2024 Volume 31 Issue 4 Pages 573-586
Retail stores tend to have a vast array of products organized by category with in-store signage. In-store signage is meant to facilitate product search, just like street signage and signaling in text; however, signage can limit the cues people use in product search, especially if they focus on signage only, making it difficult for them to acquire and organize information by themselves for finding products. Previous studies have reported that older adults have difficulties obtaining structured information when using information systems to search for targets using category labels or signage only. The present study aimed to examine whether and how in-store signage affects product search behavior of older adults in a simulated physical retail store. Four products were searched one by one in a simulated drugstore by older and younger adults, while the presentation of signs was manipulated, such as no signage, usual signage, or only signage (focused signage) conditions. The results showed that sign presentation enabled simple inference using in-store signage for both age groups. However, when the target products did not match in-store signage, sign labels inhibited spontaneous labeling of a shelf or flexible inference in product searches. Although the experiment was conducted in a simulated retail store with physical space, the findings have implications for signage in virtual information spaces, such as online stores.
