In a number of instances in my work lately, I've had pushback from colleagues saying "Unfortunately, most people will not read signage" and similar. While I accept that in some cases they are correct, this claim both annoys me in how it stymies my efforts and how it is making an assumption that I cannot verify.
The specific application that has most recently come to mind is cigarette butts being placed in planters instead of the cigarette butt dispenser. We would like the butts to go in the correct location, but it is plain and black and a few steps further away. I suggested signage to direct people to the dispenser and was blocked with "but they won't read". However I suspect that HALF the problem is people are unaware of its presence! Signage won't solve the issue of it being less convenient to access.
Can anybody direct me to experience or research suggesting whether people do, indeed, simply ignore any and all signage?
The specific application that has most recently come to mind is cigarette butts being placed in planters instead of the cigarette butt dispenser. We would like the butts to go in the correct location, but it is plain and black and a few steps further away. I suggested signage to direct people to the dispenser and was blocked with "but they won't read". However I suspect that HALF the problem is people are unaware of its presence! Signage won't solve the issue of it being less convenient to access.
Can anybody direct me to experience or research suggesting whether people do, indeed, simply ignore any and all signage?
This is an interesting dilemma. When I was Waste Diversion Coordinator at the University of Ottawa, we had those kinds of dispensers so I'm familiar with the problem you're talking about. In community-based social marketing, signage is considered a "prompt", which is a reminder for people to engage in a desired behaviour. There is evidence that prompts alone do work in encouraging people to dispose of their waste. A project in the Netherlands that provided a prompt over a waste receptacle activated social norms regarding littering and resulted in a 50% reduction in litter.
You will see the best results in waste reduction if the signage is close in space and time to the desired behaviour. The signage should also be noticeable and self-explanatory. In your case, it is very likely that the main barrier people are facing in disposing of their cigarette butts properly is that they don't notice the dispensers. An alternative to signage beside or above the dispensers would be to paint them to look like a cigarette, as in the image below. These ones are for recycling cigarette butts, but it gives you an idea of what could work, as the dispensers are quite noticeable and the instructions are clear.
I hope this helps.
Source:
de Kort, Y.A., McCalley, L.T. & Midden, C.J. (2008). "Persuasive trash cans: Activation of littering norms by design". Environment and Behavior, 40(6), 870 - 891.