Is Tasting Believing? The Effect Of Peel-And-Taste Advertising On Product Feelings And Likelihood Of Purchase

Abstract

Scratch-and-sniff product samples have been used as surrogate methods of inducing product trial since the 1990s, but to date tasting a product required either in-store or in-home interactions with actual products. Peel-and-Taste flavor strips were introduced in 2007 as a means of putting product sample substitutes in the hands of many by virtue of being attached to advertising pieces in magazines, newspaper blow-ins, and direct mail. This study utilized a sample of female consumers (the targeted recipients of the ads) to allow them to interact with advertising samples using Peel-and-Taste, and measuring various resulting attitudes. Results showed that ratings of flavor pleasantness and the Peel-and-Taste method itself were positive significant predictors of Feelings Toward the Product (FTP), and that  FTP and the participant’s resulting mood state were positive significant predictors of Likelihood To Purchase (LTP) the product. In aggregate, though, FTP was modest at best, and LTP was virtually indifferent. It was concluded that the Peel-and-Taste method, while favorably linked to FTP and LTP, was not so strong as to be a significant stimulus to purchase the product.