Beyond clicks and views: Unpacking the shift towards freebies in brand advertising | Prof. Debashree Roy writes for Financial Express

The article highlights that persuading consumers via freebies is a creative approach that several companies employ to differentiate themselves. Freebies can take diverse forms, including free samples, extra quantity or additional volume for the same price paid, gifts, free service included with the purchase of a product, or even free subscriptions to OTT services.

Freebies operate on the principle of reciprocity, which essentially means that when consumers enjoy a brand’s freebies, they favorably reciprocate towards the brand, in the form of a) purchases, b) positive word-of-mouth, and c) brand loyalty.