Does the Type of Font Face Induce the Selection?

Does the Type of Font Face Induce the Selection? Riho Ueki, Meiji University Kouta Yokoyama, Satoshi Nakamura Meiji University HCII 2023, July 28th

Which Ice Cream Flavor do you like? Vanilla chocolate Strawberry 2

Our Works This study investigated the effect on choice behavior when three choices were presented in different fonts. Vanilla chocolate Strawberry 3

Introduction 4

When making a choice, people are influenced by a variety of factors. 5

When making a choice, people are influenced by a variety of factors. 6

Effect of Font on Product Selection Impression of a product’s package can influence consumers' product preferences and purchasing behavior. 7

Effect of Font on Product Selection • Font affects consumers' evaluation of products. • Logo design of product even affects taste of product as perceived by purchaser. hamburger hamburger hamburger 8

Research Question Does the font itself affect the selection? 9

Goldilocks Effect The effect is that when there are three choices, people are more likely to choose the middle choice. S M L 10

Goldilocks Effect The effect is that when there are three choices, people are more likely to choose the middle choice. My Question Could this Goldilocks effect be applied to font as well? S M L 11

Three Levels of Font weak strong S M L 12

Three Levels of Font Apple Apple Apple weak strong S M L 13

Fontender System [Saito+ 2019] • Fontender system can convert a font into a mathematical formula and generate a fusion font of several fonts. • Impression value of the fused font is between the impression values of the two fonts before fusion. 14

Hypothesis When three choices are presented in three different fonts on the impression axis, a choice presented in fusion font is more likely to be chosen. Mincho Fusion Gothic 15

Experiment 16

Task Design 10 categories and choices • We prepared 10 categories to select • We asked parcipants to select a target from three choices in each category 19

Font Selection Mincho Kaisho Gothic ※ Hannotate ※DynaComware Corp, DynaFont, https://www.dynacw.co.jp/index.aspx 20

System Overview Q1. Which dogs are you interested in? Azawak Barbet Sloughi • Questions at the top, side-by-side options in the center • All questions, choices, and fonts (mixed conditions) are random. 22

Results 23

Participants Data • The experiment was conducted in Yahoo! crowdsourcing. • 946 participants （ September 30, 2020 ） 24

Results and Analysis of Selection Guidance by Fonts • Expected value of selection is 33.3% • If the selection rate is higher than this expected value, it means that the option is more likely to be chosen. • Selection rate of an option presented in fused font was • This results was lower than the expected value. • Male 32.3%, Female 33.1% • PC 32.3%, Mobile device 33.0% 32.7% 26

Results and Analysis of Selection Guidance by Fonts • Expected value of fusion font selected is 33.3% Fusion fonts were not likely to be chosen, and our hypothesis was not supported. • Actual selection rate was 32.7% male 32.3%, female 33.1%, PC 32.3%, mobile device 33.0% 27

Fused fonts are not more likely to be selected • Goldilocks effect is most often applied to numerical phases such as quantity and price. • Impressions in fonts were not numerical. $3 $4 $5 28

Additional Experiment 32

Additional Experiment Unified condition Unified condition: presenting multiple options in the same font. 33

Ramen Soup Selection Rate in Unified Condition It is conceivable that different fonts have different imagined tastes. Mincho みそ しょうゆ とんこつ Miso Gothic Soy sauce Tonkotsu みそ しょうゆ とんこつ Miso Soy sauce Tonkotsu 34

Ramen Soup Selection Rate in Unified Condition It is conceivable that different fonts have different imagined tastes. 27.4% Mincho 46.0% Soy sauce Tonkotsu みそ しょうゆ とんこつ Miso 45.9% Gothic 26.6% 23.4% 30.6% みそ しょうゆ とんこつ Miso Soy sauce Tonkotsu 35

Selected Position difference between PC and Mobile selection rate by display position for each device Left Center Right PC 32.2% 34.8% 33.0% Mobile 32.3% 33.1% 34.6% 36

High tendency to select center position for PCs and right position for mobile devices • When right-handed smartphone users answer with one hand, thumb is close to right side of screen. Q7. Which flowers are you interested in? • In the experiment, people wanted to tap the closer option? 37

High tendency to select center position for PCs and right position for mobile devices • Many users of Yahoo! Crowdsourcing are smartphone users. Q7. Which flowers are you interested in? It may be possible to induce a selection by placing theusers options you want people to choose • When right-handed answer with oneon hand, close to thethumb rightis side for smartphones only. right side of screen. Screenshot of experiment on iPhone X 38

Conclusion • Hypothesis: Fusion font is more likely to be chosen. • Fusion fonts were not easily selected. • Because impressions in fonts were not numerical. • Selection rate for ramen soup "Tonkotsu" and "Miso" was as high as 46%. • Because respondents had image of choices. • Middle position for PCs and right position for mobile devices were more likely to be selected. • Because right-handed users answer with one hand. 41

Future • Verify whether the Goldilocks effect is more likely to appear if the fusion font is placed in the middle and the impression value changes gradually. • In the future, use other existing fonts, fonts with complex shapes or English fonts. Vanilla chocolate Strawberry 42

Thank you for listening. Vanilla chocolate Strawberry 43