A sign experiment at Grand Teton National Park aims to help keep bears safe by tapping into visitors' emotions - and their zest for viewing wildlife.
Researchers at the University of Montana designed and tested the signs in the park with unique images, text, and colors to encourage drivers to slow down and be more aware of bears.
"Although decades of research has examined the effectiveness of messaging in changing visitor behavior in parks, there is limited research understanding the role of graphic design in the presentation of these messages," Miranda Foster, a UM graduate student who helped lead the project, said in an email.
About 1,000 grizzly bears live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes Grand Teton. At least 51 of the region's grizzlies have been killed by cars in the past 15 years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"Human-bear conflicts, particularly speeding and roadside bear interactions, are a top management concern, especially as automobile collisions are a top cause of bear mortality in the GYE," Foster said.
The problem gained renewed attention last year when famous and beloved grizzly bear 399 was hit and killed in Snake River Canyon, south of Grand Teton. At 28 years old, she was tracked and monitored throughout her life and was considered the most photographed grizzly bear in the world.
The sign experiment played on the same kind of emotional responses elicited by 399's death. One of the most effective signs was one Foster called "sad bear."
"(It) attempts to appeal to the driver with storybook-style illustration and typographic style, drawing on associations with innocence, nascence, or vulnerability, to reinforce the message, 'when a cub dies, our community mourns,'" Foster said.
Another, styled similarly and with the phrase “cub crossing ahead," put people on alert to watch for something they really wanted to see.
"Our results suggest that this positive, non-regulatory messaging that presents opportunities (rather than rules) to the driver may be effective in changing behavior with more staying power by encouraging sustained increased attentiveness to the roadside and slower speeds," Foster said.
Overall, the signs decreased the odds of speeding by up to 35%.
"We were surprised that the study worked so well," Foster said. "The significance of our results exceeded our expectations and truly demonstrates the value of combining social science-based messaging, visual communication, and graphic strategy, and investing the time in an iterative design process to create effective and evidence-based signage."
Click here to learn more about the research and similar projects.
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