Investigating Consumer Preferences for Production Process Labeling Using Visual Attention Data.

Xuan Wei,Alicia L. Rihn,Hayk Khachatryan

doi:10.3390/bs9070071

Abstract

A second-price auction with eye movement recordings was used to investigate consumer preferences for labels disclosing the presence and absence of specific types of insecticides and to explore the relationship between visual attention and consumer purchasing behaviors. Findings contribute to the literature in the following ways. First, visual attention pattern was endogenously determined by personal knowledge and pollinator conservation activities. Less knowledgeable or less engaged participants fixated more and for longer durations on the product as a whole rather than other information. Secondly, the first and last gaze cascade effect was confirmed by identifying a significant negative impact of participants’ first and last gaze visits on neonicotinoid labels on their bid values. Third, new evidence was added to the existing literature that the link between visual attention and consumer valuation and preference may be weak. Our results suggest that visual attention could provide useful information toward understanding participants’ bidding behaviors; however, evidence indicates that visual attention measures may not be directly linked with decision making.

Highlights

Visual attention, measured by eye tracking, increasingly attracts behavioral and experimental economists who investigate consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for products with different attributes
Our results suggest that visual attention could provide useful information toward understanding participants’ bidding behaviors; evidence indicates that visual attention measures may not be directly linked with decision making
Given that the first fixation and last fixation were binary variables, the mean values of the first/last fixation reflect the proportion of the participants who fixated first/last on each areas of interest (AOI)

Summary

Introduction

Visual attention, measured by eye tracking, increasingly attracts behavioral and experimental economists who investigate consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for products with different attributes. When modeling consumer preferences for product attributes in choice experiments and experimental auctions, the conventional economic approach assumes that consumers process all of the presented information and tradeoff among different product alternatives [1]. Other studies demonstrate consumers primarily evaluate products with specific attributes that are important to them (i.e., attribute focus or lexicographic choice). These findings implicitly acknowledge that visual attention is a crucial measure that should be taken into account when analyzing consumer preferences [24]

Methods

Results

Conclusion