Survey Says Signs Make a Big Difference

FedEx Office recently released a sign effectiveness study the company conducted with Ketchum Global Research & Analytics and ORC International. The results? On-premise signage is hugely effective in bringing consumers inside and generating sales. The caveat to this result is that a bad sign can have the opposite effect.

Sign effectiveness studyWhile this may seem like common sense, especially to those of us who make their livelihood in the sign and graphics market, why are there so many crummy and crumbling signs out there? The answer is likely that there are businesses along Main Street, suburbia and even Wall Street that haven’t made that connection.

This study is a great step in the direction of getting those reticent prospects on board with the concept. The findings were based on a telephone omnibus survey conducted in March 2012 of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older.

Some of the findings from the study include:

  • 76 percent of consumers have entered a store simply because the sign caught their interest; 79 percent remembered the business at a later time
  • 63 percent were deterred from entering a store by misspellings on the sign; the absence of signs deterred 58 percent
  • 34 percent said that two signs was the optimum amount for a business to have on or around its storefront; 19 percent said three signs; 83 percent said one to three signs with the rest saying four or more signs
  • 68 percent think a store’s signage is reflective of the quality inside
  • 90 percent are more likely to try out a business if the sign is easily readable
  • 70 percent said the name of the business was the most important element on a sign, followed by type of business (65 percent), logo (40 percent) and tagline (27 percent)

Click here for all the numbers from the What’s Your Sign survey, which also includes information about the effect signs have on women vs. men, and older vs. younger consumers.