Browsing by Subject "Eye-tracking"

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    Improving the Marketability of Horticultural Products: Communicating to the Consumer
    (2014-02) Rihn, Alicia
    Consumers are very heterogeneous and it is challenging to determine specific product attributes that impact their purchasing choices. To investigate consumer behavior regarding horticultural products, I conducted two experiments: 1) Consumers preferences for longevity information and guarantees on cut flower arrangements, and 2) Does visual attention to product attributes on minimally processed horticultural products impact consumers' preferences? For the cut flower arrangement study an internet choice experiment was conducted in 2011. Significant variation was found in consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for differing longevity lengths and guarantees. Specifically, participants were more likely to select and pay premiums for cut flower arrangements with longer vase life longevity and a guarantee. Using Ward's linkage cluster analysis, three distinct consumer clusters were developed: guarantee seekers, value conscious consumers, and spenders. Forty-nine percent of participants were guarantee seekers, 31% were value conscious consumers, and 20% were spenders. Guarantee seekers preferred guarantees on the cut flower arrangements. Value conscious consumers were interested in both guarantees and longevity indicators. Spenders were the least interested in longevity indicators and guarantees. We conclude floral retailers could use longevity indicators and guarantees to attract consumers, improve consumer confidence, and generate profits. Floral retailers could also develop target marketing strategies to attract different consumer clusters. In the minimally processed horticultural products study, an experimental auction and eye-tracking analysis were combined to examine consumer preferences and WTP. Differences were found between production methods, origin, and nutrient content claim content. Consumers' preferences and WTP were product specific. Additionally, there was a correlation between visual attention and consumers' WTP. More fixations on attributes participants' valued resulted in greater WTP. Conversely, more fixations on attributes participants' did not value resulted in a discounted WTP. We conclude producers and industry associations could benefit from exploring the potential of producing products with the attributes commanding greater premiums. Additionally, retailers could benefit from using in-store promotions to improve the visibility of the premium generating attributes.
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    Linguistic, cognitive, and social constraints on lexical entrenchment.
    (2011-08) Chesley, Paula
    How do new words become established in a speech community? This dissertation documents linguistic, cognitive, and social factors that are hypothesized to affect lexical entrenchment, the extent to which a new word becomes part of the lexicon of a speech community. First, in a longitudinal corpus study, I find that linguistic properties such as the range of a word's meaning and the donor language of a borrowing affect lexical entrenchment. Contextual factors such as frequency, dispersion, and a borrowing's cultural context also play a role in lexical entrenchment. Second, a psycholinguistic study examines the extent to which speakers remember previously unseen words. Through eye-tracking, lexical decision, and free recall tasks, I determine that, again, linguistic and contextual information plays a role in the memorability of a new word. Speakers are more likely to remember words used in particular contexts, and they are also more likely to remember certain word types than others. In a third study, I find that musical preferences, knowledge of popular culture, and social ties influence comprehension of African-American English vocabulary. Together, these studies suggest that lexical entrenchment is predictable to an extent previously undocumented. Results indicate that information relating to dynamical, non-linear systems could be profitable in further studies on lexical entrenchment.