Impacto del Branding en la Percepción Visual y Decisión de Compra de un Vino Artesanal: Un Estudio con Eye Tracking.

Visual branding is a determining factor in the consumer's perception and choice of products, especially in competitive markets such as wine. Artisanal products face the challenge of standing out from consolidated brands. The main objective of this study was to determine the impact of branding, through label design, on the visual perception and purchase decision of an artisanal wine compared to an established commercial wine, using eye tracking technology. An experimental design was carried out with a sample of 30 participants (16 women, 14 men; average age 34.2 years) residing in Cuenca, Ecuador. Participants viewed the label of a local artisanal wine and that of a well-known commercial wine while their eye attention patterns were recorded using a Tobii Pro Nano device. They then completed a questionnaire to assess their perception of the label's influence and their purchase intention. The eye tracking results revealed that the label of well-known commercial wine captured initial attention more quickly and retained attention longer in key areas such as the logo and product information. In the direct choice task, a statistically significant preference for the comercial wine label was observed, according to the contradiction correction χ2(1, N=30)=16.13, p<.001. The perception survey indicated that the majority of participants felt that label design significantly influences their purchase decision. These findings suggest that the visual elements of wine label branding exert considerable influence on the early stages of information processing and consumer preference. We conclude on the strategic importance of label design for handcrafted wines as a tool to capture attention and compete effectively in the marketplace.