Research has found that depending on the situation, ceiling height affects how consumers process information and therefore, can benefit or impair their responses.
The research found that, when reasonably salient, a higher versus a lower ceiling can stimulate the concepts of freedom versus confinement. This causes people to engage in either more free-form, abstract thinking or more detail-specific thought. Thus, depending on what the task at hand requires, the consequences of the ceiling can be positive or negative.
It comes without saying that even the ceiling can have a fundamental role when designing all types of spaces. However, this can be even more effective in retail spaces where the ceiling choice could affect how consumers process point-of-purchase information, sales and more generally influence what products they buy.
Author: Alice Micheletti