Measuring the Factors Influencing Purchasing Decisions: Evidence From Cursor Tracking and Cognitive Modeling

Whether to purchase a product is of fundamental importance to marketing, but purchasing behaviors vary widely across individuals and contexts. This paper proposes that a sizeable fraction of this variation is associated with differences in the time at which a product’s desirability and its price are processed and utilized by consumers. To test this hypothesis, participants purchased different products while their mouse cursor movements associated with purchasing an option were recorded across three laboratory studies. These natural cursor movements and estimates from a cognitive model identified the time at which product desirability and price each began to influence decisions. On average, we found that product desirability impacted the decision-making process significantly earlier than price. Moreover, the difference in the time at which product and price influenced choice explained a sizeable fraction of the variation in the option that was purchased. Additional analysis and studies revealed that the time at which an attribute begins to influence decisions can be altered by simple marketing actions, such as a product’s visual display and price discount framing, and that these actions have consequences for choice. Together, these results add to our understanding of how consumers make simple purchasing decisions.