abstract: The study of lighting design has important implications for consumer behavior and is an important aspect of consideration for the retail industry. In today's global economy consumers can come from a number of cultural backgrounds. It is important to understand various cultures' perceptions of lighting design in order for retailers to better understand how to use lighting as a benefit to provide consumers with a desirable shopping experience. This thesis provides insight into the effects of ambient lighting on product perception among Americans and Middle Easterners. Both cultural groups' possess significant purchasing power in the worldwide market place. This research will allow marketers, designers and consumers a better understanding of how culture may play a role in consumer perceptions and behavior Results of this study are based on data gathered from 164 surveys from individuals of American and Middle Eastern heritage. Follow up interviews were also conducted to examine the nuances of product perception and potential differences across cultures. This study, using qualitative and quantitative methods, was executed using a Sequential Explanatory Strategy. Survey data were analyzed to uncover significant correlations and relationships using measures of descriptive analysis, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and regression analysis. Interviews were analyzed using theme-based coding and reported in narrative form. The results suggest that lighting does in fact have an impact on product perception, however despite minor differences, this perception does not vary much between individuals from American and Middle Eastern cultures. It was found that lighting could affect price and quality perception with reference to store-image and store atmospherics. Additionally, lighting has a higher impact on subjective impressions of product (such as Freshness, Pleasantness, and Attractiveness), more than Price and Quality perceptions. This study suggests that particular lighting characteristics could be responsible for differences in product perception between these two cultures. This is important to note for lighting designers and marketers to create retail atmospheres that are preferable to both cultures. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S.D. Design 2013

The concept of visiting a restaurant is no longer related to the consumption of a food. The total process of visiting a restaurant became a pleasant experience to elevate mood and satisfaction and create a memorable experience. In this thesis, we aim to case study three restaurants of the same brand using quantitative and qualitative measurements such as questionnaire, V/P theory, and measurements. Moreover, the results of the assessments will be used to investigate how lighting can improve the dining experience in the restaurant while taking into consideration reducing energy consumption. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis indicated the lighting in each of these restaurants differs from each other, and they require a redesign to enhance customer satisfaction and to be more energy efficient. The thesis presented a lighting solution which considers all the relevant factors for customer satisfaction from literature and standards. The solution can improve the customer experience in the restaurant and advance its compliance with the sustainability goals.

A store's appearance and atmosphere impacts the customer's experience, feelings andwillingness to buy (Solomon et al. 2013). The lighting in the store has a great impacton the impressions that the customer gets and has the opportunity to convey differentemotions (Schielke & Leudesdorff, 2015). Should the store be perceived as exclusiveor should it be experienced as a low budget store? What is the difference between anexclusive store and a low budget store? The purpose of this study is to highlightdifferences in the lighting in exclusive clothing stores compared to the lighting in lowbudget stores. Using collected data from interviews and observations, the study willpresent what the design process looks like for a lighting designer who plans the lightingin a clothing store. It will also present how the lighting in an exclusive clothing storediffers aesthetically from the lighting in a low budget clothing store. The study will alsoshed light on how the respondents believe that the store lighting of the future will looklike. The interviewees were lighting designers with experience in store lighting.The results of the study show that the design process of all respondents is similar anddoes not differ depending on whether it is an exclusive clothing store or a low budgetclothing store. Instead, it is the amount of time and care that increases the moreexclusive the store is. Material costs and budgets also tend to be higher for exclusivestores. With the help of the answers from the interviews, a model could be developedthat demonstrates the steps taken during the design process. The observations togetherwith the interviews show that there is an aesthetic difference between exclusive clothingstores and low budget stores. What stands out is how carefully the lighting is planned,the choice of luminaires and how they adapted the lighting to the design of the room.The study provides an insight into how experienced lighting designers work with retaillighting, what their design process looks like and what they think the retail lighting ofthe future will look like. The results of the study can serve as a template for others inthe lighting industry and lighting enthusiasts. It gives an idea of what steps and pointsare important to consider when planning the lighting in a store

Store lighting is a combination of art form and function that contributes to a retail store's sales and prosperity. The quantity, quality, and effect of the light reaching the merchandise are the determining factors in the success of the sale of merchandise. There are three basic merchandise lighting techniques used in retail stores. They include the low-end, mid-market, and high-end lighting techniques. However, retailers are developing merchandising techniques that do not have a clear cut lighting solution. A new merchandising technique for the audio/video retailer is the simulated home environment (SHE). It is a series of rooms and vignettes that present audio/video products in a home setting. Studies have shown that lighting has an affect on human behavior. In a retail store, three customer behaviors are linked to increased sales: customer communication with store personnel; customer interaction with displays and merchandise; and length of time in the store. The purpose of this study was to determine which of the lighting techniques was most effective in stimulating the customer behaviors linked to increased sales in an audio/video store's SHE. The study was conducted in an audio/video store's SHE equipped with a lighting system that could produce the three lighting techniques. Each day the SHE's lighting system was set up for one of the lighting techniques and customer behavior was unobtrusively observed and recorded. A convenience method of sampling was used in the study. The subjects were the customers shopping in the SHE. The study's experiment was done twice using two methods for selecting the observation days for the experiments. One method used the same day of the week in three successive weeks (SDW), the other used three different days within the same week (DDW). The sample size for the SDW method was 123, and 47 for the DDW method. To assess the effectiveness of the lighting techniques in stimulating customer behavior, two behavior rating scales were created. The Customer Communication Rating Scale and the Customer Display and Merchandise Interaction Rating Scale assigned values to observed customer behavior. The third customer behavior, length of time in the SHE, was measured in minutes. Data was analyzed using Chi Square tests for the Customer Communication Rating Scale and the Customer Display and Merchandise Interaction Rating Scale. An ANOVA was used to analyze the length of time in the SHE. The results indicated that both the mid-market and high-end lighting techniques were significantly better than the low-end lighting technique in stimulating customer display and merchandise interaction, and longer customer visits in the SHE. However, the results indicated that all three lighting techniques were equally effective at stimulating customer communication with store personnel. The study concluded that store lighting designs that include highlighting of displays and merchandise will stimulate customer display and merchandise interaction and longer customer visits. / Master of Science

Contained within this report are a series of case study field observations of selected retail design projects utilizing natural daylighting. Followed by the investigation and laboratory testing of three alternate roof fenestration patterns applicable to the least effective design. A description of the investigation procedure, a tabulation of all research findings and a section of concluding observations serve to round out this study. All of this done in an effort to prove that there exists a positive relationship between the effective incorporation of daylighting and owner/user satisfaction with the retail building type. / Master of Architecture