Eye Tracking

An EyeTracker Tobii x50 device makes it possible to measure the direction of a person’s view, as well as their emotional state. With this powerful instrument in consumer behavior research COMCON offers new possibilities for testing packages, advertising creatives (posters, print and outdoor advertising, TV clips), website interfaces, and various forms of packaging.

Unlike earlier EyeTracker models, the Tobii x50 does not require the respondent’s head to be in a fixed position, and its operation is unaffected by glasses, contact lenses, make-up, or hair.

The data received with the use of the eye-tracker are different from traditional verbal answers because they are pure and not distorted by the respondent’s thoughts. This makes them more objective.

The information received will make it possible to identify the elements in the tested object that attract the greatest attention, to determine the order they are viewed in, and also to obtain a video recording showing the respondent’s eye movements.

How it works

We demonstrate the operation of the device on the basis of a simple public service announcement poster (Fig. 1).

The respondent looks at the picture for 9 seconds. The brightly colored marks on the picture indicate the elements that most strongly attract the respondent’s attention (Fig. 2). Red shows the areas of greatest interest – in this case the child’s eyes. The writing set against a black background also draws attention.

The function of determining the order of eye movements (Fig. 3) allows us to see that viewing begins from the center of the poster – the respondent’s eyes stop briefly on the dot under the question mark in the center of poster (point 1). Subsequently, in full accordance with the laws of psychology, the respondent’s attention is attracted to the face of the child, which is also the largest object in the composition. The respondent focuses on the eyes (points 2-6), then moves down to the nose (point 7), and then his attention shifts to the large-print text in the center of the poster.

The respondent runs his eyes over this text (points 8-12). The gap between points 11 and 12 indicates that the person mentally grasps the meaning of the long word and does not need to focus on the ending. Subsequently attention shifts to the text in smaller type at the bottom of the poster. Of the two lines, the respondent focuses only on the upper one written in all capital letters (points 13-20).

The return of the respondent’s eyes to the face of the child (points 21-23) shows that the person has completed his overall viewing of the poster and examined all of the elements that seem to be worth attention.

Next, the respondent’s eyes again drop to the area just below the nose. The respondent uses this as an intermediary point before the next point of focus, as he maintains his view here for slightly longer than in the first case (points 7 and 23).

It is obvious that neither of the two text blocks was sufficiently impressive to be worth reading a second time. Of the remaining objects, the attention of respondent next moves to the emblem in the lower right-hand corner (point 24). Having examined this object, respondent then moves his eyes leftward along the line of text, going to the lower left corner and quickly reading the beginning of the text (points 27, 28), which apparently seems to be of little interest because the respondent does not read the text through to the end, but instead returns to viewing the child’s eyes.

It is possible to view the entire process with the use of the video-file created by the EyeTracker.

This example demonstrates that the EyeTracker Tobii x50 allows us to receive an objective answer to the question of which details in an advertising poster attract attention and which do not.

This device will also help us to answer other questions, such as how shoppers search for their favorite product in the supermarket, whether they notice differences between new and old packages, and whether new packages are more or less eye-catching.

EyeTracker data can also be used for more complex analysis, if necessary. For example, information on respondent’s pupil dilation during viewing will make it possible to gauge their emotional reactions.

Acquisition of the EyeTracker device is yet another step in the improvement of COMCON’s research potential. It has followed the principle of constant improvement since the date of its founding.