The role of processing fluency in online consumer behavior: evaluating fluency by tracking eye movements

The Internet enables people to extensively research products or services, and also easily compare prices between offers [e.g. Baker et al. 2001]. Taking into account the amount of information available on the Internet, acquisition of new information can face some difficulties, especially when one wants to make a purchase decision. Therefore, the ability to process relevant information fluently enables a user to create a better experience and to become more efficient in gathering information related to the purpose of the visit. This ability might be connected to the cognitive task that can either be effortless or effortful, and may lead to a metacognitive experience of either fluency or disfluency [Alter and Oppenheimer 2009]. Nevertheless, some e-commerce websites are preferred over others and this preference varies between individuals. This variation can be influenced by user's prior experience, cognitive sources but also graphics or information architecture on the web page. Presented project aims at applying the fluency concept to consumer behavior in online environment by studying eye movements and promoting eye tracking as an objective measure.