This eye-tracking study investigated whether the physical appearance of another consumer can influence people’s visual attention and choice behavior in a grocery shopping context. Participants (N = 96) took part in a lab-based experiment and watched a brief video recording featuring a female consumer standing in front of a supermarket shelf. The appearance and body type of the consumer was manipulated between conditions, such that she was perceived as 1) healthy and of normal weight, 2) unhealthy by means of overweight, or 3) unhealthy through visual signs associated with a potentially unhealthy lifestyle, but not by means of overweight. Next, participants were exposed to a supermarket shelf with cereals and were asked to choose one alternative they could consider buying. Prior exposure to a seemingly unhealthy (vs. healthy) consumer resulted in a relative increase in participants’ visual attention towards products perceived to be healthy (vs. unhealthy), which prompted cereal choices deemed to be healthier. This effect was stronger for products that holistically, through their design features, managed to convey the impression that they are healthy rather than products with explicit cues linked to healthiness (i.e., the keyhole label). These results offer important implications regarding packaging design for marketers, brand owners, and policy makers. Moreover, the findings highlight the value of technological tools, such as eye-tracking methodology, for capturing consumers’ entire decision-making processes instead of focusing solely on outcome-based metrics, such as choice data or purchase behavior.

中文翻译：

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谷物交易：他人的外表如何影响人们对健康食品的关注

这项眼动追踪研究调查了在杂货店购物环境中，另一个消费者的外表是否会影响人们的视觉注意力和选择行为。参加人数= 96）参加了一项基于实验室的实验，并观看了一段简短的视频录像，其中有一位女性消费者站在超市货架前。在不同条件下操纵消费者的外观和身体类型，以使她被认为是：1）健康且体重正常； 2）通过超重不健康；或3）通过与可能不健康的生活方式相关的视觉症状不健康，但不是通过超重的方式。接下来，参与者被暴露在杂粮店的超市货架上，并被要求选择一种他们可以考虑购买的替代品。先前接触看似不健康（相对健康）的消费者导致参与者对被认为是健康（相对不健康）产品的视觉注意力相对增加，这促使人们选择谷物被认为更健康。对于整体上通过其设计功能设法传达出健康感觉的产品，而不是具有与健康相关的明显线索（即锁眼标签）的产品，这种效果更为明显。这些结果为营销人员，品牌所有者和决策者提供有关包装设计的重要建议。此外，研究结果还突出显示了诸如眼动追踪方法之类的技术工具的价值，它们可用于捕获消费者的整个决策过程，而不是仅仅关注基于结果的指标（例如选择数据或购买行为）。这些结果为营销人员，品牌所有者和决策者提供有关包装设计的重要建议。此外，研究结果还突出显示了诸如眼动追踪方法之类的技术工具的价值，它们可用于捕获消费者的整个决策过程，而不是仅仅关注基于结果的指标（例如选择数据或购买行为）。这些结果为营销人员，品牌所有者和决策者提供有关包装设计的重要建议。此外，研究结果还突出显示了诸如眼动追踪方法之类的技术工具的价值，它们可用于捕获消费者的整个决策过程，而不是仅仅关注基于结果的指标（例如选择数据或购买行为）。