Persuasive Signage and Effective Communication
Introduction
Special issue of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding
Call for Papers – Special Issue: Persuasive Signage and Effective Communication
Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, Volume 4 Number 2
The editors of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding are pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue to be published in August 2020. The special issue is titled “Persuasive Signage and Effective Communication.”
Focus of the Special Issue
Signage has long been the single most pervasive mechanism for business to educate, inform and persuade potential customers. Fundamental to the nature of signage is its ability to shape and frequently change perceptions. Yet, the signage that consumers ultimately see is a product of sometimes complex process and multiple factors that include:
- Regulation
- Business needs
- Characteristics of the consumer with whom the sign intends to communicate; and
- Use of persuasive text, symbols and other visual elements
This special issue of IJSW seeks to bring together research to assess, debate and ultimately understand how signage influences consumer perception and response. As such, the issue seeks to explore whether, when, and how signage is an effective form of business communication. To accomplish these goals, the focus of this special issue will be on the role of aesthetics and visual information processing as elements that affect signage in the context of a community. As such, this focus is at the intersection of consumer perception, regulation, and shopper experience as they influence the design and use of signage. Types of signs to be covered can range from a single wall sign for a small locally-owned business to a multi-sign advertising and branding system for an international corporation. In this regard, the proposed special issue sets out to explore questions such as:
- How do community groups or individual citizen influence signage?
- What strategies, approaches, and tools can be used to assess signage environments?
- How can stakeholders (e.g. businesses, governmental institutions, community groups, etc.) work together to provide effective signage that meets each of their needs?
- How does consumer information processing influence signage effectiveness?
- What capabilities are needed to institute effective signage?
Timetable for Submission, Decisions and Publication
- Submissions of full paper (accepted on a rolling basis; submission by April 30, 2020 strongly encouraged)
- Projected Decisions: June 2020
- Projected Publication: August 2020
Further Information and Considerations
- Co-editors: Dr. Aparna Sundar (University of Washington) and Dr. Hélène Deval (Dalhousie University);
- For consideration of potential topics, send a 100-word abstract to the co-editors: Dr. Aparna Sundar and Dr. Hélène Deval;
- Manuscripts from all disciplines are welcome;
- On topic practitioner technical reports will be considered for inclusion, as appropriate.
The Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding seeks to provide a forum where scholars from a variety of academic disciplines (such as urban design, planning, law, business, economics, transportation, engineering, communication, visual studies, art, architecture, landscape architecture, industrial design, and graphic design) may publish their scholarship dedicated to wayfinding and the importance of effective signage.
Information for Authors