Effects of model eye gaze direction on consumer visual processing: Evidence from China and America

The question of how to design attractive model in online advertising is especially important for online operators of electronic commerce websites. This study examines how a model's eye gaze direction influences consumers' visual processing, taking into consideration smiling facial expressions for both Chinese and American consumers. Drawing on shared signal theory and cultural differences, a set of eye-tracking experiments was performed. The results show that consumer arousal is much higher when the model has a smiling facial expression paired with a direct eye gaze, compared to an averted eye gaze. This effect is much stronger for Chinese consumers than American consumers. However, for cognitive information processing, we found that consumers process product information on a deeper level when the model has a smiling facial expression paired with an averted eye gaze, compared to a direct eye gaze. Although there is a significant difference between Chinese and American consumers in processing the product brand, no significant differences were identified in their processing of the text. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.