Business Logo Signing

Abstract

Specific service signs provide motorists with business identification information along freeway approaches to interchanges. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices limits the number of these signs along an interchange approach to four and the number of logo panels per sign to six, although there are continuing requests to increase the number of panels allowed per sign. The present research evaluated specific service signs with four, six, or nine panels per sign and with all logo-based panels or all text-based panels. Participants were asked to determine whether a particular business was present on a sign. Mean reaction times indicated that for nine-panel signs, younger drivers took approximately 2.2 s to determine correctly the presence of a business, while older drivers took approximately 2.9 s. In considering drivers of all ages, an increase from six to nine panels brings mean reaction times from 1.8 s to 2.5 s for text signs and from 1.9 s to 2.5 s for logo signs. In a second task, participants were given 2 s to view each sign before reporting the businesses present on the sign. Participants reported three to four businesses on average, regardless of the number of panels on the sign. Considering the generally accepted standard that eye glances away from the forward roadway for greater than 2 s are unsafe, the study concluded that the benefit of providing more service information is presumably not great enough to outweigh the risk of information overload and driver distraction.