Society. Spaces. Screens
Abstract
As urbanization and modernization accelerate, reducing citizens’ mental stress has become a global public issue. This situation has prompted the food service sector to adopt healing marketing strategies to attract and retain customers seeking restoration from stress and fatigue. Biophilic design, which integrates natural elements into built environments to promote human well-being, plays a significant role in this context. Living plants, along with images of nature in two-dimensional forms including those displayed on electronic screens have been widely introduced as biophilic design elements in many café environments. However, the effectiveness of these elements, especially images of nature in café settings, remains less explored. This study aimed to assess the restorative potential of living plants and Images of Nature in cafés, based on Attention Restoration Theory, which evaluates being away, fascination, coherence, compatibility, and legibility as dimensions of restoration. Additionally, the study examines their impact on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. A quantitative research methodology was employed, surveying 251 café consumers and utilizing linear regression for data analysis. The results reveal that living plants and images of nature significantly influence the dimensions of being away, fascination, compatibility, and legibility while the perception of images of nature enhances the coherence of the environment. On the other hand, Both living plants and images of nature contribute to greater customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. The findings emphasize the practical use of living plants and images of nature as biophilic design elements to promote restoration and offer strategic insights for the food service industry.
Jingyi Gao holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Design Arts from Renmin University of China. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Department of Interior Architectural and Built Environment at Yonsei University, affiliated with the Cultural Space Design Laboratory. Additionally, she serves as a researcher at the Yonsei University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation and the BK21 Research Foundation. She has published several journals and conference papers in KCI-indexed and international journals organized by the Taylor & Francis, Architectural Institute of Korea (KIA), the Korean I
Ho-kyun Lim received Bachelor of Engineering from Hong-Ik University, a Master’s in Interior Architecture from Ecole Camondo, and an Engineering Ph.D. from Hong-Ik University. He has been taught in the Department of Interior Architectural and Built Environment at Yonsei University since 2004. He is a director of the Korean Institute of Interior Design (KllD) and the Korean Institute of Culture Architecture (KICA), and vice president of the Korean Society of Modern Hanok (KSMH). In the year of 2009, he was awarded a national recognition as the man of merit by the minister of MCST (Ministry of culture, sports and tourism).