Vision (im)possible? The effects of in-store signage on customers’ visual attention

• Store familiarity and search stage influence visual attention to in-store signage.
• In-store signage facilitates detection of displayed products.
• In-store signage increases visual attention toward displayed products.

We used two eye-tracking field experiments to investigate the extent to which in-store signage is used during navigation and decision making, and how the viewing of signage influences customers’ visual attention and choice behavior. One hundred and seventy-five customers at a grocery store were exposed to signage stimuli while carrying out predefined shopping tasks. Experiment 1 shows that attention toward signage is affected by customers’ levels of store familiarity and in-store search stage (navigation vs. decision making). Experiment 2 demonstrates that signage has a considerable impact on the direction and magnitude of customers’ visual attention during decision making.