According to a study by Himanshu Mishra, Arul Mishra, and Oscar Moreno of the University of Utah, threats on your left are apparently scarier than those on your right.
In research conducted in Bucaramanga, Colombia, pedestrians crossed a one-way street 4% faster when traffic was approaching from their left, and sat 17% farther from a threatening-looking homeless man in a row of outdoor chairs if the man was to their left.
While the specific reasons are unclear, this could be interesting from various points of view. Surely store managers already have considerable knowledge with regard to placement of certain products to increase the tendency of customers to buy. Should be an interesting space to watch out for.
Given just the above example, can you think of areas where this effect can be used to make processes simpler or to improve lives?
You can read more about it here: HBR: Threats on your left
