Behavioral compliance with warnings: effects of voice, context, and location

Warnings in research and practice

“…In our every day life, we seem to be bombarded by warnings most of the time and so we might anticipate that over-warning could be a problem. There is little empirical evidence for this, however, but there is some evidence to suggest that visual clutter reduces the degree to which people comply with warnings (Wogalter et al 1993) and intuitively it seems probable that over-warning might become an increasing problem, given the product manufacturer's desire to protect him or herself from expensive litigation. If indeed over-warning is a problem (which future research might reveal), there are two main questions that will need to be addressed.…”

“…They are also useful in noisy environments, particularly those for which spoken warnings are difficult to produce. They also have an immediacy about them that is not apparent with warning labels, and in general may produce higher levels of compliance (Wogalter et al 1993). Identification and recognizability are of course sometimes much more of a problem for auditory warnings than for visual warnings, which means that the focus of research is likely to be somewhat different for auditory warnings than for warning labels.…”

Designing warnings to compensate for age-related changes in perceptual and cognitive abilities

“…Environmental support has also received some investigation. Wogalter, Kalsher, and Racicot (1993) observed that posted warning signs in uncluttered work conditions can serve as effective reminders of appropriate safety behavior. In essence, a sign serves as a meaningful cue or reminder of a hazard, reducing the burden on the recall of information.…”

Indirect warnings and instructions produce behavioral compliance

“…Research shows that increased effort, time, and money produce reduced warning effectiveness (e.g., Hunn & Dingus, 1992;Wogalter et al, 1987). Other external factors are 1) social influence (Wogalter, Allison, & McKenna, 1989) in which other people's compliance benefits compliance, and 2) environmental context, such as clutter making attention switch and maintenance difficult (Vredenburgh & Helmick-Rich, 2006;Wogalter et al, 1999;Wogalter, Kalsher, & Racicot, 1993).…”