What consumers see when time is running out: Consumers' browsing behaviors on online shopping websites when under time pressure

We examined the browsing behaviors of consumers on online shopping product display page in the presence and absence of time pressure. We recruited 115 volunteers for the experiment. We used an eye-tracking device to measure the participants' eye movements. The results indicated that when shopping online under time pressure, participants' observation length and count for browsing products with high brand awareness were respectively longer and higher than those for browsing products with low brand awareness. However, when they shopped online without time pressure, no difference between products with high and low brand awareness levels was observed, a result that supports all our hypotheses. We discuss our findings and outline their theoretical and business implications.