See http://www.checkit.nl/pdf/eyetracking_research.pdf 

The emerging field of analyzing internet search behavior is important in many disciplines, but it becomes especially relevant for advertisers wishing to sell products to consumers.  In constructing websites that would potentially be attractive to consumers, one may assume that advertisers would seek to maximize the directness and ease of finding information while still presenting information in a convincing and manner.  Most consumers begin by utilizing search engines to navigate and narrow the options of purchasing goods.  As mentioned in class, search engines themselves offer a noteworthy scheme as to how consumers may evaluate the prospective advertisers of a good.  Thus the process of exploiting the results of the search algorithm, with consideration of how consumers appraise these results themselves, is the topic of a new study that may shed light on how advertisers may increase their attention from consumers.

This study, conducted by the search engine media agency Checkit and the market research agency De Vos & Jansen, sought to map how one perceives search results on a website, and to score the characteristics that draw the eye to a particular result.  The researchers monitored the viewing patterns of internet searchers using an infrared camera system.  Each of the searchers was assigned to search for various items, behaving as would a consumer.  After analyzing the pattern of eye movements across a search results page, the researchers found that those consumers who were looking to purchase a particular item viewed more search results than those consumers who were merely looking to find out more information about their product.  Moreover they found that the average viewing time for a particular result, regardless of whether a consumer was looking to make a purchase or for information, lasted for about 1.1 seconds.  Thus it is clear that advertiser have very little time to make an impression on consumers, and these impressions must be imparted at the level of the search results page in order to be effective.

While the implications of this study are understandable, that advertisers have a short time to captivate consumers, this approach to consumer behavior is important because it begins to take into account how we think and process information.  Indeed the notion that advertisers may begin to tailor their offerings according to the consumers needs lends itself to the idea that the process of searching and deciding on a product is an ever-streamlining experience.  Furthermore the best way for one to design a search result description would be to include precisely the concise information that will relay that the product is adequate to fit the consumer’s purposes (the informational aspect) and that it stands up well to competitor’s products (the transaction aspect).