Impact of environmental design features: Does color scheme influence transputed attributions?

Businesses invest millions in their environmental designs, hoping that they will communicate "the right" message and influence consumers' perceptions and behaviors. This investment is based on a set of beliefs that are widely held in the design community; however, there has been little attempt to validate them. As a first effort towards validation, we conducted a two-part study. We examined designers' beliefs about the impact of room color, in general, and evaluated the specific anecdotal principle that deep, red hues appear expensive. The results suggest that beliefs regarding the behavioral affects of color are quite prevalent. For the second part of the study, we created three illustrations of a restaurant, each featuring various shades of red. Sixty-two participants rated their opinions of the restaurants. The results suggest that a discrepancy exists between designers' beliefs and the public's reactions. We recommend the use of attribution theory and policy-capturing to resolve this.