An Investigation of Gestalt Principles in Advertising Design

Abstract

Advertising’s fundamental objective is promotion, reliant on its capacity to captivate viewers’ attention for success.Designers employ various strategies to amplify the visibility and impact of advertisements, with the Gestalt principle serving as a widely embraced framework in advertising design. This research seeks to explore the potential of Gestalt-based advertisements to enhance attention. To test this hypothesis, two participant groups were exposed to advertisements: one group featured Gestalt-based designs, while the other did not. The participants’ gaze patterns were recorded using an eyetracking device, enabling quantitative analysis via eyetracking parameters. Subsequent statistical analyses of these parameters were conducted. The study’s findings unequivocally demonstrate that, on the whole, advertisements integrating Gestalt principles consistently attract considerably more attention. Heightened fixation counts and prolonged gaze durations substantiate this.Additionally, the eye-tracking trajectories notably align with the frame of the Gestalt-based products, in line with the Gestalt principle. However, it’s important to note that excessive design abstraction may diminish noticeability.This research offers valuable insights into the effective application of Gestalt principles within advertising design. Furthermore, it furnishes recommendations for prospective studies in this domain. Grasping the subtleties of attention-captivating design elements can significantly inform and enhance advertising strategies in the digital age.