Dating sites can be a wealth of information for those looking for that special someone. The looking part is being studied by Tobii to determine what men and women spend their time looking at on dating profiles.
Tobii in collaboration with their research partner AnswerLab were using their new X1 Light Eye Tracker technology to showcase the main benefit of the new product to researchers. They found their samples at a San Francisco coffee shop and asked them to participate in a study that would have them looking at dating profiles of the opposite sex according to All Things D.
The test had participants viewing mock-up pages at eHarmony and Match.com. After thoroughly perusing the results, they came to a few interesting conclusions. Men spent 65 percent more time than women did reviewing photos in profiles. Women spent about 50 percent more time than men reading the text of a person’s background and interests.
Women spent an average of 84 seconds looking at a profile to find out if the profile was to their liking, compared to 58 seconds for men.
The study also found that people tend to relate better to dating profiles that reflect how they would build their own. If a person would share a lot of personal information about themselves, they were more likely to search out the profiles that were very personal. On the flip side of that, people who don’t like to share much about themselves went for the profiles that were just straight facts without much elaboration.
This is just the first test in many where Tobii will be testing their new eye-tracking technology. The eye tracker can pinpoint exactly where a person’s eye is looking within a centimeter. They will be using the X1 Eye Tracker in more scenarios to demonstrate how researchers can use it to obtain accurate results.
They also feel that their studies may help dating sites develop a better interface for their users.
The test involved 40 people which is a decent sample size. They will be conducting further research to demonstrate their eye tracker’s capabilities to the market research community.