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Price and customer ratings are perhaps the two most important pieces of information consumers rely on when shopping online. This study aimed to elucidate the neural mechanism by which the introduction of these two types of information influences the purchase intention of potential consumers for hedonic products. Participants performed a lip-care product shopping task during functional magnetic resonance imaging, in which they re-disclosed purchase intentions referring to the information of price or rating provided about the products that they had previously disclosed their purchase intentions without any information. Data from 38 young female participants were analyzed to identify the underlying neural regions associated with the intention change and product information. The bilateral frontopolar cortex, bilateral dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), and left insula activated higher for the unchanged than changed intention condition. The right dACC and bilateral insula also activated more toward the price than the rating condition, whereas the medial prefrontal cortex and bilateral temporoparietal junction responded in the opposite direction. These results seem to reflect the shift to exploratory decision-making strategies and increased salience in maintaining purchase intentions despite referring to provided information and to highlight the involvement of social cognition-related regions in reference to customer ratings rather than price.

In today’s competitive e-commerce markets, it is crucial to promote product satisfaction and to quickly identify purchase intention in decision-making consumers. The present investigation examined the relationship between perceived garment fit and purchase intention, together with how product presentation methods (mannequin versus self-model) contribute to decision-making processes of clothing. Thirty-nine female volunteers were scanned using fMRI while performing an online shopping task. In Part 1, univariate analysis was conducted between garment fit and product presentation factors to assess their effects on purchase deliberation. In Part 2, univariate, multivariate pattern, and psychophysiological interaction analyses were carried out to examine the predictive ability of fit evaluation and product presentation on purchase intention. First, garment fit × product presentation interaction effects on purchase deliberation were observed in the frontopolar cortex, superior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex. Part 2 demonstrated neural signals of the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, premotor cortex, supplementary motor area, superior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus, superior temporal sulcus, fusiform gyrus, and insula to distinguish subsequent purchase intentions. Overall, the findings denote directed exploration, visual and action processing as key neural processes in decision-making that uniquely reflect garment fit and product presentation type during purchase deliberation. Additionally, with respect to the effects of purchase intention on product evaluation, the evidence conveys that mental interactions with products and social cognition are fundamental processes that capture subsequent purchase intention at the product evaluation stage.