A Framework to Evaluate Areas of Interest for Sustainable Products and Designs

Abstract

Experience and evaluation research on sustainable products’ design is increasingly supported by eye-tracking tools. In particular, many studies have investigated the effect of gazing at or fixating on Areas of Interest on products’ evaluations, and in a number of cases, they have inferred the critical graphical elements leading to the preference of sustainable products. This paper is motivated by the lack of generalizability of the results of these studies, which have predominantly targeted specific products and Areas of Interest. In addition, it has also been overlooked that the observation of some Areas of Interest, despite not specifically targeting sustainable aspects, can lead consumers to prefer or appreciate sustainable products in any case. Furthermore, it has to be noted that sustainable products can be recognized based on their design (shape, material, lack of waste generated) and/or, more diffusedly, information clearly delivered on packaging and in advertising. With reference to the latter, this paper collected and classified Areas of Interest dealt with in past studies, markedly in eco-design and green consumption, and characterized by their potential generalizability. Specifically, the identified classes of Areas of Interest are not peculiar to specific products or economic sectors. These classes were further distinguished into “Content”, i.e., the quality aspect they intend to highlight, and “Form”, i.e., the graphical element used as a form of communication. This framework of Areas of Interest is the major contribution of the paper. Such a framework is needed to study regularities across multiple product categories in terms of how the observation of Areas of Interest leads to product appreciation and value perception. In addition, the potential significant differences between sustainable and commonplace products can be better investigated.

Eye-Tracking Studies on Sustainable Food Consumption: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Accord ingly, there is no uniform framework for eye-tracking. This finding is consistent with Bor gianni et al [11], who recommended that AOIs in eye-tracking studies require the sam approaches and developed a framework for evaluating AOIs for sustainable products and designs. In addition, different terms are used in the reviewed studies for same measures such as fixation duration and fixation time.…”

“…Since different measures are used for eye-tracking, it is necessary to find in future a uniform application of the measurement variables so that equivalent results can be obtained. The attempt to generalize eye-tracking scenarios by Borgianni et al [11] can lead in this direction (see also Appendix B).…”

“…Research studies about food using eye-tracking have mainly focused on the role and use of eco-labels and provide recommendations for label improvements [7][8][9][10]. A major challenge, however, is to examine sustainable food consumption and the determinants of sustainable food purchasing decisions [11]. Through a systematic literature review, this review shows how eye-tracking has been used to investigate consumers' sustainable food consumption, what factors influence sustainable food consumption, and highlights future research opportunities.…”

Method of Fuzzy Analysis of Qualitative-Environmental Threat in Improving Products and Processes (Fuzzy QE-FMEA)

“…Furthermore, to pursue sustainable development and production, it is necessary to include the impact of these actions on the natural environment and [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. It results from the fact that currently popular and necessary are taking actions to improve products and processes in this way to be in accordance with the principles of sustainable production, which in the case of production enterprises refers to, for example, the analysis of new technology, the achievement of savings in production and the reduction in negative impact actions of production on the natural environment [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Therefore, enterprises strive to reduce the waste of production resources, and try to take into account customer expectations on an ongoing basis and to care for the natural environment in their activities [ 11 , 12 ].…”