This study examines how Taiwanese consumers respond to autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR)-based retail advertising. It proposes a bounded sensory-affective persuasion framework in which ASMR responsiveness functions as a consumer-level boundary condition, rather than assuming that ASMR cues are universally persuasive.
Survey data from 626 Taiwanese consumers were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. A separate within-subject EEG pilot experiment involving 18 participants was used only as a supplementary physiological check on frontal α-band patterns during advertising exposure; repeated trials were treated as within-participant observations, not as an enlarged participant-level sample.
Affective mechanism and brand awareness positively predicted purchase intention, which in turn predicted anticipated purchase behavior. ASMR responsiveness negatively moderated the relationship between affective mechanism and purchase intention, indicating attenuation rather than reversal of the positive effect. The cognitive-load-based moderated moderation was not supported. The EEG pilot showed no statistically significant omnibus effects of cognitive load, ASMR exposure, or their interaction on frontal a activity. Accordingly, the EEG component is interpreted cautiously as supplementary descriptive context rather than as confirmatory evidence.
The study advances sensory marketing and Asia-Pacific retail advertising research by showing that consumer responses to ASMR-based retail advertising in Taiwan depend on individual ASMR responsiveness and on whether sensory-affective experiences are converted into purchase-related evaluation.
