In a business field project with BUWOG Group GmbH, students of the Master’s program in Marketing & Sales Management analyze gaze patterns using the Web Analytics Lab.
In mid-September, the business field project kicked off for the 3rd semester students of the Master’s program in Marketing & Sales Management. They were given the task of testing various websites of BUWOG Group GmbH by using the technologies provided by the Web Analytics Lab of FHWien der WKW. The aim is to analyze user behavior with the help of eye tracking, to identify potential for improvement and finally to derive recommendations for an optimal website.
Eye-tracking analysis and emotion measurement with the Web Analytics Lab
For several years now, the Web Analytics Lab is an integral part of the Communication Management and Marketing & Sales Management lectures at FHWien der WKW. The fields of application range from attention, acceptance and preference studies in the area of advertising impact (text, images, logo, social media, website, commercials etc.) to sales coaching.
By means of computer software, facial expressions (Face Recognition) and eye tracking can be registered and pulse and skin resistance (Galvanic Skin Response) can be measured. In addition to detailed records of the course of gaze, an algorithm decodes facial expressions and assigns them to seven basic emotions (joy, anger, surprise, fear, contempt, sadness and disgust). Together with data on emotional arousal, measured by skin resistance and pulse, this provides a comprehensive picture of the subjects’ emotional state with regard to the object under investigation.
The Web Analytics Lab is used, for example, in the lecture “Conversation and Negotiation Techniques in Sales” of the Bachelor’s program Marketing & Sales, in business field projects with partner companies as well as in numerous research projects at FHWien der WKW.