Innovative Neuromarketing Approaches to Digital Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis

Abstract

Digital environments increasingly rely on visual communication, yet consumers do not process visual information under neutral conditions, especially during periods of crisis and elevated anxiety. This article examines how anxiety and life-context factors shape visual information processing, using two eye-tracking experiments. Study 1 compares visual processing and task coordination across age groups (18-45 vs $60 + \mathrm{N}=24$) while participants view a short neutral nature video. Study 2 compares participants with displacement experience (internally displaced persons, IDPs) and local residents $(\mathrm{N}=40)$ while viewing emotionally varied images. Across studies, indicators of task coordination and data quality (calibration efficiency, synchronization time, unsuccessful calibration attempts, and trial quality) reveal systematic differences consistent with anxiety-related processing constraints. In Study 1, the displacement group shows longer calibration and synchronization times (including average synchronization time of 19 seconds vs 7 seconds), more unsuccessful calibration attempts (120% higher), and fewer high-quality trials (4-5 stars: 54%), indicating higher measurement friction and reduced data reliability under heightened anxiety. Consistent with this, self-reported anxiety is positively associated with synchronisation time $(\mathrm{y}=1.8517 \mathrm{x}-1484)$. The findings contribute to consumer behaviour research by showing how anxiety and age can alter attention-related processing and the reliability of visual measurement in digital contexts. Managerially, the results support designing digital communications that reduce cognitive load and visual complexity for audiences experiencing stress and uncertainty.