Do Green Icons Really Capture Travelers' Gaze?

Picture yourself flipping through a travel brochure: crystal‑clear beach photos, bold price tags, and, tucked away, a green certification logo. But what really catches the eyes of young people? Researchers employed eye‑tracking, a tech that records where we look, to find out. Twenty‑three university students (18‑22) examined three travel offers with varying levels of green messaging. The data revealed that destination images and prices dominated attention, creating hot fixation maps. Sustainability symbols—certificates or eco‑slogans—were noticed but rarely became the focal point. Yet, participants with a strong environmental awareness actively sought out these details and remembered them better. The findings suggest that to make green icons speak, they must be placed strategically and made visually appealing. In practice, travel agencies can use eye‑tracking to test where to position eco‑badges, increasing the chance travelers notice and consider them when choosing a trip. Although the sample is small, the study paves the way for smarter advertising campaigns and more effective promotion of sustainable tourism.

The study falls within the emerging field of neuromarketing applied to sustainable tourism, merging cognitive psychology methods with visual analysis. The Gazepoint GP3 HD eye‑tracker records gaze position and fixation duration with a 0.5° visual field precision, enabling real‑time mapping of Areas of Interest (AOI). In this experiment, AOIs included: (i) landscape images, (ii) pricing, (iii) ecological certifications (e.g., EU Ecolabel, Green Key) and (iv) sustainability slogans. Primary metrics analyzed were average dwell time and fixation count. Results show images attract an average dwell time of 2.8 seconds, whereas certifications receive only 0.9 seconds. However, individual variability is significant: participants scoring above the mean on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) questionnaire exhibited a dwell time of 1.6 seconds for certifications, nearly double the overall average. This indicates intrinsic motivation moderates attention. From a graphic design perspective, Gestalt theory suggests that high‑contrast, centrally placed elements draw more fixations. Therefore, to boost visibility of sustainability cues, designers should employ complementary colors to the dominant background palette and position badges near already high‑attention elements like price. Additionally, micro‑animations or hover effects can increase fixation duration by leveraging the novelty principle. Finally, replicability demands larger, more diverse samples, incorporating demographic variables (culture, income) and consumption contexts (online vs. offline).