Visual attention and choice: A behavioral economics perspective on food decisions

Carola Grebitus, Jutta Roosen, Carolin Claudia Seitz

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

Food decisions receive a lot of attention from multiple disciplines. In this context, choice experiments are often used to determine consumers' preferences and willingness to pay for food product attributes. The design of choice experiments and its influence on measurement of consumer choices has received great consideration. This study analyzes the influence of visual attention on the final choice by combining choice experiments with eye tracking. Furthermore, the role of attention on more or less complex choices is investigated by using two treatments with three-attribute and five-attribute designs. We find that visual attention affects decision making of the average individual but there is heterogeneity in behavior present as to how much attention influences choice. Furthermore, results show that visual attention predicts choice more in the choice experiment with the three-attribute design than in the choice experiment with the five-attribute design.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)73-81
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Agricultural and Food Industrial Organization
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2015

Keywords

  • bias
  • choice experiments
  • complexity
  • eye tracking
  • information

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science
  • General Business, Management and Accounting
  • Economics and Econometrics

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