Rightly written: the influence of handwritten typefaces in app icons on the downloads of consumers with different regulatory focuses

With the popularization of smartphones, various types of mobile applications (apps) have been integrated into every aspect of people’s lives. Recently, the insertion of advertising slogans into app icons has become a new promotional method. Accordingly, this research examines the influence of advertising slogan typefaces in app icons on the downloads of consumers with different regulatory focuses. Specifically, the results of two studies demonstrate that consumers with a greater promotion (prevention) focus have a stronger download intention toward apps with handwritten (machine-written) typefaces in advertising slogans in their app icons. Moreover, this effect is mediated by consumers’ risk perceptions regarding app services or functions, and the effect of time pressure as a boundary condition is emphasized. Our findings thus not only contribute to the literature concerning symbolic association, typeface inference, and regulatory focus but also highlight the risk of using handwritten typefaces and provide operational methods that can be applied to increase download intentions.