Display Blindness: The Effect of Expectations on Attention towards Digital Signage

In this paper we show how audience expectations towards what is presented on public displays can correlate with their attention towards these displays. Similar to the effect of Banner Blindness on the Web, displays for which users expect uninteresting content (e.g. advertisements) are often ignored. We investigate this effect in two studies. In the first, interviews with 91 users at 11 different public displays revealed that for most public displays, the audience expects boring advertisements and so ignores the displays. This was exemplified by the inclusion of two of our own displays. One, the iDisplay, which showed information for students, was looked at more often than the other (MobiDiC) which showed coupons for shops. In a second study, we conducted repertory grid interviews with 17 users to identify the dimensions that users believe to influence whether they look at public displays. We propose possible solutions to overcome this “Display Blindness” and increase audience attention towards public displays.