The Effects of Atmospheres

Abstract

This contribution deals with the effects of atmospheres. It considers the interest in atmospheres as part of a fundamental change in the mode of individual reasoning which is characterised in contemporary post-industrial societies by an ‘experience orientation’. Atmospheres, which highlight the fact that the subjective state of a person can change in relation to the sensory qualities of the environment, become an interesting concept within this development. The chapter starts from the observation that – in spite of the importance that atmospheres have for spaces of leisure and tourism – there is little research on atmospheres in leisure and tourism studies. It presents three dimensions of effects of atmospheres (emotions and affective tonalities, attention, gesture) that allow us to understand why and how atmospheres matter. The second part links the effects of atmospheres to leisure and tourism, where it proposes distinguishing the corporeal and the sociocultural dimensions of atmospheres. Finally, it discusses the possibilities of designing atmospheres and stresses the necessity for further empirical research.