The Effect of Discount Price Framing on Purchase Intention of Fast-Food Bundles: An ERP Study

Abstract

Previous research on consumer behavior has shown that oftentimes, people are susceptible to a cognitive bias called the discount or price framing effect due to their limited capacity to process information. However, the effect of such discount framing in a fast-food bundling context and its neural underpinnings have not been fully characterized. Therefore, the present study investigated the neural correlates of discount framing on the purchase intention of fast- food bundles using event-related potentials. Six different discount framing conditions created and divided into 2 blocks with a maximum difference of Rs.10-Rs.15 between the conditions. The behavioral results showed that the zero pricing condition showed a higher purchase rate although the average reaction times did not differ significantly between the conditions. Neurophysiologically, it was found that there were no significant differences found between the electrodes for both Late Positive Potential and P300 amplitude between the different conditions.