Breaking: consumers are not the most reliable source of what grabs their attention and influences their shopping choices. So marketers are using sophisticated eye-tracking technology to measure shopper response to different products and design.

That's why P&G, Kimberly-Clark, Johnson & Johnson and Unilever are just a few of the CPG giants using three-dimensional computer simulations of both designs and store layouts with the eye-tracking technology to deduce how to improve sales.

“Eye-tracking gives you the only valid way of measuring shelf visibility, because it’s fully a behavioral measure," Scott Young, president of Perception Research Services, told Packaging World. "If you ask consumers attitudinally what they saw on shelf, you’re not going to get accurate information, because recall is biased by brand familiarity. If a shopper sees a soda shelf, she will ‘remember’ seeing Coke and Pepsi, even if they weren’t actually on the shelf.”Continue reading...

While not quite as out there as EEG-tracking to determine consume responses to brand messaging, eye tracking — which uses webcams to follow eyeballs as people peruse ads online — is getting more sophisticated.

Traditional web tracking techniques provide data on clicking and scrolling patterns, while eye tracking analyzes user interaction, i.e., what’s literally most eye-catching, in between the clicks, as well as what’s confusing or ignored altogether.

Stockholm-based MRC Online EyeTracking uses technology developed by Tobii Technology to literally track viewers' gaze, and defines effectiveness by where and how long people look at individual elements of advertising. 

That analysis is what attracted P&G to sign up with MRC to track the effectiveness of its Pampers brand marketing in Scandinavia.Continue reading...

We recently took a look at how brands are using eye-tracking software to understand the visual elements of a brand's design that engage the viewer.

Here's how Mercedes-Benz recently used the technology to take a look at the consumer's gaze — including drawing comparisons to the female form. Its goal: to discern, in eye-tracking parlance, the "eye catchers" of its vehicle design.

The luxury brand researchers' conclusion: as in seduction, it's the subtle details that grab attention and excite the target audience. Heck, Dita Von Teese could have told them that!