Understanding shoppers’ attention to price information at the point of consideration using in-store ambulatory eye-tracking

Abstract

Retailers are interested in understanding the amount of attention grocery shoppers pay to price information at the point of purchase, as price attention is an important determinant of price perception and purchase behavior. We utilize in-store ambulatory eye-tracking devices to directly measure the extent to which shoppers pay attention to price information as they shop for and consider grocery items for purchase. We find that shoppers visually fixate on price information in roughly 62 % of their considerations. Interestingly, the propensity of price attention changes dynamically during the course of a shopping trip, following an “inverted-U” pattern which peaks about two-thirds of the way through the trip. In addition, while the presence of a price promotion and a larger number of price tags encourage higher levels of price attention, higher purchase frequency is associated with lower levels of price attention. Our findings have important implications for retailers’ pricing strategies.