Photos of People Should Look Toward Your Headline
In a study of banner ads, a face looking away from the viewer and toward the product or text raised attention to that text and product, and improved how well people remembered the brand and message. A face looking straight at the viewer pulled attention onto itself and reduced those benefits. The effect was strongest in vertical banners (Frontiers in Psychology, 2014).
What the research observed
Sajjacholapunt and Ball used eye tracking to compare banner ads with faces in different gaze directions. People are drawn to faces, and they tend to look where a face is looking. When the person in the image looked toward the product or message, viewers’ attention followed. When the person looked out at the viewer, the face held attention and the words beside it got less.
The study tested banner ads, not full web pages. Applying it to a website hero section is a practical extension, not a tested result, though the parts are the same: a face and a message.
What it means for a business website
Hero images on business sites often show a person smiling into the camera, placed right next to the headline and main button. By this research, that photo competes with your message. Visitors look at the face and give less attention to what you want them to read and do.
Predicted-attention tools tend to over-predict faces, so a saliency map may show the face as hot without telling you whether the copy beside it gets read. If real visitor data shows the copy next to a face is cold, check which way the person is looking.
What to do
- When choosing or shooting hero photos, pick ones where the person looks toward the headline or button.
- Place the image so the gaze points into the page, not off its edge.
- If the only good photo faces the camera, move it away from the headline and main button.
Sources
- Sajjacholapunt and Ball. The influence of banner advertisements on attention and memory: human faces with averted gaze can enhance advertising effectiveness. Frontiers in Psychology, 2014.