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Similar to traditional luxuries, affordable luxuries enjoy a high level of perceived product quality and perceived social status, but the effectiveness of price promotions of purchasing affordable luxury products is different from that of traditional luxuries. In order to further investigate the purchases of affordable luxuries, we used event-related potential (ERP) technology to reveal the formation of the purchase intention toward affordable luxuries at original prices (high or low) and current prices (discounted or non-discounted). Compared with the high-priced affordable luxury without a price promotion and the low-priced affordable luxury with a price promotion, consumers showed a stronger intention toward the high-priced affordable luxury with a price promotion, by weighing up three factors, perceived product quality, perceived social status, and perceived monetary saving at the behavioral level. A shorter reaction time emerged in the price promotion condition than in the absent price promotion condition when the original price was low. At the neural level, a decrease in N2 amplitude was found in the high original price and discounted current price condition than the high original price and non-discounted current price condition and the low original price and discounted current price condition, respectively, suggesting that the price information of the latter two conditions might not be the expectation information of subjects, and thus, the enhanced conflict is produced. The high-priced affordable luxury product without a price discount evoked a more positive LPP amplitude than the high-priced affordable luxury product with price promotions or than the low-priced affordable luxury item without price promotions, demonstrating that participants could regard the former as an evaluative inconsistent condition and the latter as evaluative consistent conditions. These results are helpful to better understand the effects of price promotions on purchasing affordable luxury products at different original prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to consuming hedonic products unnecessary to basic well-being, consumers need justifications for pleasure. However, different justifications have differential influences in promoting hedonic purchases, such as price and quantity promotions (PP and QP), the difference being that the latter requires purchasing additional units to get the same discount as the former. In the present study, even-related potentials (ERPs) was applied to reveal the timing of brain activities to further understand how promotion information consisting of promotion type (PP and QP) and discount depth, deep and shallow discounts (DD and SD) on hedonic products was processed. Behaviorally, consumers were more willing to purchase items in PP and DD conditions than QP and SD conditions, respectively, and spent more time making final purchase decisions in QP and DD condition or PP and SD condition compared to PP and DD condition. Neurophysiologically, DD automatically recruited more attentional resources than SD and led to a higher P2 amplitude. QP and DD condition or PP and SD condition evoked a larger N2 amplitude and enhanced perceptual conflict compared to PP and DD condition. During late stage, PP and DD elicited a more positive LPP amplitude in contrast to QP and SD, respectively, indicating that people have stronger purchase intention and positive affect in PP and DD contexts. These findings provided evidence for the differential influences between PP and QP and what ultimately made consumers buy hedonic products or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The time course of ERPs responses to the expertise congruency effect in ads was examined. • The cognitive process comprises an early conflicted perception and later memory recollection stage. • Stimulating pairs of athlete star and sport brand triggered a more negative N2 and positive LPP compared to the other pairs. • The N2 mainly reflects the conflict process of celebrity-brand, and the LPP refers to the recollection process of the expertise association. Celebrity/brand endorsement is omnipresent and has great influence on consumers. In the current study, the event-related potentials (ERPs) were utilized to explore the neural process underlying how expertise congruency effect matters in ads. Twenty-five participants (two excluded) were recruited to accept or refuse the brands (stimulus 2) endorsed by celebrities (stimulus 1) during a S1–S2 paradigm. Behavioral results indicated significant differences in the acceptance rates and reaction time, while ERPs component provided further insight into the cognitive processing: early conflicted perception and later memory recollection process. The results of ERPs showed that, when the celebrity is an athlete star, presenting a sport brand (AS, expertise congruity) triggered a less negative N2 and a larger LPP component compared to a leisure brand (AL, expertise incongruity) but not different with singer star (SS and SL, expertise neutrality). We suggested the N2 may reflect the conflict process of celebrity-brand, while the LPP may demonstrate the recollection process of expertise association in memory. Such findings implied that a more fluent processing (smaller N2 and larger LPP) and prominent performances could be obtained in an expertise congruity scenario, which deepened our understanding of expertise congruency effect in advertising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]