Research suggests that compliance to a highly visible posted warning sign is significantly lower than the same warning located within a set of task instructions. One possible reason for this finding is that the participants believed that the posted sign was not directed to them and not relevant to the particular task they are doing compared to the within-instruction warning. One purpose of the present research was to compare the influence of a personally relevant sign (displaying participants' name) to a more conventional impersonal sign (displaying the signal word CAUTION) on behavioral compliance. A second purpose was to examine the influence of a dynamic versus a static display. A sign composed of programmable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) exhibitied the warning using special effects (apparent motion) or it was exhibited continously. A third purpose was to examine the effect of sign placement in a cluttered environment. The wearing of protective equipment was directed by the warning during a chemistry laboratory task was measured. The results showed that participants more frequently wore the protective equipment when a warning was present than when it was absent. The personalized sign significantly increased warning compliance compared to the impersonal sign. No effect of dynamic presentation was found, and the only effect of sign placement was on task-accuracy judgments. The effects of personalization is explained in terms of the special altering feature of one's own name and enhanced perceived relevance when ther is no ambiguity as to whom the message is directed to. Implications for flexible control of warnings using available technology are discussed.
Abstract