ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH AROUSAL THEORY Arousal theory is the theory that the physical environment can affect arousal levels by stimulation and by stress created when psychological or physical needs are not met. Designing with arousal theory in mind encourages designers to focus on noise, congestion, and distractions. For example, visual merchandising and the design of store environments must evoke an optimum level of customers’ arousal in order to be successful.
NOISE under 85 db
CROWDING over 4 ft away
LIGHTING increased saturation + brightness
Effects of Spatial Colors on Guests’ Perceptions of a Hotel Room This study aimed to understand the relationship between color attributes and the perception of a hotel room. The differences between blue and red with two levels for saturation and brightness were examined within a room. The study adopts virtual reality techniques to provide a deep immersion of the participants in the manipulated hotel room’s design settings. The results indicated that there was a strong relation between wall hue and the arousal level. Red hotel rooms were associated with the highest arousal levels among participants. Participants enjoyed staying in blue hotel rooms more than in the red ones finding them more pleasant. However, individual color preference was found to have an important impact on the perception of hotel rooms.
KEY TAKEAWAYS - Color can affect arousal level, but that can also depend on individual color preference 38
