Free trials · Large observational e-commerce study using rich panel data, multiple identification strategies, and alternative estimators
An Empirical Study of Free Product Sampling and Rating Bias
Information Systems Research · 2019
Summary
Free sampling raised ratings by 1.1%; rating bias was larger at higher original prices and smaller with larger discounts and greater product popularity.
For your marketing
Possible founder application
Use as a bounded example of an empirical study of free product sampling and rating bias; compare its context and design with your own market before applying its result.
Reported result
What the study found
Free sampling raised ratings by 1.1%; rating bias was larger at higher original prices and smaller with larger discounts and greater product popularity.
Research question
What the authors investigated
An Empirical Study of Free Product Sampling and Rating Bias?
Design
Large observational e-commerce study using rich panel data, multiple identification strategies, and alternative estimators
Sample and setting
Products and reviews on Taobao.com
Scope and transfer
Limitations to keep in view
The evidence is observational and drawn from one Chinese e-commerce marketplace; despite identification strategies, remaining confounding and platform-specific behavior limit causal and cross-market generalization. The accessible publisher page was used for this listing; correction history was not independently checked.
Research sources
The publisher page reports multiple identification and estimation strategies on Taobao data and finds free product sampling increases product ratings by 1.1%, with effects moderated by price, discount, and popularity. Publisher page was directly retrieved; detailed full-text methods were not independently verified.