Tracking users' visual attention and responses to personalized advertising based on task cognitive demand

This study examined the effects of personalization in banner advertising on visual attention to the advertisement. A 2 (ad type: personalized vs. non-personalized) × 2 (task cognitive demand: high vs. low) eye-tracking experiment (N = 93) was conducted to examine how personally salient information attracts consumers' attention, and how it interacts with different levels of cognitive load for given tasks. Consistent with previous literature, participants paid relatively longer and more attention to the personalized compared to non-personalized advertisements. However, task cognitive demand was shown to moderate the effects of personalization on attention, such that the personalized advertisement was much more effective in attracting consumers' attention than the non-personalized advertisement when people were engaged in a highly cognitively demanding task. No significant interactions between personalization and cognitive demand of task were found on perceived goal impediment and attitude toward the advertisement. Implications and suggestions for future research are provided.