Abstract: Sample bundling promotion has become one of the popular forms of product promotion, however, this kind of promotion has not won due attention from researchers. Base on the theory of bundled promotion, this paper brings the sample sacks into the research field of bundled promotion to explore the influence of sample bundling promotions on consumers’ purchase decisions and its psychological mechanisms through three experiments. The findings show that bundled samples would decrease consumers’ purchase willingness. This effect is mediated by the spillover effect of the bundled products; the consumer’s evaluation of the lower attractiveness of bundled samples may spill over on their evaluation of the major products, resulting in the decrease in consumer’s willingness to buy. The consumers’ holistic-thinking mode can moderate this effect; for the consumers with higher trend of holistic thinking, bundled sample promotion has a greater negative impact on consumers’ purchase decisions. These research results have expanded the research of bundled promotion and provide theoretical guidance for marketing managers to design bundled promotion schemes.

Key words: sample sack, bundled promotion, spillover effect, integral thinking, consumer decision making