WiseStamp has published a report on how recipients view branded email signatures, finding higher attention levels for branded signatures than for unbranded ones.
The report, titled In The Eyes of The Customer, examined how people read everyday emails and whether signatures influence trust and attention. The research used infrared eye-tracking to monitor how chief marketing officers, senior marketing professionals and technology specialists viewed messages with and without signatures.
Among the main findings, branded email signatures received 93% more attention than unbranded versions. Emails that included a signature held attention for longer, while signatures with added elements such as headshots, banners, social media icons and review badges also drew more viewing time.
Recipients spent 58% more time on emails that included a signature and reached the signature 47% faster than in emails without one. In tests using otherwise identical emails, messages with a signature held attention 50% longer.
The study also found that signatures were often the first and last parts of an email viewed by participants. This suggests recipients use sender information as a recognition cue while scanning a message.
Design details
The report also broke down how different signature features affected viewing patterns. Signatures that included a headshot received 15% more viewing than those using a logo alone, while signatures with a banner produced 18% more total view time and led to a 15% faster time to first fixation on the signature.
Other branding elements also appeared to shape attention. Signatures with social media icons drew 14% more viewing time than those with hyperlinks, signatures using brand colours received 15% more attention than black-and-white versions, and signatures that included third-party review badges drew 55% more viewing time.
WiseStamp also said emails with a signature recorded 23% lower unsubscribe rates. It did not provide further detail on how unsubscribe behaviour was measured in relation to the eye-tracking work.
How it worked
Participants viewed what WiseStamp described as realistic day-to-day emails rather than promotional messages or newsletters. The study measured fixation time, last area of interest viewed, time to first fixation and pupil dilation to assess how strongly readers engaged with different parts of an email.
Participants included chief marketing officers of WiseStamp customers and partners, as well as technology experts from companies including Microsoft, Google, Monday, Elementor, Lightico, Airwallex, Foretellix, Rapaport, Cellebrite, Axonius and D-ID. The aim was to understand how marketing professionals consume email content and whether signatures interrupt normal scanning patterns.
The findings come as businesses continue to rely on email for proposals, follow-ups and routine customer communication, even as other digital channels multiply. That makes smaller visual elements such as signatures a point of interest for marketers looking to reinforce identity within existing communications.
WiseStamp framed the results as evidence that signatures can shape reader confidence without diverting attention from the body of the message. In the comparison tests, the message content did not change, but the presence of sender details affected how long readers stayed with the email.
Daniel Zweig, chief marketing officer at WiseStamp, said the company sees signatures as part of how recipients judge the legitimacy of an email.
"Email remains one of the most consistent communication channels for any organization. From proposals to customer follow-ups, these messages are opened with intent and scanned quickly. At the same time, recipients subconsciously look for signals that help them decide if an email is legitimate and worth their time. Our report validates that email signatures not only build trust, but also, are one of the most impactful brand interactions an organization has," said Zweig.
WiseStamp said more than 1.5 million customers worldwide use its email signature management platform.