Visual attention and subjective preference in mascot design: evidence from eye-tracking, ratings, and fsQCA

Abstract

Introduction Mascot design plays an important role in brand communication, yet empirical evidence on how specific visual features shape attention and preference remains limited. This study examined how mascot type, head-to-body ratio, and eye size are associated with fixation-based visual attention and self-reported preference among young adults. Methods The study followed a three-stage design. First, Experiments 1–3 used eye-tracking to examine visual-attention patterns related to mascot type, head-to-body ratio, and eye size. Second, a questionnaire-based preference rating study examined whether these attention patterns converged with self-reported liking. Third, Experiment 4 adopted a full-factorial stimulus structure, and fsQCA was used to identify configurational pathways associated with high total fixation duration. Results Animal mascots, the 1:2 head-to-body ratio, and large-eye conditions showed the strongest descriptive attention and preference patterns within their respective design variables. The fsQCA results identified multiple sufficient configurations associated with high total fixation duration. A compact head-to-body ratio condition, operationalized as 1:1.5 or 1:2, appeared as a shared core condition across the sufficient pathways, although it did not meet the threshold for a necessary condition. Discussion These findings support a configurational understanding of mascot design, suggesting that visual attention and preference are shaped by both individual design features and their combinations.