Shelf Facings

What it is

A facing is what a shopper sees of a brand from the front: one unit across, two units across, and so on. The number of facings is a decision about how much of the shelf a brand occupies. Shelf position is a separate decision about where on the shelf, top, middle or low, the brand sits.

Chandon and colleagues tested both decisions at once, with eye tracking to measure visual attention and a second measure, evaluation of the brand, beside it. That pairing is what allows the study to say how attention and evaluation relate.

In effect

More facings improved the evaluation of supermarket brands strongly, and the effect worked entirely through greater visual attention. The effect was strongest for frequent users of a brand, for brands with a low market share and for younger, more educated consumers who weigh brand against price.

Position gave a different result. Top and middle shelves attracted more attention than low shelves, but only top-shelf placement improved evaluation. The authors conclude that eye tracking and purchase data should be combined to assess in-store marketing fully.

What it does not say

It does not say that attention always raises evaluation. A middle-shelf brand was looked at more than a low-shelf brand without being rated higher.

It does not say that the same gain applies to every brand or shopper. The study reports the effect of facings as larger for some groups than for others, as listed above.

It does not say what any one shopper bought. The study concerns attention and evaluation at the point of purchase, and the authors point to purchase data as the measure to combine with gaze.

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