ABSTRACT Drawing on cognitive science research, this study explores mental time travel and its elicitation through digital product displays. Specifically, we examine how digital product displays elicit mental time travel to the past and future and how this cognitive process positively influences three purchase‐oriented outcomes: inspiration to purchase, booking intention, and willingness to pay. We test these effects across three studies using distinct digital product displays spanning three product categories and contexts: a low‐involvement fast‐moving consumer good (snack food), a high‐involvement experiential travel product (cruise ship), and a hedonic, symbolic food and beverage product (wine). Results from Study 1 demonstrate that mental time travel to the past positively influences future mental time travel and, in turn, enhances inspiration to purchase. Study 2 focuses on future mental time travel and shows that it positively affects booking intention. Across Studies 1 and 2, we further examine immersion as a boundary condition and find no evidence that it alters the proposed relationships. Study 3 extends these findings by showing that mental time travel positively influences willingness to pay and reveals a novel moderating effect of brain plasticity, such that habitual fiction engagement strengthens the impact of future mental time travel on willingness to pay. Finally, results across all three studies highlight the mediating role of future mental time travel in linking mental time travel to the past with all three purchase‐oriented outcomes examined.
Barhorst et al. (2026) studied this question.