No abstract

The amount of crime to which individuals are exposed on a daily basis is growing, resulting in increased anxiety about being alone in some public places. Fear of crime usually results in avoidance of places that are perceived to be unsafe, and such avoidance can have negative financial consequences. What can be done to reduce fear in relatively safe public places that are nevertheless perceived as being unsafe? In this paper, we explore the effect of auditory input (type of ambient sound) on perceived social presence and one's feeling-of-safety in public spaces such as car parks and metro stations. In one field study and four laboratory studies, we demonstrate that different ambient sounds convey social presence to a different degree. When perceived social presence is higher and positive, the feeling-of-safety is also higher. Additionally, we show that an increase in perceived safety has a positive effect on consumers' satisfaction with the public area and even raises their willingness to purchase a monthly membership card for the public area. Furthermore, the effect of ambient sound on such consumer responses is serially mediated by perceived social presence and feeling-of-safety.

No abstract

No abstract

Merely observing the hand movement speed with an advertised product can affect consumer perception. Five studies show that hand movement speed when observed (e.g., watching or even reading the description of slow vs. fast hand interaction with a product) elicits distinct associations in the consumer's mind and affects their responses. We suggest that people implicitly associate speedy movements with a more masculine (than feminine) behavior and use hand movement speed as an input to form evaluations of a touched product. Additionally, we demonstrate that consumers elicit higher product preference when their associations from observed hand movement speed match their own social identity. Thus, female (than male) consumers would prefer an advertised product that is depicted with a gentle (instead of speedy) hand movement-as such observed movement makes, both, the product, and the action-performer be perceived as more feminine. We find support for these effects across different product and advertising contexts. Our findings provide novel evidence on the effect of observed and described hand movements as a signal of gender identity and have significant implications for advertising.