Date of Award

8-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Legacy Department

Packaging Science

Committee Chair/Advisor

Hurley, R. Andrew

Committee Member

Tonkin , Charles

Committee Member

Cooksey , Kay

Abstract

Through the collection of qualitative and quantitative data, consumer perception and preference of display trays in the retail environment was examined and evaluated. Purchase decision and eye-tracking data was collected, as well as qualitative survey information, to determine if participants favored packages in a display tray opposed to packages placed directly on store shelving. This preference was measured in terms of time to first fixation, total fixation duration, fixation count as well as final purchasing decision. The experiment analyzed liquid dish soap and canned tomatoes, and was organized as a 2 (products per category) x 1 (display tray per category) design. There were a total of 65 participants who completed the study by shopping in the immersive retail experience laboratory, CUshop(TM), followed by an electronic survey.
Analysis of eye tracking, purchase decision and survey data revealed no significant preference for display trays. Packages placed into a display tray tended to have a significantly longer time to first fixation than packages placed directly onto shelves. Additionally, eye-tracking data indicated shorter average total fixation durations and lower average fixation counts for packages in a display tray. Purchase selection also favored products placed directly on store shelves while survey data indicated participants were not swayed by the presence of a display tray.

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