![]() ![]() Next, we will provide a more specific review of key findings concerning eye movements when viewing advertisements, including print ads, warning labels, and ads appearing on television (TV) and on the Internet 2. These topics are relevant because ads often consist of both text and scene-like information, and may also include a search component (if, for example, one is searching in a supermarket circular for a particular product of interest). We begin by providing some background information on the basic properties of eye movements as well as their characteristics in reading, scene perception, and visual search. Used in conjunction with other approaches, however, including interviewing subjects, testing their memory for products or brands, and tracking their selections, the technique can contribute substantially to applied research on advertisements ( Treistman and Gregg, 1979). Of course, the technique is limited with regard to the kinds of information it can provide: if a researcher or advertiser were primarily interested in viewers’ conscious, emotional reactions to a given image, for example, soliciting verbal responses would be preferred. Fourth, eye tracking can provide an efficient means of pinpointing which specific characteristics of an ad contribute to its success or failure in holding viewers’ attention or driving consumer choices 1. Third, the technique seems less prone to biasing subsequent responses of interest (e.g., choice of product or brand memory) than verbal protocols. Second, eye tracking can be done in real time during ad viewing without interfering with ongoing processing ( Russo, 1978 Wedel and Pieters, 2008a Glaholt and Reingold, 2011). First, eye movements can provide insight into the fast and detailed dynamics of visual attention that may simply not be available for introspection or verbal report ( Pieters and Wedel, 2008). There are several reasons why eye tracking may be useful to those who design advertisements or public policy notices such as warnings on alcohol and tobacco products. As Buswell (1935) noted in his classic study of eye movements and scene perception, this research may be also be useful from an applied perspective (see Duchowski, 2002 for a general review of applied eye movement research). Furthermore, work in this area can shed light on how we integrate text and images as we inspect our visual environments, as ads are often complex stimuli, composed of both elements. For instance, the domain is well-suited for investigating the relationships between eye movements and higher-level phenomena, such as memory and preference. Research on eye movements and advertisements can provide general theoretical insights ( Rayner et al., 2001 Wedel and Pieters, 2008b). Furthermore, the duration spent fixating each location provides information about the amount of cognitive and perceptual processing devoted to that region ( Rayner, 1998, 2009). Therefore, fixation distributions provide detailed information about which regions of a display most effectively capture visual attention. However, attention and eye movements are typically quite closely coupled (and, when they do become separated, it is generally in the systematic manner just described, so that the eyes will soon “catch up” with the focus of attention). Indeed, our attention generally shifts to the next location we will fixate shortly before we actually move our eyes ( Rayner et al., 1978 Kowler et al., 1995 Deubel and Schneider, 1996). ![]() It is important to note, at this point, that eye position and the locus of visual attention are not precisely identical concepts, since it is possible to disengage attention from the current point of fixation ( Posner, 1980). By inspecting the eye movement record we can, consequently, make inferences about how viewers selectively attend to the visual world, whether they are reading, viewing natural scenes, searching for a target item, or, as is of primary concern here, viewing advertisements. Eye movements are thus an important way in which we exercise active selection over our complex visual environments ( Findlay and Gilchrist, 2003). ![]() Saccade targets are determined, in large part, by our immediate cognitive or perceptual requirements. Because we cannot process detailed information far beyond the fovea, the central region of the retina spanning about 2° of visual angle, we must move our eyes from one location to the next, sequentially fixating (or looking directly at) areas of interest ( Rayner, 1998, 2009). Eye movements are of interest, with respect to viewing advertisements and more generally, because they provide fine-grained information about patterns of visual attention.
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