Behavioral Compliance to Personalized Warning Signs and the Role of Perceived Relevance

Recent research has shown that compliance to a posted warning sign is much lower than the same warning located within a set of task instructions, even when the sign is highly visible. One possible reason for this finding is that participants' believe the sign to be less relevant to the task and to themselves than the within-instructions warning. One purpose of the present research was to examine whether a personalized sign (with the participant's name) is more effective than a more conventional impersonal sign (with the signal word CAUTION). A second purpose was to examine the influence of a dynamic display compared to a static display. A sign composed of programmable light-emitting diodes (LEDs) presented the warning message using special effects (apparent motion) or it was displayed continuously. A third purpose was to examine whether various sign placements in a cluttered laboratory environment influences compliance. The wearing of protective equipment by participants as directed by the warning was the measure of behavioral compliance in a chemistry laboratory task. More participants wore the protective equipment when a warning was present than when it was absent. The personalized sign increased compliance compared to the impersonal sign. No effect of dynamic presentation was found, and the only effect among sign placements was found for perceived accuracy. The effect of personalization is explained in terms of the special alerting feature of one's own name and increased perceived relevance that results when the message is directed to them. Implications for flexible control of personalized warning messages using available technology are discussed.