Abstract
This study examined the extent to which predicted responses to ANSI Z535-style warning signs and labels correspond to actual responses. In previous studies, lay people's impressions of the influence of warning attributes have not been found to accurately predict actual responses to warnings or to reflect the effects obtained in behavioral studies for different warning conditions. However, these studies have not specifically focused on the connection between predicted and actual responses to warnings that vary according to conformance with an ANSI standard for product warnings. Four warning scenarios were employed in the present study, with warnings varying according to the extent of ANSI-conformance. Participants consistently and incorrectly predicted that people would be more likely to notice and/or comply with warnings that were more consistent with ANSI as opposed to those warnings that were less-consistent with ANSI. Collectively, people's perception of differences in response to warnings was not consistent with what has been reported in observational studies.
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