Using Eye Tracking to Explore Consumers' Visual Behavior According to Their Shopping Motivation in Mobile Environments

Despite a strong shift to mobile shopping trends, many in-depth questions about mobile shoppers' visual behaviors in mobile shopping environments remain unaddressed. This study aims to answer two challenging research questions (RQs): (a) how much does shopping motivation like goal orientation and recreation influence mobile shoppers' visual behavior toward displays of shopping information on a mobile shopping screen and (b) how much of mobile shoppers' visual behavior influences their purchase intention for the products displayed on a mobile shopping screen? An eye-tracking approach is adopted to answer the RQs empirically. The experimental results showed that goal-oriented shoppers paid closer attention to products' information areas to meet their shopping goals. Their purchase intention was positively influenced by their visual attention to the two areas of interest such as product information and consumer opinions. In contrast, recreational shoppers tended to visually fixate on the promotion area, which positively influences their purchase intention. The results contribute to understanding mobile shoppers' visual behaviors and shopping intentions from the perspective of mindset theory.