Abstract
Cognitive psychology has a long history of using physiological measures, such as pupillometry. However, their susceptibility to confounds introduced by stimulus properties, such as color and luminance, has limited their application. Pupil size measurements, in particular, require sophisticated experimental designs to dissociate relatively small changes in pupil diameter due to cognitive responses from larger ones elicited by changes in stimulus properties or the experimental environment. Here, building on previous research, we present a pupillometry paradigm that adapts the pupil to stimulus properties during the baseline period without revealing stimulus meaning or context by using a pixel-scrambled image mask around an intact image. We demonstrate its robustness in the context of pupillary responses to branded product familiarity. Results show larger average and peak pupil dilation for passively viewed familiar product images and an extended later temporal component representing differences in familiarity across participants (starting around 1400 ms post-stimulus onset). These amplitude differences are present for almost all participants at the single-participant level, and vary somewhat by product category. However, amplitude differences were absent during the baseline period. These findings demonstrate that involuntary pupil size measurements combined with the presented paradigm are successful in dissociating cognitive effects of familiarity from physical stimulus confounds.
Highlights
When completing shopping tasks, consumers frequently seek to identify familiar branded products
This study focuses on brand familiarity—a widely studied and relevant construct in the consumer psychology literature that relies heavily on self-reports—to illustrate the efficacy of a paradigm for pupil size measurements designed to dissociate smaller cognitive effects from larger physically induced confounds on a singleparticipant level across various stimuli
The present study investigated cognitive familiarity differences via involuntary pupil size changes
Summary
Consumers frequently seek to identify familiar branded products. In light of crowded shelves and product proliferation, consumers may find it difficult to report their level of brand familiarity with a high level of confidence. This is just one of many situations that can give rise to inaccurate cognitive judgements of familiarity in consumers’ self-reports. As this example highlights, a key problem with self-reports is their potential inaccuracy and susceptibility to cognitive biases—even though self-reports are convenient for researchers [1, 2]. In an attempt to preclude self-report biases, consumer psychology has only
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
