Abstract
Keywords: warnings, warning placement, displays
The trend today is to produce automobiles that have exciting systems which enhance the users´ experiences; these systems have not taken much consideration to the fact that they increase the risk for distractions (Ashley, 2001; Wogalter, 1999). Mobile phones and routeguidance systems have been a cause for distraction and even more recently has the addition of secondary tasks in the vehicle, like DVD, multimedia, status indicators, and other gadgets been shown to create cognitively demanding tasks for the driver (see Patten, Ceci, Malmström, & Rehnberg, 2003; Blanco, Hankey, & Chestnut, 2005). These demands when coupled with the limited visual resources of drivers (Wickens, 2002) can lead to an increased level of distractions in the vehicle. Michael Goodman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that at least "25 percent of (all) fatal crashes are distraction related" (Ashley, 2007). It is common that two visual tasks compete for visual attention. Often are these tasks allocated in one place at the same time and that´s why research is being conducted to find out the best placement of information to be presented to the driver (Horry & Wickens, 2004).
Research has been conducted to produce relevant warnings for the International Standards Organization and this continues as the number of safety systems increase (Campbell, Hoffmeister, Kiefer, Selke, Green, & Richman, 2004). According to Wogalter (1999) has the research on warnings been driven by the following concerns; an increased interest in safety, the concern for legal implications where the lack of or an improper warning could determine the outcome of a lawsuit, and from national governments and standards organizations worldwide that mandate them. In designing and developing warnings it is important to choose the correct object of study as well as the correct user (Frantz, Rhoades, & Lehto, 1999). The concern for mental overload from warnings has been considered over a longer period of time and warnings are being added in vehicles and icons are being tested for understandability but peoples perceptions of the importance for each specific warning and its placement in the driving compartment seems to have lesser importance in research.
The automobile industry is an international industry where often culture and cultural differences need to be taken into consideration. A culture is in this study defined as a group´s "characteristic way of perceiving the man-made part of its environment" (Triandis, 1972). In trying to understand cultural differences we need to understand that consumers from different cultures may purchase similar products and services but this does not necessarily imply that culture´s influence on product/service purchase and use are similar. People may utilize the same product and service features for very different reasons (Aaker & Maheswaran 1997; Bagozzi & Dholakia, 1999). Consequently, cultural diversity remains a highly influential factor in international business. (Overby, Woodruff, & Gardial, 2005). This study seeks to study possibilities to reduce distractions caused by automobile warnings through a questionnaire in which the subjects rated the importance of warnings and their preferred choice of placement in the compartment. To gain an understanding of the role different warnings play in an automobile are three diverse cultures studied; Swedish, American and Chinese.