Messiness

The “broken window” theory has been around for ages. It was based originally on an observation of old buildings – if a broken window isn’t repaired promptly that it acts like an invitation for vandalism.  The theory was the basis of Giuliani’s successful effort to reduce crime in NYC which began with cracking down on minor violations.  For many years however its just been a theory and there hasn’t been a whole lot of actual research done into it in a broader context – how behaviour is affected by the degree of disorder in our surroundings.

Some researchers in the Netherlands recently undertook a study where they left a 5 Euro note hanging out of a mailbox on the sidewalk.  When the mailbox was clean & well tended only 13% of passersby took the money, however when the mailbox was covered in graffiti 27% took the 5 euro note. They also tested the broader environment, when the ground around the mailbox was covered in litter, 25% of passersby took the envelope.[ Chaos Begets Chaos by Sheila Prakash.]

When researchers tested compliance with a sign which asked pedestrians not too walk through a gate or chain a bike to the fence, 27% ignored the sign and walked through the gate. When the researchers chained a bike to the fence (showing prior non-compliance with one of the elements of the sign) the number who walked through the fence increased to 82%.

Interesting stuff but what’s the implication for retail?  Well at the simplest level it would suggest that if a store looks messy & disorganised, theft is likely to go up.  Also if you don’t enforce rules or instructions on signs then the rate of compliance will reduce dramatically.

In an airport environment the implications are perhaps even more significant.  If an airport isn’t cleaned well its more likely people will themselves litter or fail to dispose of rubbish properly. They’re probably less likely to take care with fixtures in the airport – after all if the airport doesn’t care enough to keep the place clean then why should they?

Placing signs with compliance instructions should be carefully planned because if there is evidence to the passengers that there is non-compliance with any of the instructions then the rate of non-compliance on all instructions will likely increase.  Its not uncommon to see this in taxi queues where there are instructions not to enter through a certain point and you see people doing it, everyone not only starts doing it but you also get further problems like queue jumping etc.

The moral of the story I guess being that if you’re going to have rules and signpost them then make sure they’re enforced – otherwise you’re likely to get more non-compliance than if you never set the rule in the first place.

Image : Miss K