The 2026 Physical Engagement Index found that North America had the highest regional engagement rate among the six regions measured.
The benchmark from Exposure Analytics draws on more than 3,000 events and 43.8 million measured visitors across 18 countries and 18 sectors since 2020.
According to the report, North American spaces converted 39.0 percent of visitors into engagement, compared with a global average of 35.59 percent. Engaged visitors in North America also spent an average of 15 minutes, 48 seconds in measured spaces, compared with a global average of 13 minutes, 50 seconds.
Exposure Analytics defines engaged visitors as people who interacted with a measured space rather than simply passing through.
For exhibitions specifically, the benchmark was slightly higher. Across 9.6 million measured exhibition visitors, 39.7 percent engaged with a space. Those visitors stayed an average of 16 minutes, 54 seconds.
Top spaces show wide performance gap
The report found a large gap between the strongest and weakest physical spaces.
The top 10 percent of measured spaces converted 76.3 percent of visitors into engagement. By comparison, the bottom 10 percent converted just 3.9 percent.
Dwell time showed a similar spread. The top 10 percent by dwell held visitors for an average of 33 minutes, 31 seconds. The bottom 10 percent averaged 3 minutes, 52 seconds.
For exhibitors, those figures offer a benchmark beyond basic booth traffic. Teams can compare not only how many visitors passed a space, but how many stopped and how long they stayed.
“This isn’t about better design. It’s a market that’s had decades to learn what works, and an audience that’s been trained to reward it,” said Rob Murdoch, sales director at Exposure Analytics. “Every exhibitor can now check where their own stand sits against that: their sector, their region, or the best in the world.”
Location does not always follow traffic
The report also challenges the assumption that the busiest booth position automatically produces the strongest engagement.
Front-center spaces accounted for 12.2 million measured visitors and recorded a 41.6 percent engagement rate with an average dwell of 12 minutes, two seconds.
Meanwhile, front-left and front-right spaces posted higher engagement rates and longer dwell times. However, those samples were much smaller, with 109,000 measured visitors on the left and 129,000 on the right.
The findings suggest that traffic volume and visitor engagement should be measured separately rather than treated as the same indicator of booth performance.
Regional and national benchmarks vary
Among countries with more than one million measured visitors, Germany posted a 48.9 percent engagement rate.
China recorded one of the longest national dwell times at 23 minutes, 21 seconds. However, the report notes that smaller market samples should be interpreted with greater caution.
The United States recorded a 38.2 percent engagement rate and average dwell of 15 minutes, 44 seconds across 1.6 million measured visitors.
The dataset includes exhibition halls, retail floors, activations, and live brand spaces. Exposure Analytics excluded test deployments, calibration runs, internal research, and duplicate records.
Engagement is measured when a visitor remains within a specified distance of a sensor for a minimum amount of time. Those parameters vary by client.
Exposure Analytics plans to publish the Physical Engagement Index annually, with another edition scheduled for 2027.
“This is the first time an exhibitor in Chicago and an organiser in Frankfurt have had the same benchmark to check their stand against,” Murdoch said. “That’s the point of publishing this every year, to understand if the global picture shifts.”
Exposure Analytics measures visitor behavior in exhibition halls, activations, retail environments, and other physical spaces. For more information, visit exposureanalytics.com.
Press release submitted by Exposure Analytics. Edited by Exhibit City News for clarity, length, and style.
