Can you resist the urge to walk by the free samples in grocery stores without indulging?

Sometimes on those days when I'm starving and trying to squeeze in one more errand on the way home, I'll cross my fingers that the store will have some great free samples to take the edge off my growling stomach.  Other days I'll walk right by without sampling.  But the kids always want the free samples.  You know how it goes, moms.  They'll eat anything in a store.

How much extra product do the stores sell after offering the free samples?  It's pretty unbelievable!  No wonder they're always offering that one glob of hummus on a pita chip, and the one gulp of that homemade soda.

There was an article that ran on MSN yesterday that said the stores can sometimes see a 2000 percent increase in product sales after they offer free samples.  Wow.  We love free food!  And if it's any good, we'll buy it right up and take it home.

I'm a huge fan of Costco, and that store is one of the best-known for offering a ton of free samples.  And they're good ones!  Some shoppers go at lunch time to eat and shop, and kill two birds with one stone.  Sometimes they'll pass out half a hot dog or a whole triangle-shaped quesadilla.  I love Costco for the deals, and the kids love Costco because they get a snack at every turn.  On that note, surely this has happened to other parents too...the kids try something new in Costco and they say they love it, and we as parents are thrilled to have found something new that they'll eat.  We buy it, and the first time we serve it at home they say they don't like it.  Dang it!  The magical powers of the store must have altered their taste buds.

Are you guilted into buying the product after you sample it?  Sometimes I am.  If I don't like the sample there's no way I'll buy it, but if I'm at least so-so on the taste of it and it's on the healthy side, I'll play the game and get some.  I'd rather make sample-lady's day a little brighter by boosting her stats, than selfishly walk away with the free bit of a Luna bar.

Regardless of the psychology behind it or the stats, thank you stores, for the free food and for filling us up as we go.  Apparently there's nothing to the idea that we'll spend more money if we shop while we're hungry.  We spend just as much or more as we're grazing on the samples.

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