Ratings or Sales? The Neural and Psychological Processes of Online Experience Product Purchase: Evidence from a Sample of Chinese University Students

Extrinsic cues are ubiquitous in daily commodity consumption scenarios, not to mention online consumption scenarios. Among the many online cues, monthly sales and product ratings are two of the most representative. Some scholars have researched the impact of these cues on consumer decision making, but only search products have been investigated. Based on previous research, this article expanded the types of products to experience products and further explored consumer purchase behaviours and the underlying purchase processes influenced by these two extrinsic cues with the assistance of a neuroscience tool, event-related potentials (ERPs). The behavioural results indicated that the subjects decided mainly based on ratings, while the effect of sales was continuously inhibited. The ERP results further suggested that consumers recognised low ratings and low sales as more negative stimuli than high ratings and high sales, as larger P2 amplitudes were observed. Following the early processing of these cues, low ratings were considered unacceptable and evoked more significant emotional conflicts than high ratings, which was reflected by larger N400 amplitudes. Moreover, in the late stage, high ratings, which activated evaluation categorisation and produced more significant emotional arousal than low-rating conditions, guided the formation of purchase intention and reflected greater LPP amplitudes. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed.