The identification of viewing patterns of chocolate snack packages using eye-tracking techniques

•The way of visualizing chocolate snack packaging by prospective buyers is analysed.•Two patterns of viewing chocolate snack packaging were identified.•The first comprises viewing the packaging design elements in order of surface size.•The second relates to the prospective buyer’s reading system.•The position and size of packaging elements determine the scanpath.

This paper aims at identifying patterns of viewing chocolate snack packages and at exploring how the layout of packaging design elements affects the prospective buyer’s visual scanpath in impulse buying. For this purpose, different chocolate snack packages were designed and research participants viewed these for 1.5 s. After analysing the data obtained through an eye-tracking device, two basic viewing patterns were identified. The first was that of first viewing most important packaging design elements from a visual perspective and then moving towards the ones of lesser importance. The second relates to the subject’s reading system (in this case, the Western system), with a tendency to prioritise the top left of the packaging. When the packaging design is congruent with both patterns, the effect is amplified and the scanpath of most of the users is predictable. When packaging design does not follow these patterns, the scanpath is less certain; it is, however, mainly determined by the order of element surface size.