Consumer acceptability, eye fixation, and physiological responses: A study of novel and familiar chocolate packaging designs using eye-tracking devices

Nadeesha M. Gunaratne, Sigfredo Fuentes, Thejani M. Gunaratne, Damir D. Torrico, Hollis Ashman, Caroline Francis, Claudia Gonzalez Viejo, Frank R. Dunshea

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Eye fixations on packaging elements are not necessarily correlated to consumer attention or positive emotions towards those elements. This study aimed to assess links between the emotional responses of consumers and the eye fixations on areas of interest (AOI) of different chocolate packaging designs using eye trackers. Sixty participants were exposed to six novel and six familiar (commercial) chocolate packaging concepts on tablet PC screens. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multivariate analysis were performed on eye tracking, facial expressions, and self-reported responses. The results showed that there were significant positive correlations between liking and familiarity in commercially available concepts (r = 0.88), whereas, with novel concepts, there were no significant correlations. Overall, the total number of fixations on the familiar packaging was positively correlated (r = 0.78) with positive emotions elicited in people using the FaceReader™ (Happy), while they were not correlated with any emotion for the novel packaging. Fixations on a specific AOI were not linked to positive emotions, since, in some cases, they were related to negative emotions elicited in people or not even associated with any emotion. These findings can be used by package designers to better understand the link between the emotional responses of consumers and their eye fixation patterns for specific AOI.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number253
JournalFoods
Volume8
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2019
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biometrics
  • Consumer liking
  • Emotions
  • Familiarity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science
  • Microbiology
  • Health(social science)
  • Health Professions (miscellaneous)
  • Plant Science

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