Among the new wave of mini 7-inch tablets, Apple’s iPad mini is best at creating purchase intent when browsing, according to a new study examining people’s eye movements when using the devices.
The research, from EyeTrackShop, used the web cameras on 600 Americans’ personal computers examine how the new generation of mini tablets are perceived by consumers.
The image below shows the areas of interest (and also as a heat map) on each screen according to the eye track results.
Participants were given an iPad mini, the Nexus 7, the Nook HD and Kindle Fire HD. They were also shown the company’s current advertising campaign.
The results indicated that the iPad Mini created a 40% higher purchase intent than its competitors.
The study also showed that the respondents fixated 5 percent more on the iPad mini, recognized the iPad mini 23 percent more.
Despite these statistics, the Nook had the largest high-heat area of interest, meaning respondents fixated on a larger area of the screen. The Nexus 7 had the smallest high-heat area, with the iPad mini and Kindle Fire having similar sized high-heat areas.
When presented with the four screens at once, respondents tended to look at the Kindle Fire first, then the Nexus 7, then the iPad, and finally the Nook.
So while the iPad mini is recognized by 73 percent of consumers (23 percent more than the average of the tablets), respondents still fixated on a larger area of the Nook, and noticed the Kindle Fire first.
About 25% of respondents said they planned on buying a tablet within the month.
The tablets were placed next to each other in a randomized order for each study respondent.
Source: EyeTrackShop
