The Face of Bad Advertising: Assessing the Effects of Human Face Images in Advertisement Design Using Eye-Tracking

Visual messaging has been widely researched in psychology and communications specifically within the area of advertising [2, 3]. Such messaging research seeks to identify the characteristics and variables within an advertisement that contribute most to its effectiveness [4]. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the presence of a human face image in print advertising and viewer affinity for ad content. Thirty-three participants were instructed to preview 42 different personal injury law firm advertisements. Mean eye gaze fixation durations were recorded within both text and image areas of interest (AOIs). Additionally, self-reported advertisement ratings were used to stratify ads into low and high-affinity categories. Findings from the study indicate that there was less time spent engaging with text content in poorly rated advertisements when an image of a human face was present. Interestingly, this effect was not present in advertisements with favorable ratings, where longer fixation durations were dedicated to text AOIs as opposed to image AOIs regardless of the presence of a face image. These results suggest that negatively perceived human faces may impact the perception of an advertisement’s message and demonstrates that combined eye-tracking and self-reported measures can provide a comprehensive neuroergonomic assessment of advertisement preference and engagement in real-world environments.