Free sample monitors in Japan

iShare recently took a look at free samples, in particular those applied for over the internet. This survey was conducted in conjuction with the affiliate marketing service Affiliate B.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 3rd of February 2010 983 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private interent-based questionnaire. 59.2% of the sample were male, 31.6% in their twenties, 32.6% in their thirties, and 35.8% in their forties.

My wife’s a bit of a free sample addict; every other week or so she’s getting a trial sample of some cosmetic or other. It always does seem rather odd that the companies usually seem to have lotteries to choose who gets a free sample rather than giving it to the first few hundred applicants, but I’m sure there must be a good reason.

I also guess given the cooperation with an affiliate company that there must be some monetary incentive for getting sign-ups. Q1SQ2 seems to suggest they also do pay-per-post campaigns – indeed, examining their site they seem to be a link broker.

Research results

Q1: Do you have a blog? (Sample size=983)

	All	Male N=582	Female N=401
Yes (to SQs)	14.1%	7.9%	23.2%
No, but used to (to SQs)	6.0%	4.3%	8.5%
No, but want to	5.4%	5.3%	5.5%
No, and don’t plan to	74.5%	82.5%	62.8%

Q1SQ1: Do, did you do affiliate marketing on your blog? (Sample size=198)

	All	Male N=71	Female N=127
Yes, currently do	17.2%	15.5%	18.1%
Yes, used to	11.6%	15.5%	9.4%
No, never	71.2%	69.0%	72.4%

Q1SQ2: Have you ever blogged about a free sample you got from a company on the precondition that you blog about it (ie, as a sample monitor)? (Sample size=198)

	All	Male N=71	Female N=127
Yes (to SQ3)	6.1%	5.6%	6.3%
No	59.1%	57.7%	59.8%
Don’t know what a sample monitor is	34.8%	36.6%	33.9%

Q1SQ3: What is the biggest attraction of being a sample monitor? (Sample size=12)

	All	Male N=4	Female N=8
Can get samples of products I’m interested in	58.3%	50.0%	62.5%
Can get samples of products I wouldn’t go and buy myself	25.0%	25.0%	25.0%
Easy to do	8.3%	25.0%	0.0%
Can get information I wouldn’t normally get	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
I get more blog visitors	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
I get story ideas for my blog	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
I like writing my opinions about products	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Other	8.3%	0.0%	12.5%

Q2: If a company was offering free samples would you take them up? (Sample size=983)

	All	Male N=582	Female N=401
As long as it wasn’t something I dislike (to SQ)	32.9%	29.6%	37.7%
Only if it was something I was interested in (to SQ)	48.5%	44.7%	54.1%
No	18.6%	25.8%	8.2%

Q2SQ: Have you ever bought a product after getting such a free sample? (Sample size=800)

	All	Male N=432	Female N=368
Yes	49.8%	41.0%	60.1%
No	50.3%	59.0%	39.9%