Research on the Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Signage System in Macao's Historical Districts to Multiple Groups

The historical district wayfinding system in Macau, as a carrier of the integration of Chinese and Portuguese cultures, faces perceptual differences and functional demand conflicts among three groups: residents, tourists and students. The study, based on 231 mixed questionnaires (including open-ended questions) and field research, focused on the front of the Legislative Assembly (the core tourist area), the Red Market and the Sa Lai Tou district (the residential area), quantitatively analyzed the visual sensitivity, emotional acceptance and functional requirements of the three groups towards Portuguese elements. The study found that the frequency of cultural exposure drove the three groups to show stratified characteristics of "identity-oriented - experience-oriented - cognition-oriented". Based on the integrated data, an optimized strategy of symbolic function adaptation, emotional stratified response, and cultural progressive interpretation was proposed, and scenario-based solutions were designed for the two typical blocks to provide theoretical references for the design of wayfinding systems in multicultural cities.