Eye Tracking Research Basics

Companies are always looking for new methods of market research in order to give themselves an edge over their competition. Surveys are always going to be a viable tool, but there are still other forms of market research and analysis that companies can use to understand the marketplace. A method that has been gaining some traction over the past few years is known as "eye tracking." Eye tracking is a methodology designed to take human decision making out of the equation, and instead focus on uncontrollable behaviors.

Eye tracking is exactly what it sounds like – tracking eye movements with complex machines that measure eye locations and turn it into data. Eye tracking is not just used in market research. It's used in psychology, neurology, and countless other fields.

But with market research, eye tracking can tell you things that other data collection methods cannot – particularly where a customer's eyes go when they look at a specific product, image, etc. Eye tracking data can be surprisingly useful. Some examples of how eye tracking data is used include: Website Design Website design is an extremely important customer satisfaction tool for a number of companies.

If customers are frustrated using your website, or fail to notice great features, then the website suffers and customer satisfaction suffers. That's where eye tracking comes in. Eye tracking has participants view your website and tracks where their eyes go on the page.

Your goal is to find a way for the customer to view the parts of your website they're meant to view. This is something that other data collection methods may not be able to tell you. Branding Eye tracking plays a big role in branding, especially with advertisements.

Any time you buy a box of cereal, for example, there's a logo that is strategically placed on the box so that you remember the brand name. If you're developing a new product and you want your logo to be noticed, you need to make sure that its placement, size, etc., all draw the attention of the viewer. Eye tracking provides you with this information.

Branding and website design are just two examples of the ways that eye tracking plays a role in market research, but they're certainly not the only ways. In the next article, we'll continue looking at some of the ways that companies can use eye tracking for customer satisfaction and continue to introduce the methodology.