Identifying customer preferences through the eye-tracking in travel websites focusing on neuromarketing

Abstract

The psychology of people and behavior associated with decision-making can be analyzed by examining their visual attention to products based on the introduction of neuromarketing at the intersection of neuroscience and marketing. This study aims to identify factors affecting consumers' decision-making on travel products by investigating their preferences and areas of interest via online vacation booking sites. In this experimental study, eye-tracking was measured on 30 male participants in the age of forties, and data on their gazes in response to stimuli were extracted and compared with their choices in the questionnaire survey. The study addresses the following research question: "On what areas of customer preference can visual attention be deemed an influence?" Whether changes to the visual information about spatial products influence product preferences and decision-making was investigated. As a result of analyzing the region of interest in the eye-tracking according to the order of space preference, the preference rate for image 3 (M = 782.65) containing the outdoor space was the highest, followed by furniture and web information. Regarding the initial concentration, among the flow of time, the fastest concentration started at stimuli 2 (4.21s), but the time when concentration increased was at stimuli 3 (16.28s). Visual perception data were analyzed as a verification process for determining the time difference in the concentration of gaze movements according to personal preference. The correlation between the questionnaire survey, reflecting consumers' conscious preferences, and the data of gaze movements, showing unconscious decision-making, was analyzed.