Product similarity plays an important role in affecting consumer preferences. Although the existing literature discusses consumer preferences or product similarity, there are only a few studies investigating their relationship. The current study explored the influences of product similarity on consumer preferences including the underlying cognitive processes by analyzing eye movement data as well as survey data and retrospective interviews. Forty-four participants were invited to take part in the experiment. The results showed that: (1) increases in preference decision time and fixation counts are caused by a higher product similarity; (2) more fixation time is spent on the ultimately chosen options than on the rejected ones and product similarity has no impact on this phenomenon; (3) preference randomness increases with the increase of product similarity; and (4) there is a negative correlation between the mean discrepancy degree of preference rating and the mean similarity rating. Understanding the influences of product similarity on consumer preferences may contribute to better product design and sales. Further studies should quantify the effects of product features on consumer preferences with more diverse stimulus materials and more advanced technologies and methods.

中文翻译：

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产品相似性对消费者偏好的影响：基于眼动分析的研究

产品相似性在影响消费者偏好方面起着重要作用。尽管现有文献讨论了消费者偏好或产品相似性，但只有少数研究调查了它们之间的关系。目前的研究通过分析眼动数据以及调查数据和回顾性访谈，探讨了产品相似性对消费者偏好的影响，包括潜在的认知过程。四十四名参与者被邀请参加实验。结果表明：（1）偏好决策时间和注视计数的增加是由较高的产品相似性引起的；(2) 最终选择的选项比被拒绝的选项花费更多的固定时间，产品相似性对此现象没有影响；(3)偏好随机性随着产品相似度的增加而增加；(4) 偏好评分的平均差异度与平均相似度评分之间存在负相关。了解产品相似性对消费者偏好的影响可能有助于更好的产品设计和销售。进一步的研究应该通过更多样化的刺激材料和更先进的技术和方法来量化产品特征对消费者偏好的影响。