What Counts Most? How Price, Country of Origin and Nationality Dynamically Affect Consumer Preference

Framing is a well-established research method in neuroeconomics and consumer neuroscience. Framing effects of price, country of origin (CoO), and brands have all been demonstrated in many different conditions. However, our knowledge of framing effects woefully lacks any understanding of the relative strength of these effects, and how they may dynamically interact. To abate this problem, we conducted an experiment in which we recruited participants from three regions (Italy, France and rest of world), to undergo wine testing and rating of wine taste preference, and willingness to pay (WTP) while being exposed to the CoO and price of each wine. Unbeknownst to the participants, they all tasted the same wine. To provide a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the observed effects, emotional arousal was assessed using pupillometry. Using a linear regression model, our results demonstrate that price and CoO individually have a significant effect on the hedonic experience of wine (R2=0.11, p<0.0001). Two-way interactions demonstrate that price has a differential effect on preference depending on CoO. Here, we also find that preference is highly correlated with subjects’ WTP for the wine. Finally, we show that WTP is differentially affected by price and CoO depending on nationality. By studying the relationship between arousal and WTP, we find that during framing, pupil dilation is positively related to subsequent WTP, while during product evaluation; this relationship was negative. Taken together, our results demonstrate that branding effects can have both individual and dynamic effects that may depend on the recipient’s background. Furthermore, our results suggest that framing is related to a dynamic response that is different for the framing and product evaluation time points. This provides hints for how framing effects can be studied and managed in both academic and commercial settings.