Practical Considerations Regarding the Design and Evaluation of Product Warnings

The role of normative prompts and norm support cues in promoting light-switching behavior: A field study

“…It seems that examining the role of environmental attitude on the influence of social norms could be a particularly interesting topic to pursue (McDonald et al, 2013). Even though our measurement in the preliminary study using the created prompt was theoretically justified (Meis & Kashima, 2017;Frantz et al, 2005), we propose that future research should employ measures additional to sign vividness and reactance elicitation (e.g., perceived sign effectiveness).…”

“…Communicating descriptive, injunctive or non-normative information in a message forces the use of different wording (Jacobson et al, 2011) and therefore may impact a sign's 10 vividness (Frantz, Rhoades, & Lehto, 2005) and its emotional charge (Winter, Sagarin, Rhoads, Barrett, & Cialdini, 2000). In terms of vividness, researchers usually address the role of attractiveness, readability and comprehension of signs as elementary factors that impact a sign's effectiveness (Frantz et al, 2005;Meis & Kashima, 2017). On the other hand, the control of a sign's emotion elicitation may prevent reactance effects, which may be induced by negative wording (Bergquist & Nilsson, 2016;Sussman & Gifford, 2012).…”

“…With the use of 10point scales (0 -not at all; 10 -very much), participants indicated to what extent they found a particular sign to be: 1) attractive; 2) readable; and 3) comprehensible. The choice of each item that was included and the use of the scale was based on guidelines about sign evaluation from other researchers (Meis & Kashima, 2017;Frantz et al, 2005).…”

Forensic Evaluation of a Hazardous Household Product

“…The design of effective product labels and warnings − as with any other product − should be the result of design and development phases, such as product planning, hazard identification and analyses, prototype design, and evaluation (Cushman & Rosenberg, 1991; Frantz et al, 1999; Robinson, 2009). It does not appear that manufacturers of denatured alcohol have designed their product labels and warnings with such a process.…”

“…If these components of an effective warning had been employed on the subject can of denatured alcohol, and if the warning had been formatted according to guidelines in ANSI Z535.4 (American National Standards Institute [ANSI], 2011), the warning might have been displayed as shown in Figure 9 (similar improved formatting and content also could have been specified by ISO 3864-2; International Organization for Standardization, 2004.) Further design and evaluation (such as described in Frantz, Rhoades, & Lehto, 1999; Robinson, 2009; and Wogalter, Conzola, & Vigilante, 2006) would be needed to determine the effectiveness of this revised warning.…”