The effectiveness of an interactive warning in a realistic product-use situation

Michael S. Wogalter Department of Psychology North Carolina State University Raleigh, Nonh Carolina 27695 WMning labels are widely used to convey information about the safe use of products. In an attempt to design better warnings, researchers are exploring factors that influence their effectiveness. One design factor that appears promising is an interactive label that requires manipulation by the consumer using the product. In the present research, the effectiveness of two interactive warning labels (with and without a color component) were compared to a standard label in the context of a realistic product-use task. Additionally, task load was manipulated (low vs. higher). The results showed that the interactive labels were noticed, recalled and complied to more often than the standard on-product label. No effect of increasing task load and adding color to the interactive label was observed. The results indicate that the interactive label is a viable means of facilitating warning effectiveness. IN1RODUCTION Although warnings are an important means of providing infonnation concerning the safe use of a product, their presence does not necessarily ensure that consumers will use products safely (DeJoy, 1989). As a result, researchers have begun to systematically examine the factors that may influence warning effectiveness. Measures of effectiveness include changes in hazard perception, knowledge, and behavioral compliance. The majority of warnings research has focused on the physical design of warnings. Warning design factors include the attributes of the warning itself (e.g., increasing the size of the warning, adding color and pictorials) and extra-warning characteristics (e.g., proximal location and lack of contextual clutter). However, it is not always the case that changes in intra- and extra-warning characteristics result in increased effectiveness (e.g., Dejoy, 1989). In order to increase the likelihood that a user will read a warning, and ultimately comply with it, it must first be noticed. One design that has shown promise in increasing notice ability is the interactive warning label, initially examined by Gill, Barbera and Precht (1987). This type of warning requires manipulation prior to (or while) using a product. Research has shown that the interactive label is more noticeable than a conventional on-product label (Frantz and Rhoades, in press; Gill et al., 1987; Hunn and Dingus, 1992; Wogalter, Barlow, and Murphy, 1992). One explanation for the ability of the interactive label to draw attention (as compared to a non-interactive label) may be related to cognitive theories of mental models (Johnson- Laird, 1983), schemas (Bozinoff, 1981; Brewer and Treyens, 1981), and scripts (Schank and Abelson, 1977). Script theory suggests that after experience in a particular domain, people tend to use behaviors based on that experience in future encounters. With repeated experience, these sets of behavioral sequences become well-learned and become connected into larger sequences of behavior, and are theorized to occur automatically without much conscious thought. Therefore, if a person is familiar with a product, most behaviors associated with that product will be driven by scripted sequences of actions.