Composing Sensory Stimuli to Optimize Hospitality Environments

This study introduces an adapted theoretical framework that integrates aesthetic and environmental psychology to explain how multisensory stimuli influence consumer responses. It focuses on a negative quadratic relationship between arousal and consumer reactions, challenging the linear assumptions often cited in stimulus–behavior research. A laboratory experiment was conducted using multisensory stimuli (sound/music and lighting) and motivational scenarios within an immersive café environment modeled in Revit. A total of eighty-nine student participants were randomly assigned to one of eight experimental conditions. Using SPSS, a series of mixed-design ANOVAs was performed to examine the effects of lighting, sound, and motivation on perceived comfort and arousal. Pearson correlations, as well as linear and quadratic regressions, were used to investigate the proposed arousal function. The results indicate that an intermediate level of arousal (a negative quadratic function) better predicts behavioral responses. Lighting and sound were found to significantly influence comfort and arousal. Comfort emerged as a stronger predictor of pleasure, while pleasure more strongly predicted behavioral intentions. This study contributes to atmospherics and hospitality design research by validating the S-O-R-B (Stimuli–Organism–Response–Behavior) framework, adapted from the S-O-R paradigm, environmental psychology, and aesthetic theory. The proposed framework offers a more nuanced understanding of how sensory inputs shape user experience and provides practical guidance for hospitality stakeholders on optimizing store stimuli to enhance design performance and foster creativity.