Towards Rigorous Eye-Tracking Methodology in Interdisciplinary Fields: Insights from and Recommendations for Tourism...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience and Cognitive Science
• Tourism Research
• Marketing and Branding

Background:

• Eye-tracking is a growing tool in tourism research for understanding behavior.
• A significant gap exists between its adoption and the methodological rigor needed for neurophysiological data interpretation.
• This review focuses on destination marketing and branding studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically review the state-of-the-art application of eye-tracking in destination marketing and branding.
• To identify methodological limitations in current eye-tracking research.
• To develop tools for improving the rigor and interpretation of eye-tracking studies.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature review of 23 empirical studies (2020-2025) using SALSA framework and PRISMA 2020 guidelines.
• Searched Web of Science and Scopus databases.
• Appraised study quality using an eight-dimensional rubric.

Main Results:

• A 'tool-first' approach dominates, with basic fixation metrics oversimplifying complex cognitive states.
• Studies often fail to control for stimulus confounds (e.g., luminance, AOI size).
• Inappropriate data handling (e.g., no data cleaning, treating count/binary data as continuous) and transparency deficits undermine conclusions.

Conclusions:

• Current eye-tracking research in tourism marketing often lacks methodological rigor, impacting conclusion validity.
• A Checklist for Eye-Tracking Rigour (CETR) and a decision tree are proposed to guide researchers.
• These tools aim to foster more confirmatory, neurobiologically grounded research and improve practitioner interpretation.