The influence of web browsing experience on web-viewing behavior

Abstract

The World Wide Web has become an important source of information, as much as traditional media like books, newspapers, and television. While there have been many studies on Web searching, research into Web-viewing behavior using eye-tracking systems has only recently begun [Pan et al., 2004]. Josephson and Holmes [2002] studied Web-viewing behavior focusing on the category of Web page visual design. They suggested that eye movements were affected by the following two factors: (1) visual design of Web pages and (2) habitually preferred path across the visual stimuli. However, these previous studies did not sufficiently consider the user's experience. The purpose of this study is to investigate how past Web-browsing experience influences Web-viewing behavior. We used a detailed questionnaire to measure a user's Web-browsing experience and analyzed the eye-tracking data based on the user's prior Web experience.