Gaze Cueing
People instinctively follow the gaze direction of others, focusing on where others are looking.
Why it works
Based on joint attention research (Baron-Cohen, 1995), gaze following is an automatic social reflex that develops early in human evolution. The brain's superior temporal sulcus processes gaze direction, automatically shifting attention to gazed-at locations. This social attention mechanism helps humans coordinate focus and learn from others' attention patterns (Frischen et al., 2007).
Application examples
Email Campaigns
Customer testimonial photo with person looking toward product benefits list
Founder photo with eye contact toward CTA button placement
Product Pages
Model using product with gaze directed toward feature callouts
Customer photo looking toward "Add to Cart" button area
Landing Pages
Hero image with person looking toward headline and value proposition
Team photo with collective gaze toward signup form section
Social Media Ads
Product demonstration with presenter looking toward key benefit text
Before/after comparison with subject looking toward "after" result
Push Notifications
Avatar in notification interface with gaze toward action button
Implementation tips
- Use portrait photos where subjects look toward your most important content
- A/B test images with different gaze directions to optimize attention flow
- Combine gaze cueing with other directional elements like arrows for reinforcement
- Ensure gaze direction feels natural and not overly staged or obvious
- Test gaze cueing impact on time-on-page and conversion metrics
- Consider cultural differences in eye contact comfort and interpretation
eCommerce fit
High Highly effective for guiding attention and improving conversion rates when combined with human imagery. Particularly valuable for testimonials, demonstrations, and trust-building content.
Caution
Ensure gaze direction feels authentic and not manipulative. Test that gaze cueing actually improves rather than distracts from user experience. Be mindful of cultural differences in eye contact norms. Don't sacrifice natural-looking imagery just for gaze direction. Consider accessibility for users with different visual processing patterns.
Best for products
- human-focused-brands
- testimonial-heavy-marketing
- personal-connection-products
- trust-building
Keywords
- looking-at
- gaze
- eye-direction
- attention
- focus
- direct