Introduction
In the course of the study, two websites will be selected for the research. The images that are located on the home page of the specified sites will be the key criterion for their selection; besides, each site should contain at least four different images. One of the websites chosen for the study will contain persuasive images, unlike the other ones.
Tools
An eye-tracking device will be located for collecting the information required for the study and providing the researchers with samples needed for the analysis. A free viewing context is used as the basis for the research so that no copyright issues should emerge.
Data Gathering
Questionnaires for the participants to respond and, thus, provide their background information for the research will be designed distributed among the former before the beginning of the project. The questions for the participants to answer will concern their gender, age, education, and social status. The participants will be suggested to answer twenty questions split into four groups specified above.
Eye Tracking
The participants will be offered to visit specific website pages, while the eye-tracking device mentioned above will record the movements of their eyes so that the further analysis of the details that the participants notice first could be carried out. The research participants must be provided with equal amounts of time per each website. Thus, an adequate evaluation of the effects that specific types of advertisement have on online users will become possible.
Information Processing
The fifth step includes a detailed analysis of the data acquired from the participants. Several samples will be chosen for further study and analysis. It should be borne in mind that the research, though being a qualitative one, incorporates the elements of a quantitative study, i.e., it requires defining the quantitative relationship between some of the data. Specifically, the need to quantify the connection between the number of times that the research participants spotted the advertisements and the techniques used in the latter emerges.
Results Analysis and Recommendations
The analysis of the research findings and the following recommendations regarding the use of eye-tracking technology, as well as the possible improvements of the latter as a tool for conducting economic research, should be carried out afterward (Appendix B). The results will serve as the basis for a follow-up study. The study will presumably take around a month (see Appendix A).
Appendix A: A Gantt Chart Screenshot
Appendix B: Gantt Chart Screenshot (part 2)
