"Evolutionary Store Atmospherics" – Designing with evolution in mind

Abstract

Inhabiting urban environments has become part and parcel of modern man’s life, and nowadays a substantial part of the urban fabric is dedicated to commercial and business-related activities. Although these environments can provide us many advantages and joys, numerous environmental psychology studies also show that exposure to specific natural habitat qualities and configurations, and to particular natural contents, can have a range of positive influences on human functioning (e.g., stress reduction). These positive states are often interpreted as being hardwired traits that have evolved to deal with challenges that were inherent to living in natural environments during the Pleistocene. A crucial observation is that modern retail environments often lack such preferred and fascinating habitat qualities. The main goal of this chapter therefore consists of demonstrating and illustrating the value of integrating such qualities into business-related environments – a design strategy which we define as “Evolutionary Store Atmospherics” (ESA). The scope of this chapter is theoretical as well as practical. On the one hand we provide an extensive overview of the “ancestral” landscape qualities and elements which are found to trigger states of heightened affect, while on the other hand we formulate a number of practical suggestions for introducing some of these key qualities in store environments. In this discussion we will pay close attention to the possible situational factors that can interact with ESA design proposals, such as gender and type of shopping.