{"id":14187,"date":"2013-06-20T12:20:27","date_gmt":"2013-06-20T16:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=14187"},"modified":"2013-06-20T01:34:41","modified_gmt":"2013-06-20T05:34:41","slug":"study-examines-how-seating-layouts-influence-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2013\/06\/study-examines-how-seating-layouts-influence-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Study examines how seating layouts influence customers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the <em>Journal of Consumer Research<\/em>, Inc. press release via AlphaGalileo:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-9602\" alt=\"new guy\" src=\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/diversity_job_team.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/>Consumers seated in circular arrangements feel a greater need to belong than those seated in angular layouts<\/strong>, according to a new study in the <em>Journal of Consumer Research<\/em>.<em><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe geometric shape of a seating arrangement can impact consumers by priming one of two fundamental needs: a need to belong or a need to be unique. <strong>Consumers will be most favorable toward persuasion material (advertising) that is consistent with the primed need<\/strong>,\u201d write authors Rui (Juliet) Zhu (University of British Columbia) and Jennifer J. Argo (University of Alberta).<\/p>\n<p>Seating arrangements matter in a wide variety of contexts. <strong>There are websites that provide tips on seating etiquette, guidelines on institutional seating policies, information on maximizing educational benefits through classroom chair layouts<\/strong>, and even software designed to create ideal seating arrangements for events such as weddings, political functions, and executive meetings.<\/p>\n<p>In a series of studies, consumers were asked to sit in either a circular or an angular seating arrangement. They were then asked to evaluate various advertisements. <strong>Circular shaped seating arrangements led consumers to evaluate persuasive material more favorably when it conveyed belonging (family- or group-oriented, majority endorsement)<\/strong>. In contrast, consumers seated in an angular arrangement responded more favorably to persuasive material related to uniqueness (self-oriented, minority endorsement).<\/p>\n<p>It is important to understand how seating arrangements influence consumers in a wide range of settings such as restaurants, hotel lobbies, public transit, or waiting areas in airports and doctors\u2019 offices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Circular shaped seating arrangements prime a need to belong while angular shaped seating arrangements prime a need to be unique<\/strong>. The shape of a seating arrangement, a subtle environmental cue, can activate fundamental human needs, and these needs in turn affect consumer responses to persuasive messages,\u201d the authors conclude.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the Journal of Consumer Research, Inc. press release via AlphaGalileo: Consumers seated in circular arrangements feel a greater need to belong than those seated in angular layouts, according to&#8230; <a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2013\/06\/study-examines-how-seating-layouts-influence-customers\/\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[96,364,12],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14187"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14187"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14229,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14187\/revisions\/14229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}