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Eum, Dolbier, and Rangel’s work indicates the important of actively designing what people see through their peripheral vision. The researchers “studied the role of peripheral visual information on the choice process and on attentional choice biases. . . . participants. . . made binary choices between food items that were displayed in marked screen ‘shelves’ in two conditions: (a) where both items were displayed, and (b) where items were displayed only when participants fixated within their shelves. We found that removing the nonfixated option approximately doubled the size of the attentional biases. The results show that peripheral visual information is crucial in facilitating good decisions and suggest that individuals might be influenceable by settings in which only one item is shown at a time, such as e-commerce.”

Brenden Eum, Stephanie Dolbier, and Antonio Rangel. “Peripheral Visual Information Halves Attentional Choice Biases.”  Psychological Science, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976231184878

Kousi, Halkias, and Kokkinaki evaluated how mood evoked in buying situations influences purchase decisions made.  They share “The results of a qualitative study and four experiments . . . . marketers of material goods, in particular, can considerably increase customer value by using design components, product features, and brand imagery that leverage hedonic [pleasure-related] qualities. . . . Marketers can potentially close the happiness gap by augmenting products through features that aim to thrill and delight. . . . For example, employing unique or unconventional designs, or adding vibrant colors, stickers, personalized badges and quote prints on a surgical face mask or a toolbox may introduce playfulness and increase the enjoyment of the product. Makers of children's products excel at adding hedonic sensory elements to, otherwise functional, products. . . . Alessi, the Italian houseware brand, uses this principle, blending playful aesthetics with function, making utilitarian kitchen tools like saltshakers and wine openers fun, playful, and engaging.”

Sofia Kousi, Georgios Halkias, and Flora Kokkinaki.  2023. “Hedonic Objects and Utilitarian Experiences:  The Overriding Influence of Hedonism in Driving Consumer Happiness.” Psychology and Marketing, vol. 40, no. 8, pp. 1634-1645, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21829

Cadogan, Lionetti, Murphy, and Setti investigated the consequences of individuals with sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) viewing nature videos.  They report that SPS “is a risk factor for mental ill-health and ruminative thoughts. . . . we evaluated the impact of virtual nature exposure on affect [mood], rumination, and executive functions in individuals with varying levels of SPS. . . . participants . . . . completed measures . . .  before and after watching a nature or urban video. . . . The videos used in the study consisted of 6-min clips of nature scenes and urban scenes. The nature scenes included the beach, rivers, flowers, forestry, and foliage. The urban scenes included traffic, trains, buses, and industrial estates. Both videos were shot in the Munster region in Ireland. . . . There were significant reductions in rumination and negative affect in participants following a 6-min virtual nature intervention. . . . Exposure to a virtual urban intervention resulted in decreased rumination, but also decreased positive affect.”

Eimer Cadogan, Francesca Lionetti, Mike Murphy, and Annalisa Setti.  “Watching a Video of Nature Reduces Negative Affect and Rumination, While Positive Affect is Determined by the Level of Sensory Processing Sensitivity.” Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, 102031, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102031

Research completed by Bardhan and teammates confirms the value of spending time in nature over longer periods; they collected data from their study participants for 8 weeks.  The investigators report that they “conducted one of the first longer-term investigations of daily nature exposure and mood with a mobile app as part of the NatureDose™ Student Study (NDSS). The NatureDose™ app uses GPS and a phone's sensors to evaluate whether a person is inside or outside and checks levels of nature surrounding the person with the NatureScore™ measure. This measure is based on more than 30 remotely sensed datasets, geo-located health records, and machine learning models. . . . we observed a positive association between nature exposure and positive mood . . .  The study also reinforces previous findings on the associations between nature exposure and positive mood states. Greening university campuses and surrounding locations where college students live and spend leisure time could support college students' mental health.”

Mondira Bardhan, Kuiran Zhang, Matthew Browning, Jiaying Dong, Tong Liu, Christopher Bailey, Olivia McAnirlin, Jared Hanley, Christopher Minson, Robert Mutel, Shyam Ranganathan, and Aaron Reuben.  2023.  “Time in Nature Is Associated with Higher Levels of Positive Mood:  Evidence from the 2023 NatureDose ™ Student Survey.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 90, 102083, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102083

Pazhoohi, Gojamgunde, and Kingstone probed humans’ preferred interaction distances with both people and robots.  They found that people would rather be near other people than near robots and “While higher comfort was reported for female vs male humans, there was no significant difference between comfort ratings for female vs male robots. . . . humans were rated more attractive than humanoid robots, and higher on agency (the ability to do) and experience (the ability to feel). . . .  Comfort distance [is] the physical distance that people adopt in order to feel safe and relaxed during social interactions [,it] is an important factor in human-robot interactions. . . . comfort ratings for both male and female humans reach a plateau earlier (around 240 cm and 230 cm away) than for male and female robots (around 280 cm and 300 cm). . . . it seems the optimum comfort distance are different for robots compared to humans.”

Farid Pazhoohi, Srishti Gojamgunde, and Alan Kingstone.  “Give Me Space: Sex, Attractiveness, and Mind Perception as Potential Contributors to Different Comfort Distances for Humans and Robots.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, in press, 102088, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102088

Zoghaib and associates have looked into branding with music and appropriately translated to other sensory systems their findings seem more generally applicable.  The Zoghaib-lead team determined that “using music pieces with an irregular contour or unstable tonality in communications can make brands appear more innovative. . . . branding with music that has an irregular contour or unstable tonality can either positively or negatively impact brand evaluations. This is contingent on whether brand communication includes information about brand innovativeness or brand liking.”

Alice Zoghaib, Jonathan Luffarelli, and Stephanie Feiereisen.  “Branding With Music:  How Can Music Contour and Tonality Enhance Perceived Brand Innovativeness and Brand Evaluations?” Psychology and Marketing, in press, https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21875

Tang and teammates set out to learn more about using natural elements in workplaces.  They “draw on self-determination theory to develop a theoretical model predicting that exposure to nature at work satisfies employees’ psychological needs (i.e., needs for autonomy [to have comfortable levels of control], relatedness [to interact with others], and competence [to do their job well]) and positively affects their subsequent task performance and prosocial behavior. In addition, we theorize that the effects of nature on need satisfaction are weaker in employees higher on speciesism (i.e., the belief that humans are superior to other forms of life). We test these predictions with a mixed-method approach. . . . Overall, our findings largely support our theoretical model.”

Pok Tang, Anthony Klotz, Shawn McClean, Yating Wang, Zhaoli Song, and Chin Ng. “Who Needs Nature?  The Influence of Employee Speciesism on Nature-Based Need Satisfaction and Subsequent Work Behavior.”  Journal of Applied Psychology, in press, https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001104

Placebos can have real and powerful effects on responses to designed elements and recent medical research on placebos is likely useful to designers. Sandra and colleagues “tested whether presenting a (placebo) analgesia machine as personalised would improve its effectiveness. We recruited participants . . . to receive painful heat stimulations on their forearm. During half of the stimulations, a machine purportedly delivered an electric current to reduce their pain. The participants were either told that the machine was personalised to their genetics and physiology, or that it was effective in reducing pain generally. Participants told that the machine was personalised reported more relief in pain intensity than the control group in both the feasibility study . . . and the pre-registered double-blind confirmatory study. . . . We found similar effects on pain unpleasantness, and several personality traits moderated the results. We present some of the first evidence that framing a sham treatment as personalised increases its effectiveness.”

Dasha Sandra, Jay Olson, Ellen Langer, and Mathieu Roy.  2023. “Presenting a Sham Treatment As Personalised Increases the Placebo Effect in a Randomised Controlled Trial.”  eLife, https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84691

Niza and associates investigated the conditions under which sick building syndrome is most likely to occur.  They determined via a literature review that “Headaches, fatigue, malaise and nausea are amongst the complaints associated with SBS. . . . . indoor air quality (IAQ) emerged as the primary factor influencing SBS, especially within the post-pandemic context. Increasing air circulation and ventilation are viable alternatives to enhance IAQ.”

Iasmin Niza, Midhia de Souza, Inaiele Da Luz, and Evandro Broday. “Sick Building Syndrome and Its Impacts on Health, Well-Being and Productivity:  A Systematic Literature Review.”  Indoor and Built Environment, in press, https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326x231191079

Mahady, Takac, and De Foe study the differences between autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) and being in a biophilic environment. They report that “Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a nascent phenomenon wherein a pleasant and relaxing tingling sensation occurs in response to audio and visual triggers like whispering and close personal attention. Biophilia is the concept that humans are innately drawn to nature. Previous research has found both phenomena elicit similar physiological and emotional responses, such as decreased blood flow, pupil dilation, and positive mood recovery. . . . participants watched a video of ASMR and nature sounds. . . . [analyses] showed ASMR to be more sensorially stimulating and engaging, while biophilic stimuli were more relaxing, requiring less voluntary attention. Those who preferred ASMR tended to find biophilia less purposeful, while those who preferred biophilia found ASMR exceedingly intense. Findings support the hypothesis that ASMR is akin to a flow state. ASMR susceptibility varied, while connectedness to nature was consistently high, suggesting biophilic stimuli were universally appreciated.”

Aidan Mahady, Marcel Takac, and Alexander De Foe. “Differences Between Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) and Biophilia:  A Pilot Study.”  Psychology of Consciousness:  Theory, Research, and Practice, in press, https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000357