Using eye-gaze visual technologies to compare consumer response in real and 3D virtual worlds: an exploratory application to retail.

New Product Development CentreThis paper reports on the development and findings of a research investigation using visual technologies to investigate comparisons into consumer responses of store-based and virtual retail environments. The visual technologies used were mobile head-mounted and desk-bound eye-gaze tracking tools. Desk-bound tracking technologies have for some time been used in understanding consumer response in retail and marketing settings whereas mobile head-mounted eye-gaze technologies have only recently become available for use in these contexts. Whilst the visual technologies presented some limitations in their application, the exploratory and qualitative methodology adopted using content analysis triangulated against pre- and post-tracking questionnaires and retrospective interviews with participants, enabled a comparative analysis that suggests similarities in consumer response patterns to both the real and virtual (3D) retail environments. Implications of the research approaches and future applications are discussed in the context of retail and marketing