Deciphering the temporal dynamics of consumer decisions: the interplay of cognitive load and response correctness

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This study delves into the impact of visual marketing stimuli on consumer response times, focusing on the complexity and subjectivity of the questions posed. Conducted in Slovakia, the research involved 40 participants (20 men and 20 women, aged 30 to 50 years), all holding university degrees in economics to ensure consistent decision-making experience. Participants were presented with visual stimuli representing four well-known FMCG brands. The stimuli included simple brand preference questions and complex evaluative judgments of offer efficiency. Response times were measured in milliseconds and analyzed using statistical methods, including the Mann-Whitney U test and one-way ANOVA. Results revealed that responses to simple stimuli averaged 1212 ms, while complex stimuli elicited slower responses, averaging 2504 ms. A significant difference was observed for “No” answers in the offer evaluation tasks, with correct “No” responses taking 3000 ms compared to 2297 ms for incorrect ones (p < 0.05), highlighting the cognitive load involved in accurate decision-making. These findings provide valuable insights into the cognitive processes driving consumer decision-making and contribute to the theoretical understanding of how question complexity and subjectivity influence response times.

Acknowledgment
This paper was funded by research grant VEGA 1/0462/23 entitled “Circular economy in the context of societal demands and market limitations“ (100% share).

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    • Figure 1. Comparison of response times by group based on answer type and correctness
    • Figure 2. Average response time per respondent (ms)
    • Figure 3. Average response time per respondent (ms)
    • Table 1. Descriptive statistical analysis of response times for brand preference inquiry (question 1)
    • Table 2. Comparative summary of response time differences based on answer type for brand preference inquiry
    • Table 3. Descriptive statistics for response times to price offer evaluations (question 2), distinguished by answer correctness and type
    • Table 4. Statistical analysis of response time differences by answer type and correctness (Mann-Whitney U test results)
    • Conceptualization
      Vladimír Hojdik, Peter Štetka, Nora Grisáková, Daniela Rybárová
    • Methodology
      Vladimír Hojdik, Peter Štetka
    • Software
      Vladimír Hojdik, Peter Štetka
    • Validation
      Vladimír Hojdik, Peter Štetka
    • Writing – original draft
      Vladimír Hojdik
    • Writing – review & editing
      Vladimír Hojdik, Peter Štetka
    • Data curation
      Peter Štetka
    • Investigation
      Peter Štetka
    • Supervision
      Peter Štetka, Nora Grisáková, Daniela Rybárová
    • Visualization
      Peter Štetka
    • Formal Analysis
      Nora Grisáková
    • Resources
      Nora Grisáková
    • Funding acquisition
      Daniela Rybárová
    • Project administration
      Daniela Rybárová