Eye tracking in consumer research Q1 2026

This study aims to examine the impact of brand logos and personal information requests on visual attention to mHealth app interfaces and app credibility judgments among smartphone users at varying levels of persuasion knowledge. A mixed-factorial lab experiment was employed, incorporating variables such as the presence of a brand logo, personal information requirements, and app repetition, and was analyzed using eye-tracking and self-report methods. It revealed that brand logos unexpectedly enhanced app credibility, suggesting that recognizable brand vis...Show more

• Tobii Pro TX-300
• Tobii Pro Lab

Cosmetic brands have traditionally featured models with flawless, clear skin in their advertising. However, a recent trend has emerged where brands showcase models with facial skin imperfections, raising questions about the effectiveness of this approach. To address this gap, this research conducts an online experiment (n = 235) and an eye-tracking experiment (n = 116) to assess brand attitude and visual attention. Drawing on Self-Congruity Theory, we propose that models with visible acne in cosmetic advertising increase self-brand congruity differently ...Show more

• Tobii Pro Lab
• Tobii Pro Spark

Product visual strategies (PVS) on food packaging influence how consumers visually inspect products at the point of purchase. However, evidence comparing transparent windows and product images remains mixed, particularly regarding how these strategies interact with food unit size (FUS) and shape visual attention patterns. Moreover, few studies have examined these effects using objective eye-tracking measures within controlled experimental designs. This study employed a 2 × 2 between-subjects quasi-experiment to investigate the effects of PVS (transparent...Show more

• Tobii Pro Glasses 2
• Tobii Pro Lab

The National Bioengineered (BE) Food Disclosure Standard went into effect in the United States (U.S) in January 2022, requiring food manufacturers to disclose whether food offered for retail sale contains BE foods. Among several options, disclosures on food packaging can include text disclosure or an approved BE logo. We used eye-tracking instrumentation and digital images of food packages to compare college undergraduates’ (n = 67) visual attention of a BE text statement with a BE logo. We also used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and trust in scie...Show more

• Tobii Pro Nano
• Tobii Pro Lab

This exploratory eye-tracking study investigates how the emotional content of food bank advertisements influences food donor perception and visual attention. It does so by addressing a gap in the literature on eye-tracking applications in food donation contexts and social neuroscience. Visual attention represents a fundamental behavioural precursor to decision-making, yet its role in charitable communications remains underexplored. The objective of this research was to investigate how the content of food bank advertisements is associated with the way tha...Show more

• Tobii Pro Nano
• Tobii Pro Lab

Seafood, as the product with high nutritional value and low carbon footprint, has attracted extensive discussion for achieving sustainable food consumption. However, whether message framing could play a role in promoting seafood consumption is still unclear. Using a payment card experiment combined with eye-tracking technology, this study examines whether and how message framing affects consumers' preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and organic labeled shrimp. We also shed light on the underlying physiologic...Show more

• Tobii Pro Fusion

This study investigates the application of digital textile technology in enhancing the functional and experiential qualities of tourism-related textile products. A comparative experiment was designed to quantify the performance of digitally produced textiles against those made with traditional techniques. The experimental group's products, including T-shirts and scarves from materials like cotton poplin and silk crepe de chine, were created using a suite of digital methods. These methods included 3D modeling for pattern draping simulation, ultra-high-res...Show more

• Tobii Pro Fusion

The growing commodities economy has made innovative packaging design increasingly essential, as packaging now functions not only as a protective medium but also as a key marketing tool and representation of brand identity. Traditional packaging design methods often struggle to adequately capture consumer attention and preferences, creating a need for more effective, data-driven design approaches. To address this challenge, this study proposes PackInsightNet, a novel packaging design framework based on target identification and deep learning techniques, a...Show more

• Tobii Pro X3-120

Hybrid shopping environments—where digital and physical touchpoints merge—have transformed consumer engagement. Yet current retail strategies rarely adapt in real time to consumers' neuro-emotional states grounded in established theoretical frameworks. Drawing on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model and affective computing theory, this study introduces the Neuroadaptive Retailing Index (NRI), a novel metric capturing the dynamic synchrony between consumers' neural, physiological, and visual responses and the adaptive stimuli of retail interfaces....Show more

• LSL
• VARs

ABSTRACT An increasing number of advertisers have started to use numerical latitude expressions of origin (e.g., 30° N). However, few studies have examined the effect of such expressions on consumer behavior. In this research, through two pilot studies and three online studies, we find a positive effect of numerical latitude (vs. textual toponymy) origin expressions on consumers' product purchase intentions. Furthermore, we tested perceived naturalness as the mediating mechanism and found that this positive effect occurs only for utilitarian (vs. hedonic...Show more

• Tobii Pro X3-120

Cultural targeting involves designing messages to align with surface or deep-cultural elements with the goal of enhancing message relevance and impact. Methodological challenges remain in experimentally manipulating messages that are congruent with the cultural characteristics of receivers while measuring effects and balancing experimental control and realism; as such, we know very little about mechanisms that explain cultural targeting effects. The current study focuses on the effects of matching messages to self-reported racial identity as a design ele...Show more

• Tobii VR

Purpose Consumers rapidly assess packaging through a mix of conscious and unconscious processes, which play a crucial role in shaping their engagement and purchase decisions. The purpose of this study is to explain how visual realism versus caricature in ingredient-based front-of-pack illustrations differentially activates dual cognitive–affective processing routes and shapes multidimensional consumer engagement. Design/methodology/approach Across four complementary studies, this study investigates how illustration type influences preference (behavioral...Show more

• Tobii Pro Fusion
• Tobii Pro Lab

The present systematic review synthesizes the findings of 31 studies that employ the eye-tracking method to investigate visual attention in the context of climate communication. The review clustered the studies into six thematic categories related to the concepts explored: message types, attentional biases, visualizations, consumer packaging, expert systems, and climate-related art. Although fixation-based metrics are widely used, the field underutilizes advanced gaze analyses and overlooks some methodological details, such as sampling rates and calibrat...Show more

This study focuses on the growing trend of celebrities being used as influencers in marketing, with firms investing substantially in celebrity endorsements. The study examines the effectiveness of celebrity influencers in destination marketing, comparing their influence with that of non-celebrity influencers. Neuroscience tools and methods were used to understand how cognitive and emotional factors impact consumer decisions and their likelihood to travel. The results show that employing a celebrity does not always increase audience engagement and attenti...Show more

• Tobii Pro Glasses 2
• Tobii Pro Lab

The purpose of this study is to explore how different types of price discounts influence consumers’ purchase intentions within a simulated supermarket environment. By integrating eye tracking (ET) and electroencephalography (EEG) technologies, the research aims to capture real-time visual attention and neural responses, offering insights beyond traditional self-report methods. Specifically, the study examines whether shopping duration and age predict purchasing behaviour under various discount types, while also assessing the role of memorization and fixa...Show more

• Tobii Pro Fusion

Drawing upon social presence and perceived value theories, this study examines how time-limited (TL) and quantity-limited (QL) promotions influence consumers’ purchase intention in live-streaming shopping. Through two controlled experiments (using countdown prompts for TL and inventory visualization for QL), the findings reveal distinct mechanisms: TL promotions elevate functional value by fostering a perception of collective synchronicity, whereas QL promotions boost social value identification through the perception of interactive control. Notably, thi...Show more

• Tobii Pro Spectrum
• ErgoLab

Consumers encounter various visual cues while shopping, which influence their food choices. Additionally, concerns related to the use of nitrites in cured meats and the overall impact of animal breeding on the environment are transforming the European cured meat market. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in consumer (n = 66) visual attention to three sausages (conventional, nitrite-free, and plant-based) under both blind and informed (health risk, health benefit, and health plus environmental benefit) conditions in Ireland and Finland,...Show more

• Tobii Pro Glasses 2
• Tobii Pro Glasses 3

INTRODUCTION: Research using self-reported measures demonstrates that "The Real Cost" Youth Cigarette and E-Cigarette Prevention Campaigns affect tobacco-related beliefs, attitudes, behavioral intentions, and behaviors. This study provides insights by assessing attentional, affective, and cognitive responses to ads from "The Real Cost" campaigns among U.S. young adults using non-self-report measures.METHODS: Attentional, affective, and cognitive responses (eye tracking, facial electromyography, electrodermal activity, functional near-infrared spectroscop...Show more

• Tobii Pro Glasses 2
• Tobii Pro Spark

Examining highly competitive Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) markets reveals that consumers often make purchase decisions within seconds, rendering packaging design particularly color a critical strategic cue. Although prior research has established the psychological influence of color, few studies have integrated neuromarketing measures with predictive analytics to forecast consumer purchase behavior. This study employs a mixed-methods design combining eye-tracking, physiological emotional measurement (FEMG and GSR), consumer surveys, and machine lear...Show more

• Tobii Pro Fusion

Purpose Conversational virtual shopping assistants (CVSAs) have emerged as innovative tools for product recommendation. However, there is still no broad consensus in the industry regarding their design, which has hindered their rapid diffusion. Moreover, theoretical understanding of how CVSA design affects downstream consumer behavior remains limited. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the theoretical lens of design affordance, this research employs a mixed-methods approach to address these gaps. A grounded theory analysis of 40 semi-structured inte...Show more

• Tobii Pro Glasses 3
• Tobii Pro Lab

Purpose Social media platforms leverage user data to precisely deliver persuasive in-feed advertising aimed at promoting products. However, this approach may provoke heightened adverse reactions among users with elevated privacy sensitivity. This study examines the mechanisms by which privacy-sensitive users avoid persuasive narratives embedded in in-feed native advertising, with a particular focus on the processes of psychological reactance and visual avoidance. Design/methodology/approach This study employed two laboratory experiments and an eye-track...Show more

• Tobii Pro Spectrum

Within the framework of brand communication, several companies choose to use bistable logos. These types of logos fall within the mechanisms inherent to bistable perception, where the interpretation of the two possible percepts involved may depend on the areas being observed or on prior instructions given to the observer to search for a particular shape within the ambiguous image. Perceptual factors related to the stimulus and the areas of eye fixation are called bottom-up aspects. The information exogenous to the bistable stimulus that determines percep...Show more

• Tobii Pro X60 / X120 / T60 / T120
• Tobii Pro Studio

Figure-ground reversal (FGR) transcends visual conventions by reversing the roles of figure and ground in brand logo designs. In this research, the authors study how FGR logos affect consumers’ brand attitudes. Using traditional self-reported measures as well as biometric technology, they illuminate the unique nature of FGR’s underlying mechanism and identify moderators to shed additional light on that process. Specifically, they find that the positive effect of FGR logos on brand attitude is mediated by engagement and aesthetic appeal, and moderated by ...Show more

• Tobii Pro Lab
• Tobii Pro Screen-based

Through a mixed-method approach, this study investigates three interrelated questions pertaining to how short-form video apps affect people’s engagement with news. Results from our lab study utilizing an eye-tracking method (Study 1) did not reveal evidence that people’s heavy use of short video apps is negatively associated with visual attention to news or recall of news; however, Study 1 uncovered that the more people were aware of their heavy use of short video apps and its negative impact (referred to as short video risk awareness), the more attentiv...Show more

• Tobii Pro Nano
• Tobii Pro Lab

Purpose A promising application of artificial intelligence (AI) in online retail is the implementation of AI-powered chatbots. However, online retailers must ensure that AI-powered chatbots enrich the customer experience during the customer journey while minimizing negative impacts. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate how an AI-powered chatbot influences the affective and the cognitive component of customer experience across different stages of the customer journey. Design/methodology/approach Using neuroscience tools, the authors use a mixed-desi...Show more

• Tobii Pro X60 / X120 / T60 / T120
• Tobii Pro Lab

Visual merchandising, applying neuromarketing principles, significantly influences consumer perception, attention, and purchase decisions. This study addresses the inefficient use of visual merchandising in retail, exemplified by a case study at a Delicattos store (Embutidos Piggis, Cuenca, Ecuador). Using a descriptive design with eye-tracking technology, the research aimed to optimize product distribution in displays from a neuromarketing perspective to enhance customer experience and sales. The results demonstrate that combining visual merchandising w...Show more

• Tobii Pro Glasses 3
• Tobii Pro Lab

Packaging is a much-neglected area of marketing communications, yet, packages carry important functional and emotional properties. Indeed, packaging has often been referred to as ‘the silent salesman’ or ‘the part of clothing a product wears’. From the MarCom perspective, a package needs to be attractive and recognizable; the material has to fulfil the required needs to protect and often also hold the product and keep it fresh, as is the case in frozen products, for instance, but it can also affect consumers’ willingness to buy the product. This study in...Show more

• Tobii Pro X3-120
• Tobii Pro Lab

Susceptibility to health misinformation is determined by numerous technology-level and user-level factors. While existing IS research has identified individual antecedents of misinformation susceptibility, there remains a critical gap in understanding how these factors interact to shape users’ ability to discern false health claims. This research-in-progress proposes an experimental study integrating eye tracking, facial expression analysis, think-aloud protocols, and survey data to capture user reactions to social media posts containing accurate and mis...Show more

• Tobii Pro Spark