Effects of background complexity on consumer visual processing: An eye-tracking study

Product images are an important element of web design. Although many studies have been conducted on web design, the effect of the background of a product image has been ignored. This study investigates the influence of the background complexity of a product image on consumer attention, information processing, and purchase intention using eye-tracking and questionnaire methods. Furthermore, it considers the moderating effects of consumer cognitive style. The results show that product images with higher background complexity attract greater attention, but most of that attention is focused on the background. Product images with moderate background complexity best promote consumer processing of product information, thereby increasing purchase intention. In addition, consumer cognitive style moderates the effect of background complexity on that person's attention to the product textual description. Specifically, consumers with a field-dependent cognitive style are more susceptible to being influenced by background complexity.