Exit Choice in an Emergency Evacuation Scenario Is Influenced By Exit Familiarity and Neighbor Behavior

'Movement-to-the-familiar' has been observed during fire-evacuation. We investigated how social-influence affects movement-to-the-familiar. Presented with two exits (familiar/unfamiliar) in a simulated virtual reality fire-evacuation, participants significantly preferred the familiar one, especially when they saw virtual neighbors also going there. However, when the neighbors went to the unfamiliar exit, social-influence negated exit-familiarity.