Associating a product with a luxury brand label modulates neural reward processing and favors choices in materialistic individuals

Abstract

The present study investigated the extent to which luxury vs. non-luxury brand labels (i.e., extrinsic cues) randomly assigned to items and preferences for these items impact choice, and how this impact may be moderated by materialistic tendencies (i.e., individual characteristics). The main objective was to investigate the neural correlates of abovementioned effects using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Behavioural results showed that the more materialistic people are, the more they choose and like items labelled with luxury brands. Neuroimaging results revealed the implication of a neural network including the dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex that was modulated by the brand label and also by the participants’ preference. Most importantly, items with randomly assigned luxurious brand labels were preferentially chosen by participants and triggered enhanced signal in the caudate nucleus. This effect increased linearly with materialistic tendencies. Our results highlight the impact of brand-item association, although random in our study, and materialism on preference, relying on subparts of the brain valuation system for the integration of extrinsic cues, preferences and individual characteristics.

More Than Meets the Eye: The Impact of Materialism on Information Selection During Luxury Choices

“…Notably, our results show how strong the impact of brand information may be to (materialistic) consumers, as the brands were randomly presented with products, but still lead to a preference for the respective products. This result, consistent with previous research (e.g., Audrin et al, 2017a , b ), points out that values are important factors to be taken into account when studying consumer decision-making. While the behavioral (choice variable) results revealed strong evidence in favor of our hypotheses, evidence was weaker regarding the eye-tracking data, which gave only moderate support to our hypotheses.…”

“…While the effect was not strong in our results regarding the pattern of visual attention, results on the choice variable revealed that the brand had a different impact on participants' choice, depending on their level of materialism. These results show further evidence that the brand was a strong vector of the luxury dimension of a product for materialistic people (Audrin et al, 2017a , b ). More generally, this result echoes previous results revealing the strong link between materialism and luxury (Gil et al, 2012 ).…”

“…This suggests that the preference for luxury may be related to specific dimension of luxury (Audrin et al, 2017a ) depending on peoples' values. People with high levels of materialism favor symbolic dimensions by focusing on pictorial brand-related element (Audrin et al, 2017a , b ). By contrast, participants with low levels of materialism pay relatively more attention to factual product information (Audrin et al, 2017a ).…”

“…Materialistic individuals, i.e., people with high levels of materialism, are more likely to look for prestigious products reflecting a high social status (Fournier and Richins, 1991 ; Wang and Wallendorf, 2006 ) than non-materialists. More specifically, materialism is a critical dimension of luxury consumers' values (e.g., Fournier and Richins, 1991 ) as it enhances interest for luxury brands (Gil et al, 2012 ), preference for luxury goods (Wong and Ahuvia, 1998 ; Prendergast and Wong, 2003 ) and brand label consideration (Audrin et al, 2017a , b ).…”

Neural Substrates of Brand Love: An Activation Likelihood Estimation Meta-Analysis of Functional Neuroimaging Studies

“…In the reward system, the caudate and anterior putamen play roles in reward expectation and the middle-posterior putamen coded values for habitual behaviors (Kawagoe et al, 1998 ; Gerardin et al, 2003 ; Haruno and Kawato, 2006 ; Balleine et al, 2007 ; Van Wouwe et al, 2012 ; Wunderlich et al, 2012 ; Lee et al, 2014 ). In addition, the caudate acts as an integrator in the brain valuation system that evaluates subjective values (Bartra et al, 2013 ; Audrin et al, 2017 ).…”