Eye Tracking Lab

The Tobii eye tracker allows researchers to study consumer behavior by analyzing head and eye movements. Its sophisticated technology supplies very accurate data based on input from infrared sensors. The Tobii eye tracker looks like a regular flat panel computer monitor and permits unobtrusive data collection once the participant’s eye movements have been calibrated. Using the eye tracker, researchers can study how participants process information presented to them via sources such as websites, print advertisements, and even dynamic formats such as video clips or TV ads.

Team Processes Lab

The Team Processes Lab spaces, located in two adjacent rooms to our main lab space in rooms 3518A and 3509, are outfitted with audio and video capabilities to facilitate research experiments on team interactions. 

Both 3509 and 3518A are equipped with adjustable video cameras in both the front and back of the room, allowing researchers to record the participant's facial expressions and nonverbal cues.  3518A also features a large plasma display screen to present stimuli or review and edit recorded data.

Room 3509 is specifically designed for group interaction. Five separate group areas can be arranged in multiple configurations to fit the research requirements. This lab space also has a projector and display screen to present stimuli or review data.

Getting to the Lab

The Behavioral Lab is located on the third floor of the Robert H. Smith School of Business in room 3518. The Robert H. Smith School of Business is located at:

Van Munching Hall
7699 Mowatt Ln.
College Park, MD 20742
301-405-1000 (UM Info)

For directions to the Robert H. Smith School of Business please visit the Directions to Smith page.

Reserving the Behavioral Lab

Faculty and PhD students working with faculty may reserve the Behavioral Lab’s main space, the Eye Tracking Lab, and the Team Processes Lab. Instructions for reserving the space are presented below.

Who can reserve the lab?

Faculty and PhD students working with faculty may reserve the Behavioral Lab’s main space, the Eye Tracking Lab, and the Team Processes Lab to conduct behavioral research.

How do I reserve the lab?

Fill out the reservation request form on the Reserve the Lab page and a confirmation or a request to choose an alternate time will be returned to you within two business days.

How do I access the lab once it has been reserved?

Immediately prior to your reservation time, you may pick up card keys to enter the lab and a key to open the accessories cabinet from Smith Operations in Van Munching Hall 2410 (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Keys should be returned to Smith Operations after you have finished using the lab.

How can I administer my studies from the lab workstations?

A shared network drive, the O drive, has been created to allow researchers to make their experimental materials available to the lab workstations and to collect participant data remotely from the lab workstations. Researchers using the Behavioral Lab may request access to the O drive.

Below are publications associated with work done in the Behavioral Lab.  Entries are listed chronologically starting with the most recent.

2015

Ratner, R.K., & Hamilton, R.W. “Inhibited from Bowling Alone” (2015). Journal of Consumer Research, 42, 266-283

2014 

Petersen, Francine E. and Rebecca W. Hamilton (2014). Confidence via Correction: The Effect of Judgment Correction on Consumer Confidence, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24 (1), 34-48.

2013

Etkin, J, & Ratner, R.K. “Goal Pursuit, Now or Later: Temporal Compatibility of Different versus Similar Means” (2013). Journal of Consumer Research, 39, 1085–1099. 

Copy Alert: A Method and Metric to Detect Visual Copycat Brands. Journal of Marketing Research, 2013, forthcoming. T. Satomura, M. Wedel, R. Pieters. 

Information acquisition during online decision making: A model-based exploration using eye-tracking data. Management Science, 2013, 59(5):1009-1026. W.Shi, M.Wedel, R.Pieters.(Lead Article)

2012

Koukova, Nevena T., Joydeep Srivastava, and Martina Steul-Fischer (2012), “The Effect of Shipping Fee Structure on Consumers' Online Evaluations and Choice," forthcoming in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

Etkin, Jordan and Rebecca K. Ratner (2012), “The Dynamic Impact of Variety among Means on Motivation,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (April), 1076-92.

W.J. Elmaghraby, E. Katok, N. Santamaria (2012), “A Laboratory Investigation of Rank Feedback in Procurement Auctions” M&SOM, Vol. 14, pp. 128-144.

 Emotion Induced Engagement in Internet Video Ads, 2012. Journal of Marketing Research, Forthcoming. T.Teixeira, M.Wedel, R. Pieters. (Cited in the Washington Times, March 2012).

AdGist: Ad Communication in a Single Eye-Fixation, 2012. Marketing Science, 31 (1): 59-73. R. Pieters,M. Wedel.

W. Elmaghraby and N. Larson (2012), “Explaining Deviations from Equilibrium in Auctions with Avoidable Fixed Costs”, Games and Economic Behavior, 76(1), 131-159.

2011

Srivastava, Joydeep, and Dipankar Chakravarti (2011), "Price Presentation Effects in Purchases Involving Trade-Ins," Journal of Marketing Research, 48 (October).

Hamilton, Rebecca W., Rebecca K. Ratner and Debora V. Thompson (2011), "Outpacing Others: When Consumers Value Products Based on Relative Usage Frequency," Journal of Consumer Research, 37, 1079-1094.

Moe, Wendy W. and Michael Trusov (2011), “The Value of Social Dynamics in Online Product Ratings Forums,” Journal of Marketing Research, 49 (3).

van der Lans, R., M. Wedel, R. Pieters (2011), "Defining Eye-Fixation Sequences across Individuals and Tasks: The Binocular-Individual Threshold (BIT) Algorithm," Behavior Research Methods, 43: 239-257.

Fishbach, A., Ratner, R.K., and Zhang, Y (2011), "Inherently Loyal or Easily Bored?:  Non-conscious Activation of Consistency versus Variety Seeking Behavior," Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21, 38-48.

Ferraro, Rosellina, Jennifer Edson Escalas, and James R. Bettman (2011), “Our Possessions, Our Selves: Domains of Self-Worth and the Possession-Self Link,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21 (2), 169-177. 

2010

Hamilton, Rebecca W., Joydeep Srivastava and Ajay T. Abraham (2010), "When Should You Nickel and Dime Your Customers? A Manager’s Guide to Benefits-Based Price Partitioning," MIT Sloan Management Review. 52 (Fall), 59-67

R. Pieters, M. Wedel, R. Batra (2010), “The Stopping Power of Advertising:  Measures and Effects of Visual Complexity,” Journal of Marketing, 74 (5), 48-60.

Meyvis, T., Ratner, R.K., and Levav, J. (2010), "Why We Don’t Learn to Accurately Forecast Our Feelings: How the Misremembering of Our Predictions Blinds Us to Our Past Forecasting Errors,"Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 139, 579-589 (Lead article).

Anderson, C. L., and Agarwal, R. (2010), “Practicing Safe Computing:  A Multi-Method Empirical Examination of Home Computer User Security Intentions,” MIS Quarterly.

Hamilton, Rebecca W., Stefano Puntoni and Nader T. Tavassoli (2010), “Categorization by Groups and Individuals,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 112 (May), 70-81.

Oza, Shweta S., Joydeep Srivastava, Nevena T. Koukova (2010), “How Suspicion Mitigates the Effect of Influence Tactics,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 112 (May).

T. Teixeira, M. Wedel, R. Pieters (2010), “Moment-to-Moment Optimal Branding in TV Commercials: Preventing Avoidance by Pulsing,” Marketing Science Research, 29 (3).

A. Aribarg, R. Pieters, and M. Wedel (2010), “Raising the BAR: Bias Adjustment of Recognition Tests in Advertising,” Journal of Marketing Research, 47 (3).

2009

Hill, S., Bartol, K., Tesluk, P., Langa, G. (2009), “Organizational culture and face-to-face interaction: Influences on the development of trust and cooperation in computer-mediated collaboration,”Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 108.

Cantor, David E., and Macdonald, John R., (2009), “Decision-making in the Supply Chain: Examining Problem Solving Approaches and Information Availability,” Journal of Operations Management, June 27(3).

Chung, Tuck Siong, Roland Rust and Michel Wedel (2009), “My Mobile Music: An Adaptive Personalization System for Digital Audio Players,” Marketing Science, 28(1).

Srivastava, Joydeep, Francine Espinoza and Alexander Fedorikhin (2009), “Coupling and Decoupling of Unfairness and Anger in Ultimatum Bargaining,” Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, December 64.

Ferraro, Rosellina, James Bettman, and Tanya Chartrand (2009), “The Power of Strangers: The Effect of Incidental Consumer-Brand Encounters on Brand Choice,” Journal of Consumer Research, 35(5).

Thompson, Debora, Rebecca Hamilton and Petia Petrova (2009), “When Mental Simulation Hinders Behavior:  The Effects of Process-Oriented Thinking on Decision Difficulty and Performance,” Journal of Consumer Research, 36(Dec).

Kirmani, Amna (2009), “The Self and the Brand,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, July 19(3).

Pocheptsova, Anastasiya, On Amir, Ravi Dhar, and Roy Baumeister (2009), “Deciding Without Resources: Psychological Depletion and Choice in Context,”  46(3), Journal of Marketing Research. 

Zauberman, Gal, Rebecca Ratner, and B. Kyu Kim (2009), “Memories as Assets: Strategic Memory Protection in Choice over Time,”  Journal of Consumer Research, (35) 5, 715-728. 

Raghubir, Priya and Joydeep Srivastava (2009), “The Denomination Effect,” Journal of Consumer Research, Dec (36).

Srivastava, Joydeep and Dipankar Chakravarti (2009), “Channel Negotiations with Information Asymmetries: Contingent Influences of Communication and Trustworthiness,” Journal of Marketing Research, Aug 64.

Zhang, Jie, Michel Wedel and Rik Pieters (2009), “Sales Effects of Attention to Feature Advertisements: A Bayesian Mediation Analysis,” Journal of Marketing Research, 46(5),669-681.

2008

Hamilton, Rebecca W. and Nevena T. Koukova (2008), “Choosing Options for Products: The Effect of Mixed Bundling on Consumers’ Inferences and Choices,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 36(3).

Hamilton, Rebecca and Joydeep Srivastava (2008), “When 2+2 is Not the Same as 1+3: Variations in Price Sensitivity Across Components of Partitioned Prices,” Journal of Marketing Research, Aug 45(4).

Koukova, Nevena T., Kannan, P.K., and Brian T. Ratchford (2008), “Marketing of Digital Products: Product Form Bundling,” Journal of Retailing, 84(2).

Luo, Lan, P.K. Kannan, and Brian Ratchford (2008), “Incorporating Subjective Characteristics in Product Design and Evaluations,” Journal of Marketing Research, May 45(2).  (Donald Lehmann Award, 2009, for the best dissertation-based article in JMR or JM.)  (Finalist for the Paul Green Award for the year 2008.)

Hamilton, Rebecca and Joydeep Srivastava (2008), “When 2+2 is Not the Same as 1+3: Variations in Price Sensitivity Across Components of Partitioned Prices,” Journal of Marketing Research, Aug 45(4).

Amaldoss, Wilfred, Teck-Hua Ho, Aradhna Krishna, Kay-Yut Chen, Preyas Desai, Ganesh Iyer, Sanjay Jain, Noah Lim, John Morgan, Ryan Oprea, and Joydeep Srivastava (2008), "Experiments on Strategic Choice and Markets," Marketing Letters, 19(3/4).

Raghubir, Priya and Joydeep Srivastava (2008), "Monopoly Money: The Effect of Payment Coupling and Form on Spending Behavior," Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14(3).

M. Wedel and R. Pieters (2008), "Eye-Tracking for Visual Marketing," Foundations and Trends® in Marketing, 1(4).

M.Wedel, R. Pieters, J. Liechty (2008), "Temporal Dynamics of Scene Perception: Goals Influence Switching Between Attention States," Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14(2).

2007

Quigley, N., Tesluk, P.E., Bartol, K.M., & Locke, E.A. (2007), "A multilevel investigation of the motivational mechanisms underlying knowledge sharing and performance," Organizational Science, 18.

Hamilton, Rebecca W. and Debora V. Thompson (2007), "Is There a Substitute for Direct Experience? Comparing Consumers’ Preferences After Direct and Indirect Product Experiences," Journal of Consumer Research, December 34.

Quigley, N., Tesluk, P.E., Bartol, K.M., & Locke, E.A. (2007), "A multilevel investigation of the motivational mechanisms underlying knowledge sharing and performance," Organization Science, 18.

M. Wedel, F.G.M. Pieters. (2007), "A Review of Eye-Tracking Applications in Marketing," Review of Marketing Research, 4.

R. Pieters, M.Wedel, J. Zhang (2007), "Optimal Feature Advertising Under Competitive Clutter,"Management Science, 51(11).

R.Pieters, M.Wedel (2007), "Goal Control of Visual Attention to Advertising: The Yarbus Implication,"Journal of Consumer Research, August 34.

2006 

Hamilton, Rebecca W. (2006), "When the Means Justify the Ends: Effects of Observability on the Procedural Fairness and Distributive Fairness of Resource Allocations," Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, October 19.

Rust, Roland T., Debora V. Thompson and Rebecca W. Hamilton (2006), "Defeating Feature Fatigue,"Harvard Business Review, February 84.

Thompson, Debora V. and Rebecca W. Hamilton (2006), "The Role of Information Processing Mode in Consumers’ Responses to Comparative Advertising," Journal of Consumer Research, March 32.

Srivastava, Joydeep and Shweta S. Oza (2006), "Effect of Response Time on Perceptions of Bargaining Outcomes," Journal of Consumer Research, September 33.

2005

Hamilton, Rebecca W. and Gabriel J. Biehal (2005), "Achieving Your Goals or Protecting Their Future? The Effects of Self-View on Goals and Choices," Journal of Consumer Research, September.

Thompson, Debora V., Rebecca W. Hamilton and Roland T. Rust (2005), "Feature Fatigue: When Product Capabilities Become Too Much of a Good Thing," Journal of Marketing Research, November 42.

Valenzuela, Ana, Joydeep Srivastava, and Seonsu Lee (2005), "The Role of Cultural Orientation in Bargaining under Incomplete Information: Differences in Causal Attributions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 96(1).

Lurie, Nicholas H. and Joydeep Srivastava (2005), "Price-Matching Guarantees and Consumer Evaluations of Price Information," Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15(2).

2004

Srivastava, Joydeep and Nicholas Lurie (2004), "Price-Matching Guarantees as Signals of Low Store Prices: Survey and Experimental Evidence," Journal of Retailing, 80(2).

2003

Hamilton, Rebecca W. (2003), "Why Do People Suggest What They Do Not Want? Using Context Effects to Influence Others' Choices," Journal of Consumer Research, March 29.

Koukova, Nevena T., P. K. Kannan, and Brian T. Ratchford, "Bundling and Unbundling of Electronic Content," Electronic Commerce and the Digital Economy, Advances in Management Information Systems Series, Michael J. Shaw, Ed., M. E. Sharp.

Behavioral Lab Resources

Hardware

Main Lab (3518)

• 18 Dell desktop computer workstations surrounded by a 24" privacy screen, connected to the Smith School network.  Each can be equipped with:
  • Labtec Elite-840 headphones for audio stimuli
  • Logitec video web cameras
  • Logitec Joystick
• Ceiling-mounted projector and retractable projection screen with PC, cable and AUX inputs.
• 2 adjustable wall-mounted cameras with DVD recording capabilities.

Eye Tracking Lab (3518 A)

• 2 Tobii Eye Trackers
• 2 Dell desktops to support each Eye Tracker
• Large wall-mounted plasma display with AUX cable

Team Processes Lab (3509)

• Wall partitions, tables and chairs to allow for up to 5 separate working spaces
• 2 adjustable wall-mounted cameras with DVD recording capabilities.
• Ceiling-mounted projector and retractable projection screen with PC, cable and AUX inputs.
• AV panel to control camera angles and DVD recording.
• 6 ceiling-mounted microphones.

Team Processes Lab (3518 A)

• 2 adjustable wall-mounted video cameras with DVD recording capabilities.
• 2 ceiling-mounted microphones.
• AV panel to control camera angles and DVD recording remotely.
• Large wall-mounted plasma display with AUX video/audio cable for laptops.
• Wall partitions to allow for separate working spaces

Software

In addition to the Smith School's standard software, lab experimenters have access to the following:

• MediaLab 2008: Allows researchers to develop and run electronic surveys and experiments, collect reaction time data, and record Internet clickstreams. The software collects data centrally and converts data files to SPSS and Excel for analysis.
• DirectRT: Allows researchers to measure online response latencies with very high accuracy.
• Qualtrics: Online survey tool that allows experimenters to create and distribute web-based experiments
• SONA Experiment Management System: Using this web-based software application, researchers can post study sessions online, coordinate participant signups and report credits earned.
• Microsoft's Visual Basic: Visual Basic is a flexible language that allows researchers to develop executable programs.
• Lotus Sametime and Quickplace: Useful for studying virtual team interactions.