Using eye tracking to account for attribute non-attendance in choice experiments

Abstract

This study uses eye-tracking measures to account for attribute non-attendance (ANA) in choice experiments. Using the case of sustainability labelling on coffee, we demonstrate various approaches to account for ANA based on number of fixation count cut-offs, definitions for detecting ignored attributes, and methods for modelling ANA. Some of the sustainability attributes identified through eye-tracking measures as being ‘visually ignored’ were truly ignored while in none of the tested approaches price was truly ignored. The adequacy of eye-tracking as a visual ANA measure might thus depend on the attribute. Further, there are inconsistencies in identifying non-attenders using visual ANA and the coefficient of variation. Based on our results, we cannot conclude that eye-tracking always adequately identifies ANA. However, we identified several major challenges that can assist in further optimizing the use of eye-tracking in the context of ANA.