A Study of Consumers Cognitive Load in eCommerce Websites using Eye-tracking Technology

TL;DR

This study investigates how webpage complexity and product pricing influence consumer cognitive load on e-commerce sites using eye-tracking data from 48 users.

Contribution

It empirically links website complexity, influenced by pricing, to cognitive load, providing insights for improving online shopping experiences.

Findings

Higher webpage complexity increases cognitive load.

Price variations affect perceived website complexity.

Visual complexity impacts customer perception during shopping.

Abstract

The aesthetics of e-commerce websites have a big influence on purchasing decisions and customers' satisfaction. Webpage complexity and high cognitive load are responsible for causing an unpleasant experience while shopping online. This research empirically inspects a correlation between users' cognitive load and product pricing, where price plays a vital role in causing web complexity. Therefore, we have experimented on 48 random individuals using eye-tracking technology to observe the eye movement calibration on some reputed e-commerce websites. We measured the cognitive load extracted from users' datasets by analyzing fixation count, saccades, fixation duration, and task completion time. Our study induces new findings on website complexity which varies on the similar product but different price ranges. This research also demonstrates a strong connection between customer perception and visual complexity while making online purchases. In addition, these findings will assist the developers and business analysts to improve consumers' shopping experience in e-commerce websites.