Eye-tracking Analysis: College Website Visual Impact on Emotional Responses Reflected on Subconscious Preferences

Abstract

This study examined students' behaviour on the college website and the content of information they were able to obtain. With the eye-tracking sensor, this study aims to investigate the university websites' effectiveness, satisfaction, and efficiency and collect data regarding users' visual impacts. The research was carried out using mobile phone neuromarketing tools of eye-tracking, facial coding, and supplementary short memory post-survey. The study was focused on two web pages, the homepage, and the CARE page. The analysis results from both web pages were then compared and further discussed. The results suggest that participants mostly elicited sadness (29.55%), neutrality (33.19%), and puzzlement (13.60%) while browsing the homepage, regardless of the areas of interest (AOI). They also elicited slight disgust (4.33%), fear (3.51%), joy (5.21%), and surprise (29.55%). The heat map for the CARE page reveals that the top of the CARE page was a point of attraction for participants. The study found that participants' negative feelings were more intense than good ones concerning homepage scrolling. Also, their pleasant mood intensity increased moderately when they looked at regions with only photos in a subdued color scheme or where brighter colors were used to emphasize essential textual information such as upcoming events and student blogs. This reveals that the website's complexity further affects the cognitive load. Therefore, making it more accessible will be beneficial to students. According to the student's responses, change such as the page's design, color, and text could be implemented.