Eye Tracking: Investigating What Women Notice in Advertisements

There has been a lot of controversy about the use of images of thin models in media and the effect that constant exposure to these images has on the self-perception of the “average” female. Women see these “idealized” images of the female body on TV and in advertisements constantly, and studies have shown that this exposure has negative effects on body satisfaction and self-esteem. These studies on social comparisons and perceived attractiveness are typically subjective evaluations consisting of self-reports, but a group from the College of Design at the University of Michigan tried a more advanced approach to analyzing not only how young women process fashion advertisements, but also how the ads impact the internalization of the thin ideal and influence self-perception.

To accomplish this, researchers used eye tracking to investigate the visual processing that occurs as young women viewed fashion advertisements. Gaze duration and number of eye fixations were measured using a monitor-mounted eye tracker as the subjects viewed a series of advertisements. The target advertisement used for assessment featured 3 main elements—a headline, a picture of the product, and a slender model in a bikini. Their goal was to identify whether eye movements related to visual attention on the model correlated with self-appearance comparison.

A heatmap was overlaid on the target advertisement to illustrate the amount of visual attention the different elements received. The model was looked at faster, longer, and more frequently than any of the other 2 elements. Now, this would be no surprise if the test subjects were male, but the fact that they were all female generated some interesting findings about how women process images of what society has deemed attractive. There was a positive correlation between gaze duration, fixations, and self-comparison to the model. In fact, those that admitted in an initial questionnaire to having a tendency for internalization of the thin ideal, focused significantly more visual attention on the model’s face and body.

The study concluded that the model received the most visual attention while the advertisement was processed by the subjects and had the greatest influence on the viewer. Whether or not this visual attention on the model would be effective in driving sales is still yet to be determined. Although the model in the target ad received a lot of visual attention, it seems that it was because the subjects were engaging in social comparison rather than thinking about the product the ad was trying to sell. This would definitely be a potential topic for future eye tracking research.

Young Women’s Visual Processing of Fashion Advertisements Using Eye Tracking

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