Hotels & Resorts
Consumer Responses to the Physical Environment
There are three types of human responses to the physical environment: cognitive, emotional and physiological.
Cognition in this context means knowledge and perception, the physical environment influence’s people’s beliefs about places, which in turn creates preconceptions about the characteristics of the product and the behaviour of people in that environment. Therefore, the physical appearance and layout of hospitality premises, the décor and employees’ dress, reinforces or challenges people’s prior beliefs about the hospitality offer.
As human beings, we are all aware of our own emotional responses to the physical environment. Research suggests that the physical environment can, subconsciously or overtly, generate two types of emotional response: pleasure and arousal.
Ofcourse different consumers will respond to the same physical environment differently – some people will feel excited by the sounds, visual and video effects generated in a younger contemporary music scene, whilst other people will be distressed by them. Too much or too little arousal is unpleasant, and the optimum level of arousal lies between these two extremes. Consumer’s emotional responses to the physical environment influence their behaviour, and therefore an understanding of peoples’ emotional responses is important when designing the physical environment.
People have different physiological responses to environmental stimuli. Extreme stimulation can cause consumers varying degrees of physical discomfort, ranging from the mildly aggravating to the medically threatening. Clearly these types of physiological factors influence both consumers’ and employees’ response to the physical environment, and consumers’ initial attraction, enjoyment and propensity to return or reject the hospitality offer.
The combination of all these factors creates and overall atmosphere that should, if properly designed, appeal to the target market.
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