Eye tracking technology in market research
- 2020-07-01 09:26:00
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Though many people think eye tracking technology is a newly developed tool, it has a long history back, mainly in connection with medical research and practical adaptation. This technology allows the measurement of behaviour and cognitive reactions without recording the brain activity. With the help of eye tracking, we can interpret the user’s decision making processes. Though in marketing research the analysis of biometric reactions and mental efforts is less used, the eye tracker is also appendable with this function.
The benefits of the technology in market research
The benefit of visual output is that it could be construed as an image or a video, therefore it is easy to emphasize the significant moment of behaviour. Furthermore we have an opportunity to analyze complete processes. Since we analyse real perception with this method, it gives us much more objective information than a method which is based on interviewing. This method puts emphasis on the fact that the user is constantly moving his/her head and as our retina is able to focus only on a smaller part of the screen at a time.
Professional literature differentiates different types of eye movements, from a biological perspective we learned saccadic movements. In that case with this fast movement the glance has been passed around. Between two saccades the cast is standing still, this position allows the visual sensation, which is the so-called fixation. The currently available eye tracker technology is mainly based on recording the fixtations and the saccades.
How can eye tracking technology support market research? The key benefits
It provides another insight into the subconscious processes and decisions. Think about it, whether something works or not, it is easy to analyze, but finding the why’s and how’s it’s a lot more difficult task. Eye tracker is such a helpful instrument, it provides information about these “why’s” and “how’s”. Imagine, a webshop is given many information, the big question is whether all information is important and useful? Eye tracking removes irrelevant information, and prioritizes useful and awareness raising facts. The philosophy of Szinapszis is that eye trackers are important participants of market research, it is easy to associate even with qualitative or quantitative methods, which means a methodological complement in the budget of a research.
Eye trackers of Szinapszis and Tobii
In 2008 Szinapszis, within Baross Gábor KFI program in cooperation with University of Debrecen, started to use the market's most innovative and best-known producer’s, the swedish Tobii’s T60 eye tracker. This eye tracker is built in the screen itself and appropriate for testing digital content, website UX, promotional material, advertising and mock-up pictures.
Ever since, another tool’s been obtained called Nano Pro , which is very similar to the T60 eye tracker.
Fixed eye tracker is incapable to execute POS or shopping mall self tests, but it is possible with mobile eye tracker. These tools are built into glasses, and as technology improves, they are smaller and smaller and soon will be hard to see the difference between a normal glasses and glasses with eye trackers. A good example is Glasses Pro 2, used by Szinapszis as well.