Title
The processing of price during purchase decision making: Are there neural differences among prosocial and non-prosocial consumers?
Date Issued
20 October 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
International organizations, governments and companies are increasingly committed to developing measures that encourage adoption of sustainable consumption patterns among the population. However, their success requires a deep understanding of the everyday purchasing decision process and the elements that shape it. Price is an element that stands out. Prior research concluded that the influence of price on purchase decisions varies across consumer profiles. Yet no consumer behavior study to date has assessed the differences of price processing among consumers adopting sustainable habits (prosocial) as opposed to those who have not (non-prosocial). This is the first study to resort to neuroimaging tools to explore the underlying neural mechanisms that reveal the effect of price on prosocial and non-prosocial consumers. Self-reported findings indicate that prosocial consumers place greater value on collective costs and benefits while non-prosocial consumers place a greater weight on price. The neural data gleaned from this analysis offers certain explanations as to the origin of the differences. Non-prosocial (vs. prosocial) consumers, in fact, exhibit a greater activation in brain areas involved with reward, valuation and choice when evaluating price information. These findings could steer managers to improve market segmentation and assist institutions in their design of campaigns fostering environmentally sustainable behaviors.
Volume
271
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Psicología
Neurociencias
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85087733482
Source
Journal of Cleaner Production
ISSN of the container
09596526
Sponsor(s)
This project was funded by the Andalusia Regional Government (Grant number P12-SEJ-1980 ).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus