Emotional contagion in social commerce: A neuromarketing experiment

Digital platforms, such as social commerce websites, allow users to buy, interact and socialize anytime and anywhere. In this environment, users’ experience and purchase decision-making process is impacted by the online information of the websites, most part of it generated and shared by other users. Therefore, online consumer reviews (OCR) have a valence –positive, negative or neutral– based on users’ experience. According to Emotional Contagion theory, states of mood can be transferred from one person to the other. Hence, users’ previous experiences through OCR valence could affect other users’ states of mind. With the purpose of boosting positive optimal experiences based on Flow theory, this research main objective is to analyze how OCR valence (mainly positive, mainly negative, balanced valence and neutral OCR) can lead to different states of mind (boredom, anxiety, flow and apathy). This research is split into two studies. Study 1, through a qualitative research, explores users’ perceptions and utilization of OCR, helping to design study 2. Study 2 presents an experiment-based neurological research recording brain electrical activity with electroencephalogram (EEG). Currently, data analysis is in progress.