Effectiveness of Warnings

The purpose of the present work was to identify some of the factors that influence effectiveness of warnings. Two laboratory experiments designed to examine behavioral effectiveness indicated that a warning placed before procedural instructions is more likely to lead to compliance than a warning tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human factors 1987-10, Vol.29 (5), p.599-612
Main Authors: Wogalter, Michael S., Godfrey, Sandra S., Fontenelle, Gail A., Desaulniers, David R., Rothstein, Pamela R., Laughery, Kenneth R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Effectiveness
Ergonomics. Human factors
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Occupational psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Warning
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Summary:The purpose of the present work was to identify some of the factors that influence effectiveness of warnings. Two laboratory experiments designed to examine behavioral effectiveness indicated that a warning placed before procedural instructions is more likely to lead to compliance than a warning that follows instructions. Two rating experiments indicated that for greatest perceived effectiveness, environmental warnings generally require a signal word plus hazard, consequence, and instruction statements. A third rating experiment suggested that informative, nonredundant statements add to a warning's perceived effectiveness. Several field demonstration studies showed that cost of compliance and salience influence behavioral effectiveness. Implications and applications to warning design are discussed.
ISSN:0018-7208
1547-8181
DOI:10.1177/001872088702900509