Abstract
Math anxiety is a problem that faces most people in their everyday life. Past research suggests that math anxiety can lead consumers to make errors in numerical computations. In this study, we utilized brain-based measures for the assessment of math anxiety in relationship to price perceptions. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) from the prefrontal cortex was measured to determine differences in responses between high and low math anxiety participants. Participants performed two tasks under load and no-load conditions performing math calculations in relation to a price promotion. Preliminary results indicate that there is a performance difference between low and high math anxiety participants in both oxygenated hemoglobin results and behavioral performance. This study outlines a new method for determining how math anxiety affects consumers’ decisions regarding prices.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Hembree, R.: The nature, effects, and relief of mathematics anxiety. J. Res. Math. Educ. 21(1), 33–46 (1990)
Ashcraft, M.: Math anxiety: personal, educational, and cognitive consequences. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 11(5), 181–185 (2002)
Blazer, C.: Strategies for reducing math anxiety. Inf. Capsule 1102, 1–8 (2011)
Maloney, E., Beilock, S.: Math anxiety: who has it, why it develops, and how to guard against it. Trends Cogn. Sci. 16(8), 404–406 (2012)
Wang, Z., et al.: Who is afraid of math? Two sources of genetic variance for mathematical anxiety. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatr. 55(9), 1056–1064 (2014)
Ashcraft, M., Kirk, E.: The relationships among working memory, math anxiety, and performance. J. Exp. Psychol. 130(2), 224–237 (2001)
Young, C.B., Wu, S.S., Menon, V.: The neurodevelopmental basis of math anxiety. Psychol. Sci. 23(5), 492–501 (2012)
Peters, E., Vastfjall, D., Slovic, P., Mertz, C.K., Mazzocco, K., Dickert, S.: Numeracy and decision making. Psychol. Sci. 17(5), 407–413 (2006)
Bayer, R.-C., Ke, C.: Discounts and consumer search behavior: the role of framing. J. Econ. Psychol. 39, 215–224 (2013)
McKechnie, J.D., Ennew, C., Smith, A.: Effects of discount framing in comparative price advertising. Eur. J. Mark. 46(11/12), 1501–1522 (2012)
Darke, P.R., Chung, C.M.Y.: Effects of pricing and promotion on consumer perceptions: it depends on how you frame it. J. Retail. 81(1), 35–47 (2005)
Krishna, A., Briesch, R., Lehmann, D., Yuan, H.: A meta-analysis of price presentation on perceived savings. J. Retail. 78, 101–118 (2002)
Jones, W.J., Childers, T.L., Jiang, Y.: The shopping brain: math anxiety modulates brain responses to buying decisions. Biol. Psychol. 89(1), 201–213 (2012)
Lowe, B., Maxwell, S.: Consumer perceptions of extra free product promotions and discounts: the moderating role of perceived performance risk. J. Prod. Brand Manag. 19(7), 496–503 (2010)
Izzetoglu, K., Ayaz, H., Merzagora, A., Izzetoglu, M., Shewokis, P.A., Bunce, S.C., Pourrezaei, K., Rosen, A., Onaral, B.: The evolution of field deployable fNIR spectroscopy from bench to clinical settings. J. Innov. Opt. Health Sci. 4, 1–12 (2011)
Ayaz, H., Shewokis, P.A., Bunce, S., Onaral, B.: An optical brain computer interface for environmental control. In: IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC, pp. 6327–6330 (2011)
Ayaz, H., Onaral, B., Izzetoglu, K., Shewokis, P.A., McKendrick, R., Parasuraman, R.: Continuous monitoring of brain dynamics with functional near infrared spectroscopy as a tool for neuroergonomic research: empirical examples and a technological development. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 7, 871 (2013)
Izzetoglu, M., Izzetoglu, K., Bunce, S., Ayaz, H., Devaraj, A., Onaral, B., Pourezzaei, K.: Functional near-infrared neuroimaging. IEEE Trans. Neural Syst. Rehabil. Eng. 12(2), 153–159 (2005)
Fishburn, F.A., Norr, M.E., Medvedev, A.V., Vaidya, C.J.: Sensitivity of fNIRS to cognitive state and load. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 8, 76 (2014)
McKendrick, R., et al.: Into the wild: neuroergonomic differentiation of hand-held and augmented reality wearable displays during outdoor navigation with functional near infrared spectroscopy. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 10, 216 (2016)
Suri, R., Monroe, K.B., Koc, U.: Math anxiety and its effects on consumers’ preference for price promotion formats. J. Acad. Mark. Sci. 41(3), 271–282 (2012)
Gamliel, E., Herstein, R.: To save or to lose: does framing price promotion affect consumers’ purchase intentions? J. Consum. Mark. 28(2), 152–158 (2011)
Diamond, W.: Just what is a “dollar’s worth”? consumer reactions to price discounts vs. extra product promotions. J. Retail. 68(3), 254–270 (1992)
Beilock, S., Willingham, D.: Math anxiety: can teachers help students reduce it? Am. Educ. 38, 28–32 (2014)
Ashcraft, M., Krause, J.: Working memory, math performance and math anxiety. Psychon. Bull. Rev. 14(2), 243–248 (2007)
Alexander, L., Martray, C.R.: The development of an abbreviated version of the mathematics anxiety rating scale. Meas. Eval. Couns. Dev. 22, 143–150 (1989)
Cacioppo, J.T., Petty, R.E.: The need for cognition. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 42, 116–131 (1982)
Richardson, F.C., Suinn, R.M.: The mathematics anxiety rating scale. J. Couns. Psychol. 19, 551–554 (1972)
Ayaz, H., Shewokis, P.A., Bunce, S., Izzetoglu, K., Willems, B., Onaral, B.: Optical brain monitoring for operator training and mental workload assessment. NeuroImage 59(1), 36–47 (2012)
Ayaz, H., Shewokis, P.A., Curtin, A., Izzetoglu, M., Izzetoglu, K., Onaral, B.: Using MazeSuite and functional near infrared spectroscopy to study learning in spatial navigation. J. Vis. Exp. (56), 3443 (2011)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this paper
Cite this paper
Sargent, A. et al. (2019). Neural Correlates of Math Anxiety of Consumer Choices on Price Promotions. In: Ayaz, H., Mazur, L. (eds) Advances in Neuroergonomics and Cognitive Engineering. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 775. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94866-9_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94866-9_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94865-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94866-9
eBook Packages: Intelligent Technologies and RoboticsIntelligent Technologies and Robotics (R0)