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Those were selfish appeals. Then he said, "Try our rivals' too" - said it in his headlines. He invited comparisons and showed that he did not feat them. That corrected the situation. Buyers were careful to get the brand so conspicuously superior that its maker could court a trial of the rest.
Two advertisers offered food products nearly identical. Both
offered a full-size package as an introduction. But one gave his
package free. The other bought the package. A coupon was good at any store for a package, for which the maker paid retail price.
The first advertiser failed and the second succeeded. The first
even lost a large part of the trade he had. He cheapened his product by giving a 15-cent package away. It is hard to pay for an article which has once been free. It is like paying railroad fare after traveling on a pass. The other gained added respect for his article by paying retail price to let the user try it. An article good enough for the maker to buy is good enough for the user to buy. It is vastly different to pay 15 cents to let you try an article than to simply say "It's free."
So with sampling. Hand an unwanted product to a housewife and
she pays it slight respect. She is no mood to see its virtues. But get her to ask for a sample after reading your story, and she is in a very different position. She knows your claims. She is interested in them, else she would not act. And she expects to find the qualities you told.
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