THE SIGNAGE FOUNDATION FOR COMMUNICATION EXCELLENCE, INC.

As an offshoot to its economic study with the University of San Diego, the California Electric Sign Association solicited testimonials from several national and regional franchise clients describing the before-and-after effects of a change in signage (CESA 1997). In a letter to the CESA Sign Guidelines Committee in March 1996, a Jack-in-the-Box restaurant executive indicated that the addition of a new pylon sign at one store resulted in an 8.8 percent increase in weekly sales at that store in 1992. A control group of 15 Jack-in-the-Box stores at which there were no signage changes experienced an average 4.9 percent increase in sales during the same time period.

The marketing department of Cendant Corporation, the nation's largest business form franchiser, reported an increase in rooms rented as a result of new signage at one of the company's Motel 6 franchises. In December 1994, the subject motel increased the height of its pole sign from 45 feet to 75 feet. The new sign height was necessary to increase visibility to motorists and to avoid an obstruction from trees. The number of rooms sold increased 19 percent from 1994 to 1995. The letter notes that no other changes were made to the interchange or the adjacent roadway. (The marketing department additionally reports that fewer than 50 percent of economy motel lodgers make advance reservations.)^[42]

In 1988, a survey of citizen preferences about automobile dealership signage was conducted by market researchers at the University of San Diego (Brown 1988). The City of San Diego had just enacted new restrictions on the size and placement of automobile dealership signage. The purpose of the study was to ascertain citizen's opinions about the signage. Survey questions about signage were embedded in a broader market survey of 350 customers visiting the service departments of eight San Diego automobile dealerships. The results indicated that 18 percent of customers became aware of the service department when they saw the sign. More than 68 percent of respondents believed that signage was important in helping them locate the dealership. Most of respondents (76 percent) indicated that the signs were fine at the present size (which reflected the new stricter size requirements), while 22 percent thought the signs should be larger. Researchers concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that a significant group of people thought that automobile dealership signage should be removed or reduced in size. This was despite the fact that the signs at the dealerships were some of the largest commercial signs in the study area.