What makes an effective energy efficiency label? Assessing the performance of energy labels through eye-tracking experiments in Ireland

Energy labels are a means of providing consumers with a way of understanding the environmental and energy impacts associated with many products and services. These labels are designed to help consumers to compare options and to select more energy efficient products. Such labels often contain large amounts of information, displayed in a range of metrics, such as carbon dioxide emissions in grams, energy use in kilowatt hours, and noise emissions in decibels. This paper presents the results of an eye-tracking experiment undertaken to assess energy labels from both the whitegoods and motor sectors. Specific focus is put upon the elements that make up these labels, and how effective these elements are at transmitting the necessary information to the consumer. Based upon the results of this study it is possible to generate heat maps, scan paths, and statistical analysis formed from defined areas of interest within the energy labels. These results highlight the effectiveness of colour coding (traffic light style) and simple alphabetic grading, in terms of drawing the attention of consumers. This research also contained information recall tasks based upon the data provided to respondents, and an analysis of these results highlights the notable variation in recollection accuracy for the different types of information provided by the labels. Based upon these results, a number of recommendations are made concerning potential label design.