The 'eyes' have it: how males and females look at models in advertising: an eye-tracker study

Visual imagery is an important element of advertising design and one aspect of this is the use of attractive models. There is support for the proposition that males and females perceive physical attractiveness in different ways, and hence will view advertising differently. It is reasonable to expect that the physical features of models that are most important to the viewer will be those they spend the most time looking at. This study examines whether there are any differences in male and female fixations when looking at images of male and female models. Eye tracking data was used to measure 21 female and 19 male participants' viewing responses. There were significant differences between genders in fixation time, and viewers did not focus on what they said were the key features. There are practical implications for advertising design and also for researchers in terms of the reliability and validity of self-reported data.