Abstract
With the continual expansion of product options provided by retailers, the range of product options in the choice assortment may exert a considerable effect on consumer preferences for real-time recommendations. We combined hierarchical drift-diffusion modeling with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning to delve into neurocomputational signatures of dual-brain synchronization that underlie the effect of varying choice assortment sizes on consumer preferences for real-time recommendations. Behavioral and computational results identified that consumers exhibited stronger consumer preferences for real-time recommendations and deliberative decision-making strategies within small choice assortments. Neural results demonstrated disparate inter-brain synchronization patterns across different successive phases underlying the effect of choice assortment sizes on consumer preferences for real-time recommendations. The predictive role of distinct dual-brain temporal dynamics on consumers’ decision-making strategies within small and large choice assortments was also determined with a support vector machine algorithm, thus demonstrating the value of dual-brain approaches in capturing the complexity of real-world decision-making environments.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during the current study, along with sample data from the experimental program and the modeling analysis code, are available at https://osf.io/hjmz3. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72171151, 72571180), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Shanghai International Studies University (41005234), the Science Foundation of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (ZSTU) (23092179-Y, 24062231-Y), and Doctoral Research Startup Foundation of Shanxi Normal University (0140/022720250002).
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SX and HZ designed the experiment. RT, CZ, YY, and HZ collected the data. SX, HZ, and MW analyzed the data. SX and HZ drafted the manuscript. SX and YL provided critical revisions, and all authors edited the manuscript.
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This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain-Machine Intelligence for Information Behavior on Nov. 9, 2023 (Ethics approval number: 2023BC050). The approval encompasses the implementation of behavioral experiments involving Chinese employees and the statistical analysis of the data collected.
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Xu, S., Zhao, H., Wang, M. et al. Dual-brain dynamics underlying consumer preferences for recommendations in choice assortments: evidence from computational modeling and fNIRS-based hyperscanning. Humanit Soc Sci Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07055-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-07055-9
