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Odd Font Choice Increases Sales?

by Steve Peters Benn
4 replies
Hey all!

Just thought I would pop in with this quick drive by. I just found an article on the BBC about some research done at Princeton, that found learning (retention really) increases with less easy to read fonts such as comic sans (perhaps they meant less familiar, I wouldn't call it hard??) and Bodoni MT.

So, we are all told to increase sales, increase readability.

Makes sense?

Is that because sales requires the mind to be passive, not learning?

Or, have we all got it wrong, would more difficult fonts increase engagment? How about starting off with Arial, then switching?

Are we looking to engage the mind or hypnotise it?

Anyways, here is the article:

BBC News - Making things hard to read 'can boost learning'
#choice #font #increases #odd #sales
  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    Retention and readability are two entirely different
    things.

    I want people to read the content - not necessarily
    remember it.

    Plus, in the study, the people were only given short
    lists of a few words on each line rather than a long
    sales letter.

    For me, the readability of my content and sales
    materials is key so I use fonts that have been
    specifically designed to be easily read from a
    computer screen, e.g. Verdana.

    I want to make it as easy as possible for people to
    read whatever I write so that it's much easier for
    them to get to the bottom and take the Most
    Wanted Action     for that piece.

    Dedicated to your success,

    Shaun
    Signature

    .

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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Henshaw
    An interesting experiment, but carried out on very small sample sets in limited selected establishments. Mainly young people, with probably good eye sight and with a propensity to learn.

    I'm not sure how this would pan out in the real world of marketing and sales. It would need far more rigorous trials, I suspect.

    As you allude to in your post, it would be interesting to split test this in the real world, by using one's normal font such as Arial or Times New Roman and one of the less easy to read fonts. Then compare results. I wonder if font size may have an affect too.

    I don't know whether such split tests have been undertaken, but if any Warrior has additional information, then please do post.

    Regards,
    Jeff.
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    • Profile picture of the author David Jackson
      Those types of studies are fine, and often produce interesting, if not useful information. But you should always conduct your own tests, and draw your own conclusions.

      David Jackson
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      Powerful, Free Marketing Tips to Help Grow Your Business!
      http://www.free-marketing-tips-blog.com

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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Peters Benn
    Shaun, my own experience agrees with yours, but I've learned never to assume anything is a hard and fast rule. Plus, for a small cash investment I can test this and have some idea.

    Well, I'm split testing this as we speak, with one arial only, one combo arial / comic and one comic only. We will see what the results are in terms of signups and sales... Should be interesting though
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