The processing of price during purchase decision making: Are there neural differences among prosocial and non-prosocial consumers?

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