Enviromental Psychology

Extract from Spangenberg, E. R., Crowley, A. E., & Henderson, P. W. (1996). Improving the Store Environment: Do Olfactory Cues Affect Evaluations and Behaviors? Journal of Marketing, 60(2), 67–80. http://doi.org/10.2307/1251931

Enviromental psychology draws from the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm, which posits that the environment is a stimulus (S) containing cues that combine to affect people's internal evaluations (O), which in turn create approach/avoidance responses (R) [note editor: here we have to put cites]. Psychologists suggest that people respond to environments with two general, contrasting forms of behavior: approach and avoidance [cite]. Approach behaviors include all positive behaviors that might be directed at the environment; for example, a desire to remain in a store and explore its offerings could be construed as an approach response. Avoidance behaviors reflect contrasting responses; that is, a desire to leave a store or not to browse represents avoidance behavior.