Persuasive Methods of Communication

Devon County Council’s Sustainable and Safer Travel Team use a variety of avenues to communicate with the public. Examples include leaflets, websites and road signs.

Technical road signs include Variable Message Signs (VMS) which are used for a variety of reasons on the highway including providing information, warnings or instructions to drivers and riders2. The use of VMS displaying information on disruptions to the network has been suggested to reduce its effectiveness as a channel for communicating urgent warnings.

This report highlights key aspects of communication design that can be applied to VMS and other methods of communication that local authorities can use to ensure messages are exchanged effectively.

This report examines evidence that informs the design of communications to increase the effectiveness of transferring information and communicating with the public. The key areas identified in the report include a variety of design variables (use of wording, colour and pictorials), mode of message delivery, the risk communicator and the audience.

The main modes of communication delivery outlined include print, audio and audiovisual. Maximum levels of compliance are obtained when messages are delivered simultaneously by print and audio. Audio delivery alone results in the poorest memory for material, followed by audio presentation with visual aids.