Artifacts and Organizations

4

Perceptual Biases and Misinterpretation of Artifacts

Kimberly D. Elsbach

University of California, Davis

 

In this chapter, I look at differences between the way physical artifacts are perceived by observers and the way they are intended to be perceived by their displayers. I focus on artifacts that are displayed and observed in corporate office settings which allows me to draw upon recent empirical research and to comment on one of the most common organizational contexts in which physical identity markers are observed (Elsbach, 2004).

In the following sections, I define physical identity markers and review research suggesting that such markers exist and are readily perceived in corporate office settings. I then propose that such markers may ...