Marketers have beenexploiting the ability of environmental cues to change customers’ behaviour for over 150 years. However, it was not until Kotler (1973)coined the term atmospherics that academics started to systematically analyse their impact. To date, a considerable body of researchhas developed, explaininghowthese stimuli can change consumer behaviour. While marketers have embraced this research, both management scholars and practitioners have neglected to investigate how environmental cues can influence employees in a workplace context. This thesis seeks to address this gap by conducting a number of laboratory-based experiments simulating different workplace tasks,with environmental cues being manipulatedto improve participant’sbehaviour and attitude.This research is split into two sections. Firstly we demonstrate how traditional atmospheric variables (e.g. music and workplace posters) can change the way participants reflect on a simulated workplace task. While neither intervention has any positive impact on performance, we demonstrate that if motivational posters are used without prior planning, they can negatively impact performance. Secondly we demonstrate how digital signage can be used as an atmospheric variable.
A digitalsigns is a form of electronic display that can be used to present dynamic information on flat panel displays. This is selected as unlike other atmospheric interventions (e.g. aromas, music, etc.) where there is a start up cost associated with installing the infrastructure, many organisations already have digital signs installed throughout their offices. By carefully crafting the screens’ content we are able to prime participants’ to act with more integrity, improve participants’ concentration, and decreasecyber slacking. Finally as digital signs are a new communication medium, research is presented as to the optimum use of message repetition, variation and spacing to enhance message recall and liking.