Increasing the Noticeability of Warnings: Effects of Pictorial, Color, Signal Icon and Border

Abstract

Because of the importance of noticeability on subsequent comprehension and compliance to warnings, guidelines suggest increasing the salience or conspicuity of warnings. Surprisingly, only a small amount of research has examined different methods of increasing the noticeability of warnings. Therefore, the current research orthogonally manipulated four salience variables (pictorial, color, signal icon and border) to determine their effect on noticeability of warning information. Subjects viewed 96 simulated alcohol labels on a computer, half with a warning and half without. Subjects indicated whether or not a warning was on the label and response latencies were recorded. The results showed that warnings containing a pictorial, color or an icon had significantly faster response times than warnings without them. However, the addition of a border did not improve response times. More detailed analyses showed interactions between the four salience manipulations. These results demonstrate that pictorials, color and icons can enhance the noticeability of warning information. Moreover, it is clear that these salience manipulations interact with each other and that they should not be used indiscriminately without adequate knowledge of these interactions.