Inference and the Use of Similes and Metaphors in Warnings

Warning content must be written to assure that the user knows how to apply the information at the appropriate time. Since the warning cannot provide information about all possible circumstances, in some situations individuals must make inferences about safe behavior. This paper contains two experiments that investigated compliance with warning information in situations that do and situations that do not require inferences. The first experiment, with 39 undergraduate students, tested simile use in warnings to improve compliance in inference situations. The second experiment, with 44 undergraduate students, tested metaphors in the place of the similes. In both experiments, participants were presented with products and warnings, followed by situations testing their intention to comply. Normal warnings were compared with similes (Experiment 1) and metaphors (Experiment 2). In each study, the tests required either matching information or drawing inferences. Compliance was significantly lower for situations requiring inference, for both experiments. Use of metaphors and similes to reduce inference requirements is discussed.