and advertisers who are looking for alternative ways to make an immediate as well as long-reaching impact on consumers with a high return-on-investment," said Carol Edwards, SVP of sales, Out-of-Home Media for Arbitron.

"This study enforced that the sampling approach is both effective in making new customers aware of products, while also establishing a firmer identity with those consumers who have considered the product before."

The study also found as follows:

• 28 percent reported that they have been offered product samples within the past three months.
• 64 percent claimed that they had accepted product samples: 66 percent of Acquisitions accepted samples, as did 63 percent of Conversions and 63 percent of Retentions.
• 35 percent claimed they purchased the sampled product on the same day: 26 percent of Acquisitions bought the product right away, as did 19 percent of Conversions and 31 percent of Retentions.
• 24 percent of those surveyed claimed that a sampled product had specifically replaced an item that they had planned to buy: 20 percent of Acquisitions were planning to make the switch, as were 33 percent of Conversions and 18 percent of Retentions.

About the study: Arbitron and Edison Media Research conducted a national telephone survey from January 18 to February 15, 2008. 1,857 respondents, ages 12 and older, were selected at random from Arbitron's 2007 fall diarykeepers. In geographic areas where Arbitron diarykeepers were not available (representing 8 percent of the population), a supplemental sample was interviewed through random selection.