Our study examined the effect of consumers' level of involvement on visual attention to product, information sign and price sign guided by the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). We also investigated ...the relationship between visual attention captured by eye fixation on information and price sign and product choice for garden plants. Using a Tobii X1 light eye tracking device, we obtained data from 101 respondents in Texas and Michigan. We found that participants who had high (vs. low) product involvement paid more attention to the product and its information as demonstrated through higher fixation count (FC), longer total fixation duration (TFD), and total visit duration (TVD). We also found highly involved participants processed price information as a central rather than a peripheral cue. In addition, total visit duration (TVD) on an information sign was found as the strongest predictor of product choice.
•Highly involved participants attended more to the product and its information.•Highly involved participants processed price information as a central cue.•Visual attention to an information sign had the strongest impact on product choice.
In the retail environment, attention is requisite to purchase, attention being the collection and assessment of stimuli from our senses (visual stimuli are generally the most important) for cognitive ...processing according to the needs of the moment. Visual attention is easily and affordably measured today using eye tracking technology. This paper reviews the “state of play” of the use of eye tracking technology as a research tool in retail and retail marketing. The review is timely as during the last decade many non-proprietary eye tracking studies have been published in marketing, consumer behavior, and retail journals, and additional work is expected as the technology gains adoption in consumer research. We reviewed studies that contributed to an understanding of consumer behavior in the gold standard of consumer interface: the retail store. The goal of the paper is to provide a synthesis of retail-focused eye tracking study findings. We present the managerial and theoretical significance of the research as well as an agenda that considers the use of eye tracking from pre-shopping through point of sale.
Marketing on social media has become ubiquitous. Consequently, social media platforms are increasing the level of advertising content that users may later encounter when navigating online shopping ...websites. It is unclear how this amplification of exposure to marketing messages through social media affects consumers’ attitudes to products online. Furthermore, the roles of social media participation and proneness to experience Fear of Missing Out on product attitude remain largely unexplored. In this research (N = 1002), we employed an online survey of US Instagram users. These data were submitted to three-way moderation regression analyses with attitude toward the product as the dependent variable. Consumers who are more active on social media and had high (vs low) Fear of Missing Out expressed more favorable attitudes toward online products after being exposed to Instagram content (vs not exposed). The theoretical and practical implications for cognitive processing research and advertising strategy and study limitations are discussed.
Eye tracking studies have analyzed the relationship between visual attention to point of purchase marketing elements (price, signage, etc.) and purchase intention. Our study is the first to ...investigate the relationship between the gaze sequence in which consumers view a display (including gaze aversion away from products) and the influence of consumer (top down) characteristics on product choice. We conducted an in-lab 3 (display size: large, moderate, small) X 2 (price: sale, non-sale) within-subject experiment with 92 persons. After viewing the displays, subjects completed an online survey to provide demographic data, self-reported and actual product knowledge, and past purchase information. We employed a random forest machine learning approach via R software to analyze all possible three-unit subsequences of gaze fixations. Models comparing multiclass F1-macro score and F1-micro score of product choice were analyzed. Gaze sequence models that included gaze aversion more accurately predicted product choice in a lab setting for more complex displays. Inclusion of consumer characteristics generally improved model predictive F1-macro and F1-micro scores for less complex displays with fewer plant sizes Consumer attributes that helped improve model prediction performance were product expertise, ethnicity, and previous plant purchases.
Research suggests that social media consumer activism can be motivated through multiple microlevel action frames (MAFs – or simply, microframes). In this study, we examine an online consumer activism ...campaign against the supermarket chain
Carrefour
in Brazil and develop a typology of microframes that emerged during this episode of consumer activism. We leverage Twitter data to illustrate the distinction between cause-oriented (centered on animal rights issues) and brand-oriented MAFs (emphasizing consumer disappointment in Carrefour) and examine their influence on the emergence of other online consumer activism microframes. Our findings reveal the complex interplay between cause support (cause-oriented MAF) and perceptions of a brand transgression (brand-oriented MAF) to galvanize collective action. We theorize the roles of distinct MAFs in spurring and sustaining consumers’ online mobilization. Practical recommendations for brand managers are discussed.
When evaluating products, consumers rely on cues to infer characteristics such as perceived value and quality. The availability of intrinsic and extrinsic cues to aid in the decision-making process ...is limited when shopping online, given that consumers rely on website descriptions about the product, limiting opportunities for personal visual inspection. Potted plants are a unique area of study for marketers given that these products often have minimal branding (extrinsic) cues, resulting in heightened examination of intrinsic cues such as the overall plant health. When shopping for minimally branded products online, a hedonic web shopping environment might be able to provide consumers with extrinsic attributes to help compensate for the lack of physical interaction with the product. This current study investigated the effects of hedonic/utilitarian presentation of minimally branded products (e.g., live potted plants) on consumers' willingness to pay and purchase intention. A 2 (retail brand: hedonic vs. utilitarian) x 3 (product presentation: hedonic vs. utilitarian vs. both) between-subject experiment was conducted. Results showed that hedonic presentation of minimally branded products has potential to positively influence consumers' purchase intention and willingness to pay. Managerial implications and future research are also discussed.
As more of the U.S. population urbanizes, freshwater resources will become more partitioned and scarcer. Live plants need water to become established and survive, but water demands vary by taxa. ...Additionally, outdoor household water use is becoming a greater target for watering restrictions, particularly landscape irrigation. Yet, how important is water conservation messaging in the context of a plant purchasing decision for outdoor plants? A ratings-based conjoint analysis of the water message, plant type, price, and plant guarantee was conducted using data from 288 subjects from three locales who rated their purchase intention to buy a plant from a retail merchandising display while using an eye-tracking device. Subjects were clustered by state of residency and, separately, their conjoint utility scores. Results indicate that water-related messaging does play a positive role in purchase intention. Residents of states who frequently experienced drought rated a water-saving message higher compared to residents of states who experienced relatively little drought. For some consumer groups, such as plant buyers, water savings are important and sought after. Green industry stakeholders should be aware of their region’s drought history and help develop point of purchase information to include water conservation messaging in retail displays.
Eye-tracking was used to identify potential location 'premiums' in discrete choice experiments for certain positions in the computer screen in terms of increasing the visibility, general interest and ...attention of respondents. The search dynamics to choose the optimal alternative closely resembled the natural process of reading in a 'Z' motion going from left to right and top to bottom. An empirical application of water conservation showed that conservation practices in the production process were not statistically different than zero. On the other hand, respondents are interested in water conservation practices in their landscapes where they benefit directly from the sustainable practice.
Retailers, merchandisers and suppliers go to great lengths to display merchandise so that it captures the eye of the customer. Attention requires eye movement. Our eyes move (saccade) and pause ...(fixate) to direct attention. Cognitive processing of visual items requires the eyes to attend to an object. Eye movement can measure attention, and attention increases mental processing of an object (e.g. word, image, object, and product). Both the characteristics of the person (top-down factors) and the stimulus (bottom-up factors) contribute to attention and influence the meaning derived from the stimulus. For the current study, we integrated involvement theory and the elaboration likelihood model with eye-tracking technology to evaluate customer attention to merchandise displays and their likelihood to buy (purchase intention). We recruited 344 subjects in six North American locations to view images of 32 live plant displays. Visual data were collected using a Tobii X1 Light eye-tracking device. To date, few investigations using eye tracking have been conducted on merchandised displays. Our hypothesis was that the more highly involved customers would view the merchandise (live plants) longer than required for identification, information or price signs. Results show differential 3-D patterns of involvement, likelihood to buy, and total visit duration. Involvement moderated the relationship between the time spent looking at the merchandise and their likelihood to buy.
Abstract
Plant purchases experienced a surge during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine of 2020. Researchers used an online survey instrument completed by 1,211 U.S. respondents to investigate the ...diverse motivations for making plant purchases. Researchers compared three age cohorts to understand which plant benefits they derived from their plant purchases. Millennials (born 1981 to 1995) derived the greatest social benefit from their plant purchases, followed by educational, physiological, and psychological benefits. Gen Z (born 1996 to 2012) derived more educational and physiological benefits compared to Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964). Individuals experiencing a high level of social benefits from plants may have contributed to the extensive use of social media during pandemic isolation, as plants appear to be a common interest or focal point for online social interaction. In other words, plants bought by Millennials (and to a lesser extent by Gen Z) served as an online social connection to others. The youngest age group, Gen Z, experienced the greatest boredom proneness and the most food insecurity. In comparing plant buyers with non-buyers, we found no difference in boredom proneness or shopping anxiety. Plant purchasers experienced greater food security compared to non-plant purchasers and individuals who purchased edible plants or food-producing plants or both a flowering plant and a food-producing plant had greater food security compared to non-plant buyers and individuals who purchased flowering plants. Results provide relevant topics (e.g., food security, boredom relief, and social connections) to inform on- and off-line communications with consumers.
Index words: consumer, online survey.
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