Consumers\u27 use of written product information.

Two studies were conducted to investigate the predictive role of person-specific, product-specific, and situation-specific influences on the use of instruction manuals in the field of electrical consumer products. In a laboratory study, 42 participants were observed while putting a vacuum cleaner into operation. Situational primes (i.e., recieving a verbal cue that the pachaging contains an instruction manual) increased the probability of the user manual being read. Additional verbal infromation that the manual contains infromation on energy-saving behaviours was especiallly motivationg for persons with high environmental concern. Self-report data, collected on a wide range of products, suggest that product complexity is the best predictor of instruction manual use. In a secong study with 30 participants, different positions of product labels were compared, i.e. placing the information on the packaging or directly onto the product. Information placed directly onto the product had a significantly higher influence on participants\u27 actual behaviour than providing the same information on the packaging