Investigating Consumers’ Online Restaurant Selection Behaviors Using Eye-tracking Technology and Retrospective Think-aloud Interviews

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore consumers’ attention patterns and information search behaviors when they make online restaurant decisions on consumer review websites. Eye-tracking experiments and retrospective think-aloud interviews were conducted with 30 participants. In the browsing stage, the company-generated advertisements attracted most attention from consumers on one website; however, the attracted attention was not impactful on their dining decisions. In the deliberation stage, instead of reading the user-generated reviews in details, consumers skimmed through reviews; and their attention was attracted more to images embedded within the reviews. In addition, participants verbalized their overall preferences of information that helped them make quick decisions such as images and filter. This study provides valuable insights for hospitality researchers and practitioners.