Shops

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Shop, Shopping, Store, Stores, Shopping Area, Shopping Center, Shopping Mall, Supermarket

Category

Commercial facilities, Concessions, Travel

Message / Function

For notice in general and to indicate the location of shopping facilities

	Source	Description
	Slovenia 2015	Side view of walking human figure pushing shopping trolley or cart
2)	Unknown	Human figure and side view of empty shopping trolley or cart
2)	ISO 7001	Side view of outline of shopping trolley or cart with items of shopping
	UIC 413	Side view of shopping trolley or cart with items of shopping
	DB	Side view of shopping trolley or cart with items of shopping
	Tern	Side view of shopping trolley or cart
	SADC	Side view of shopping trolley or cart
	SVI	Side view of shopping trolley or cart
	PC	Side view of shopping trolley or cart
1)	ON Testdesign	Side view of shopping trolley or cart
	BTA 1989	Side view of shopping basket
1)	ON Testdesign	Side view of shopping bag
	Pannicke & Eschenbach	Side view of bag
	EJP	Side view of bag
	Bolivia	Side view of shopping bag with letter C (Compras)
	UKFC	Side view of shopping bag with currency symbol
	Zurich Airport	Shopping bag with items of shopping
2)	Aicher & Krampen	Shopping bag with items of shopping
2)	Aicher & Krampen	Bag with food items
	Bolivia	Bag with food items
	NPS	Side view of drink gallon and apple
	SSRS	Side view of paper, bottle, and apple
	D/FW	Side view of pipe, paper and opened pack of cigarettes
	AIGA	Side view of gift box and pipe, bird’s-eye view of partially opened book
	Eco-Mo Foundation	Side view of gift box and bag, both overlapping
	CNIS	Side view of bag and gift box, both overlapping
	Ecuador	Side view of gift box and bag
	D/FW	Side view of gift box with ribbon bow
	WO'72	Side view of gift box with ribbon bow
1)	ON Testdesign	Side view of gift box with ribbon bow
	O'64	Bird’s-eye view of gift box with ribbon bow

Note: Some of the examples shown above were mirrored horizontally to contrast differences.

Discussion

Pictogram variants exist for of all kinds of shops or retail activities, but the number of variants for shops in general is limited. Numerous pictograms showing images of gift boxes were used especially at airports, mainly due to one of the predominating shopping intentions when travelling by plane. The collection above is focusing on variants originally intended to indicate the location of shopping facilities in general, but also shows variants used in tests concerning the referent Shops.

Studies regarding different cultural backgrounds conducted in several countries present research covering a number of the pictogram variants in use for this referent:

When the variants marked with 1) were studied in a Comprehension Test (Brugger, 1995), results showed that not a single version reached acceptable comprehensibility. Most wrong responses for the shopping bag were associated with left luggage, while the gift box with ribbon bow was often interpreted either as parcel drop off or left luggage. The empty shopping cart was frequently mixed up with a baggage trolley.

In a follow up project the four variants marked with 2) were tested for comprehensibility (Brugger, 1996). The shopping trolley with several items of shopping seems to be understood well enough with a comprehension score of 68.6 according to ISO 9186:1989. In contrast, the first variant of the table above with a human figure and side view of empty shopping trolley often was confused with baggage trolley/transport. Of the two variants from Aicher & Krampen (1977) the top one seems to be too abstract, while the other primarily was associated with packed lunch, which is the meaning originally intended.

In a later Japanese study to propose domestically unified graphical symbols based on scientific methods, the pictogram variant labeled as Eco-Mo Foundation proved to be understood far more often than most variants tested (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001). While a comprehension score of 56.3 is far from being sufficient, the combination of a shopping bag with a gift box in any case seems to be superior to renderings with just one item. This was confirmed by An & Chan (2017), who tested the sign from the Chinese standard GB/T 10001, Public Information Graphical Symbols, labeled CNIS in the table above: with about 88 % correct responses among Chinese respondents, this pictogram variant seems to be well comprehensible.

Regarding the message Supermarket 93.0 % of the respondents of a Comprehension Test conducted in Brazil answered correctly when a map symbol showing a side view of an empty shopping cart was presented (Fiori, 2008).

The more recent test results raise the question, if it would make sense to differentiate between Supermarket and Shopping Mall on basis of two different image contents.

Tests of pictograms of referent Shops

An, D. & Chan, E.H.W. (2017): Investigating the Comprehension of Public Symbols for Wayfinding in Transit Hubs in China. In: Rau, PL. (eds) Cross-Cultural Design. CCD 2017. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 10281. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57931-3_24

Brugger, Ch. (1995): Verständnistest 1995 - Im Auftrag der ÖBB und des ON - FNA 133. Vienna, November 1995.

Brugger: Ch. (1996): Verständnistest UIC Kodex Merkblatt 413. Report to ÖBB GD 02 (Austrian Railways), Vienna, March 1996.

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.

Fiori, S. R. (2008): Mapas para o turismo e a interatividade - proposta teórica e prática. Tese de Doutorado - Depto. de Geografia, FFLCH-USP.