Reflective Clothing is Attractive to Pedestrians

Abstract

Motor vehicle crash fatalities involving pedestrians result in 1.8 deaths per 100,000 population annually in the US. Most of these fatalities are attributed to the pedestrian not being seen in time for the driver to avoid a collision, particularly under poor lighting conditions. Previous research shows that reflective clothing worn at night significantly increases a pedestrian's visual conspicuity to drivers, especially when worn on a part of the body that moves. The purpose of the present research was to examine pedestrians' willingness to pay an additional dollar amount for clothing providing increased conspicuity at night. Two studies were conducted with sample sizes of n = 340 and 325, respectively, comprised of university students and non-students. Findings from these two studies suggest that over 49 percent of respondents would be willing to pay an additional amount ($33 versus $30) for a sweat shirt or jacket, and over 60 percent would pay the same additional amount for athletic shoes. These findings suggest that a relatively large segment of the population are interested in and would be willing to spend more for clothing with reflective material. In both studies, significantly more women than men selected the reflective material option. Respondents spending more time outdoors at dusk or at night walking, running or jogging professed a significantly greater willingness to purchase the reflective clothing than respondents reporting spending less time outdoors at dusk or after dark. Implications for product marketing and future research are discussed.