Understanding website useability: An eye-tracking study of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games website

E-commerce has become a key element of most sport websites, yet sport websites are expected to do more than sell merchandise. Consequently, sport marketers are faced with a delicate balancing act between ease of use and provision of exciting, multimedia content to meet the needs of their consumers. Eye-tracking technology is used in this study to identify elements that enhance or interfere with website useability. Users were provided with a purchase intention and measures of fixation on relevant areas of interest were collected. Retrospective think alouds provided users a chance to explain their attention patterns. Size, placement, and active links were identified as important features of useability. Experienced online shoppers and women were more likely to focus on the shopping task, and less likely to be distracted by the sport-related features of the site. Implications for using eye-tracking technology for sport marketing are discussed.