Consumer brand preference and brand performance often influence behaviour at the point of purchase. Before the advent of eye-tracking technology, marketers could not measure the effectiveness of POS marketing because they could not pinpoint whether purchase decisions were based more on personal brand preference or the power of display. Advances in eye-tracking technology have allowed researchers to track shopper eye movement along store shelves and POS displays. A study conducted for the Journal of Consumer Research explored the correlation between eye fixation and purchase, finding that consumers look at brands in one of two ways — either noting the brand (a simple look) or gazing at the brand (viewing it over the course of several seconds). The study found that POS displays that coincide with brand recall and gaze more often lead to impulsive purchases. It should be noted, however, that although eye-tracking technology advances each year, “further research is necessary to examine the role of the first and following eye fixations on variables of interest to marketers, such as sales,” according to a 2002 paper written by Pierre Chandon, assistant marketing professor at INSEAD.
