A Personalized Speech Warning Facilitates Compliance in an Immersive Virtual Environment

Abstract

The effect of a personalized technology-based warning on compliance was assessed using an immersive virtual environment (IVE). Sixty university students performed an end-of-day routine security check in the IVE. Participants were asked to search for and activate safety-related devices, which involved entering several rooms. Just prior to abandoning the first room, participants were incidentally exposed to a posted warning (mandatory to disconnect the music generator) consisting of either a personal warning (i.e., a speech message with the participant’s first name) or an impersonal warning (i.e., a auditory beep signal). Compliance was determined by observing whether or not the participants pressed the button-switch as directed by the warning. Results reveal that compliance rate was significantly greater when the warning was personalized. No significant gender differences were found. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of the benefits of effective warnings.