Typography Talks: Influencing Vintage Anemoia and Product Safety Perceptions with Vintage Typography

Drawing from the concept of anemoia, the authors propose a new typology of nostalgia called vintage anemoia. Vintage anemoia encompasses consumers’ positive and nostalgic response to vintage cues, regardless of specific historical periods or individual lived experiences. Through a series of seven studies, the authors demonstrate that vintage typography, by evoking feelings of vintage anemoia, can enhance consumer perceptions of product safety. This effect has positive downstream consequences on key marketing outcomes, including brand attitude, purchase intention, and willingness to pay. Furthermore, the effect of vintage anemoia on product safety perceptions remains unaffected by whether product safety information indicates that a product is safe or unsafe. However, the effect diminishes when an explicit indexical cue (year of establishment) is utilized or when promoting futuristic products. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge in marketing and provide insights for marketers on leveraging vintage typography as a strategic tool for creating emotional connections with consumers and enhancing perceptions of product safety.

The use of nostalgia in marketing has become a prominent strategy employed by brands to elicit positive connections with the past and drive consumer response (Singh, Sharma, and Kumar 2021).This approach often takes the form of retro-marketing or retro-branding (Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003), which involves revitalizing old marketing communications (e.g., jingles, brand logos, packaging) and seamlessly integrating them into contemporary contexts (Lasaleta and Loveland 2019;Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002;Singh, Sharma, and Kumar 2021).Typography holds semantic meaning and symbolic associations that shape brand meaning, consumer brand memory, and perceptions (e.g., Celhay, Boysselle, and Cohen 2015;Hagtvedt 2011;McCarthy and Mothersbaugh 2002).While vintage products evoke positive consumer response through nostalgia (e.g., Keim and Wagner 2018), the potential of vintage typographical cues to induce nostalgia has only been suggested by scholars (e.g., Orth and Gal 2014).
The motivation for this study stems from recognizing the inherent potential of vintage typography in establishing associations with the past and invoking a sense of nostalgia through typographic symbolism.Existing typologies of nostalgia, such as personal (e.g., Stern 1992) and vicarious (e.g., Goulding 2001) forms, do not fully capture the consumer response to vintage cues.Drawing from the concept of anemoia (Koenig 2021), which refers to nostalgia for a time one has never experienced, we introduce "vintage anemoia," a unique type of vicarious nostalgia, to describe consumers' emotional connection to the past and appreciation for the aesthetics, fashion, styles, design, and cultural elements associated with vintage cues, irrespective of a specific historical period or individual lived experiences.
We explore the impact of vintage typography and vintage anemoia on consumer product safety perceptions.Links to the past have been associated with quality and craftmanship, as well as times when things were safer and more understandable (e.g., vintage goods; Barauskaitė, Gineikienė, and Fennis 2022;Sarial-Abi et al. 2017;Thompson, Pollio, and Locander 1994).Further, nostalgia serves as a regulatory resource that activates safety cues, providing the same physiological and calming response that makes people feel safe (e.g., Fleury et al. 2022;Sedikides and Wildschut 2018).Threats to safety can induce nostalgic responses, as well as provide a protective effect against negative situations (e.g., Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003;Stern 1992).We propose that using vintage typography in marketing materials, by evoking feelings of vintage anemoia, can activate safety cues and increase perceptions of product safety.
We explored the effects of vintage typography and vintage anemoia on consumer product safety perceptions in seven studies, including one contextual field study.Results confirm that the influence of vintage typography (vs.control) on product safety perceptions and subsequent positive downstream consequences is explained by vintage anemoia.The effect manifested regardless of product safety information provided; however, it diminished when an explicit indexical cue was provided and when a futuristic product was promoted.
Overall, we seek to advance the understanding of the role of typography in marketing, specifically examining the implications of vintage typography and its potential to evoke emotional connections to the past and influence brand inferences.By introducing vintage anemoia, we aim to provide insights into the nostalgic appeal of vintage aesthetics.We seek to contribute to the existing body of knowledge in marketing and provide insights for marketers on leveraging vintage typography as a strategic tool for creating emotional connections and enhancing perceptions of product safety.

Conceptual Development and Hypotheses
Typography is one of the most important brand elements (Lelis et al. 2022).While the terms "typography," "typeface," and "font" are often used interchangeably (Cullen 2012), they refer to different elements of the visual representation of text.Typeface refers to a visually distinct type form (e.g., Arial), which can have multiple fonts representing variations in size and style (e.g., Arial Black 10 pt.).Typography encompasses both typeface and font, but also the visual arrangement, shaping, spacing, structure, and overall appearance of text to communicate meaning (e.g., Lelis et al. 2022;McCarthy and Mothersbaugh 2002).
We present an overview of empirical research examining the impact of typographic characteristics on semantic meaning in Table 1.This review consolidates typographic studies focusing on inferential outcomes and expands on the previous review by Schroll, Schnurr, and Grewal (2018) to include research conducted since 2015.This review emphasizes that typography carries a deeper significance beyond the direct interpretation of words, allowing brands to communicate implicit messages through symbolic associations.
Vintage "Vintage" represents a state of the past that cannot be replicated with modern products (Schibik, Strutton, and Thompson 2022).
The term originates in winemaking and the French word "vendange," referencing a wine's year and origin (Sarial-Abi et al. 2017;Schibik, Strutton, and Thompson 2022).Obtaining a comprehensive etymology of the term, however, is challenging (Niemeyer 2015).Vintage can refer to a period of manufacture, objects from the same era, or something of enduring interest and quality, particularly from a specific time (Cambridge n.d.; Collins n.d.; Merriam-Webster n.d.).Initially emphasizing quality and functionality, vintage now includes aesthetic appreciation and nostalgia (Niemeyer 2015).
In marketing, vintage products are described as objects from the past or preowned items from earlier eras, creating meaning for consumers through their historical associations (Lasaleta and Loveland 2019;Sarial-Abi et al. 2017).In fashion, vintage refers to items produced or worn during a specific period (Keim and Wagner 2018).Vintage is distinct from retro (new objects that reference the past or imitations of past styles; Lasaleta and Loveland 2019) and neo-retro, which reinterpret past styles with new elements (e.g., Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003).In this article, vintage is conceptualized as "an object with characterizable features produced in a past, identifiable time of origin, or period." The definition of vintage typography lacks conceptual clarity but is often characterized by design styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Celhay, Magnier, and Schoormans (2020) suggest that vintage typography refers to well-defined styles from the past, such as Art Deco or Art Nouveau.In contemporary understanding, vintage typography encompasses various eras and design styles, reflecting economic, cultural, and social history (Fussell 2020;Müller and Wiedemann 2017).We define vintage typography as typefaces with characterizable features produced in a past, identifiable time of origin.

Nostalgia and Vintage Anemoia
Research has established a strong association between vintage items and nostalgia (e.g., Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003).Nostalgia, defined as a positive inclination toward the past (see Davis 1979;Holbrook and Schindler 1991), is closely intertwined with vintage items due to their existence in a bygone era (Sihvonen and Turunen 2016).Nostalgia, however, is conceptualized in various forms, including personal nostalgia (e.g., Stern 1992) and ad-evoked nostalgia (Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002), which both rely on reflections of one's own experiences.Other forms describe nostalgia as an individual's learned emotion (Duffy, Hewer, and Wilson 2012) and include vicarious (e.g., Goulding 2001), communal (e.g., Davis 1979), historical (Stern 1992), and collective nostalgia (Baker and Kennedy 1994).Vicarious forms of nostalgia are associated with someone else's past (Wildschut et al. 2006), manifest from the shared and constructed memory of historical and societal events (Halbwachs 1950), and often triggered by stories or media that create a sense of continuity or belonging across generations (Sedikides and Wildschut 2018).

Study
Research Focus Key Results , Boysselle, and Cohen (2015) Exotypes (Latin characters utilizing foreign calligraphy style) on exotic origin perspectives Exotypes were able to communicate exotic origin, especially when congruence between the word (e.g., "feta") and the exotype (Greek style) was created.Velasco et al. (2015) Connection between basic taste words (sweet, sour, bitter, and salty) and typeface

Celhay
Round typefaces were matched to the word "sweet," and angular typefaces were matched to "bitter," "salty," and "sour."Round typefaces were liked and presented higher readability than angular typefaces.Karnal et al. (2016) Typeface and color on consumers' healthiness perceptions A heavier font (thicker lettering, e.g., SunScript) in food packaging design decreases perceptions of healthiness.Pušnik, Možina, and Podlesek (2016) Combined effect of typeface, letter case, and position of on-screen text Georgia typeface showed higher legibility, uppercase letters were recognized fastest, and an upper position on screen had shorter recognition time.Pušnik, Podlesek, and Možina (2016) Effect of typeface, word height, letter case, and on-screen word positioning on recognition Calibri typeface showed higher recognition and faster processing speeds than Georgia, Swiss 721, Verdana, and Trebuchet fonts, especially for uppercase letters.Schroll, Schnurr, and Grewal (2018) Handwritten typefaces on consumers' product evaluations Handwritten typefaces create a sense of human presence, leading to more favorable product evaluations and behavior.Velasco, Hyndman, and Spence (2018) Typeface design on taste perceptions Typeface curvilinearity influenced consumer taste rating.Curved (vs.angular) typeface design had a higher association with sweet taste perceptions.Velasco, Woods, et al. (2018) Typeface curvature and boldness on gustatory taste Rounder typefaces were associated with the word "sweet," and angular typefaces were associated with sour and salty, consistently across three languages.Liu, Choi, and Mattila (2019) Handwritten typeface on consumer response to restaurant brands Handwritten typefaces were found to increase perceptions of "love" by conveying a sense of human touch, for health-focused restaurants.De Sousa, Carvalho, and Pereira (2020) Packaging label typeface on sensory and hedonic judgments of specialty coffee Angular typefaces were found to have higher expectations and acidity perceptions, increasing purchase intention, by amateur coffee consumers.Haenschen and Tamul (2020) Typeface in political campaign messaging Typefaces, type families, and type styles were found to have ideological qualities.Republicans were found to view typeface as more conservative than independents and Democrats.Huang and Liu (2020) Typeface (handwritten vs. machine-written) on donation behavior Donation appeals featuring a warmth-focus and handwritten typeface, or competence focus and machine-written typeface, resulted in the highest donation intention and brand loyalty.Izadi and Patrick (2020) Handwritten font design on behavioral response Handwritten font on product packaging was shown to enhance haptic engagement and subsequent product evaluation and choice likelihood.Li, Zeng, and Zhou (2020) Congruence of food shape and name typeface on consumer reaction Consumers were found to prefer foods with round (angular) shape that also used a round (angular) name typeface on packaging.Rolschau, Wang, and Otterbring (2020) Typeface-related taste expectations and consumer choice Round typefaces increase trial of sour products, even though round typefaces were associated with expectations of sweetness.Venkatesan, Wang, and Spence (2020) Album cover typeface curvilinearity on music expectations and perceptions Angular (round) typeface on an album covers increased perceptions of masculine (feminine), rough (calm), fast (slow), and exciting (gentle) music.Wang, Yu, and Li (2020) Curvature in typeface design on consumers' preference toward hedonic products Round typeface design in an advertisement or packaging was preferred for hedonic products.Wu, Han, and Kardes (2020) Special fonts and consumers' information processing, product evaluation, and product choice Special fonts are perceived as more unique and difficult to read than regular fonts, leading to positive product evaluations and purchase intention. (continued) Both personal and vicarious nostalgia can be evoked by brands and marketing stimuli.Personal nostalgia can be associated with brands from an individual's own past, whereas vicarious nostalgia is learned from communities that have collectively experienced and shared those brands (Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003;Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002).The ability of nostalgic stimuli to evoke different types of nostalgia is argued to be influenced by their imagery and symbolism (Srivastava et al. 2023;Stern 1992).
Vintage items produce a connection to the past and possess a history predating the consumer's acquisition (Sarial-Abi et al. 2017).In fashion, nostalgia drives the purchase of vintage items (Duffy, Hewer, and Wilson 2012;Keim and Wagner 2018).Consumers without firsthand experience of an era may develop a sense of nostalgia toward such fashion, styles, or designs due to idealized or romanticized depictions of the past.We propose that this response is distinct from existing typologies of nostalgia, not reliant on reflections of one's own experience (such as personal nostalgia [Stern 1992] or ad-evoked nostalgia [Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002]).Further, it does not draw on historical or collective memory (e.g., Baker and Kennedy 1994;Davis 1979), someone else's  Chen, Jiao, et al. (2021) Effect of loneliness on preference for typeface shape (angular or circular) Lonely consumers rated angular typefaces as more attractive than circular typefaces.Chen, Liu, and Mattila (2021) Handwritten menus on consumer attitudes toward ethnic restaurants Male consumers in a nonbusy restaurant held more favorable attitudes toward handwritten menus (vs.print).Gupta and Hagtvedt (2021) Effect of letter spacing in text logos Spacious (vs.compact) arrangement of letters in a text logo reduces product safety perceptions, with tight (vs.loose) cultures also influencing this effect.Haenschen, Tamul, and Collier (2021) Typeface selection for political campaign logos Republicans were more likely to use serif typefaces than Democrats.Female candidates were more likely to use handwritten typefaces, and male candidates were more likely to use slab serifs.Kim, Jung, and Kim (2021) Typeface (handwritten vs. sans-serif) on engagement and consumer responses Sans-serif typeface is perceived as more powerful; handwritten typeface is more engaging.Typeface is less impactful when combined with other ad components (such as a spokesperson).Hwang et al. (2022) Handwritten fonts and consumer attitudes Handwritten (vs.machine-written) fonts in sustainability messages for a luxury hotel reduce hotel warmth, but not for consumers with a low communal orientation.Jun and Lee (2022) Interplay of typeface and sound symbolism Audiovisual image congruence between typeface and auditory images in a brand identity increases brand appeal and quality perceptions.Lelis et al. (2022) Content analysis of typography in "Visual Identity Systems" Dynamic logos preserve consistency through typography, specifically through the typography's structural axes (measurement lines and proportions).Roy and Attri (2022) Typographic and physimorphic (nature resembling) logos Physimorphic (vs.typographic) logos are more effective in generating positive destination attitudes.Shao et al. (2022) Typeface characteristics that influence legibility in the context of ventilator interfaces Ventilator interfaces using Arial font, size 20 pt., with only lowercase letters offers greater legibility.
Singla and Sharma (2022) Explicit and implicit aspects of font on brand perception Physical dimensions of font styles (explicit aspect) were found to influence brand perceptions.The effect was mediated by semiotics (implicit aspect) and moderated by brand identity.Otterbring et al. (2022) Typeface (round vs. angular) on consumers' food preferences Angular (round) typeface increased (decreased) preferences for sour (sweet) food, but only for older consumers and not young consumers.Park, Velasco, and Spence (2022) Typeface on mobile payment system displays on consumers' spending awareness Angular (vs.round) typeface increases awareness of spending in a mobile payment context as harshness increases, leading to increased pain of payment experience.Chu et al. (2023) Typeface design and charitable activity behavior Handwritten (vs.typewritten) typefaces in a charity ad increase consumers' willingness to engage in charitable behaviors.
past (Wildschut et al. 2006), or stories and media to create continuity or belonging across generations (Sedikides and Wildschut 2018).
We propose that consumers can experience nostalgic feelings when exposed to vintage cues that represent a previous era's design and aesthetic."Anemoia" (n., /an-uh-moya/), a term coined by Koenig (2021), is defined as nostalgia for a time one has never personally experienced.This term lays the foundation for a concept we introduce, "vintage anemoia," which underscores how consumers can experience nostalgic sentiments when exposed to vintage cues that embody the design and aesthetics of past eras they personally have not experienced.Vintage anemoia describes a consumer's nostalgic response to vintage cues, irrespective of the specific historical period they reference or an individual's own lived experiences.It signifies a unique type of vicarious nostalgia marked by an emotional connection to the aesthetics, fashion, styles, design, and cultural elements of past eras.We posit that, through observing vintage cues, such as the distinctive elements of vintage typography, individuals not only experience associations with the past (see Schibik, Strutton, and Thompson 2022) but also develop a nostalgic appreciation for the romanticized and idealized aspects of this past.This appreciation stems from the emotions elicited by these vintage cues, rather than a direct connection to the specific historical context, thereby distinguishing vintage anemoia from traditional forms of personal or vicarious nostalgia (see Table 2).

Vintage Anemoia and Product Safety
Nostalgia is connected to perceptions of safety, and a sense of security (e.g., Barauskaitė, Gineikienė, and Fennis 2022;Han and Newman 2022).When anxious or uncertain, people often turn to past experiences, or the past itself, to seek comfort and solace through nostalgia (Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003;Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002;Stern 1992).Nostalgia, as a psychological response, elicits comforting feelings associated with cozy, familiar, and safe times (Barauskaitė, Gineikienė, and Fennis 2022).Nostalgia not only triggers positive emotions but also activates safety cues, acting as a regulatory resource that enhances feelings of safety (Fleury et al. 2022).This calming physiological and emotional response is consistent with feeling safe (Sedikides and Wildschut 2018).
We propose that the connection between nostalgia, positive emotions, the activation of safety cues, and feelings of comfort and safety can reduce the perceived risk associated with product evaluation.That is, consumers experiencing vintage anemoia, brought about by the use of vintage typography in marketing materials, will perceive a product as safer.First, vintage anemoia is likely to generate positive emotions (Fleury et al. 2022).When consumers experience positive emotions while encountering a product, they are more likely to associate those positive feelings with the product itself (Griskevicius, Shiota, and Nowlis 2010) and, as a result, provide a more favorable safety evaluation.Second, vintage anemoia, as a form of nostalgia, activates safety cues (Fleury et al. 2022).These activated safety cues will become associated with the product (through associative priming, as outlined in associative network theory; Collins and Loftus 1975), leading to heightened perceptions of product safety.Last, consumers experiencing vintage anemoia will feel safe (Sedikides and Wildschut 2018) and have an increased sense of security (e.g., Lasaleta and Loveland 2019;Sarial-Abi et al. 2017;Thompson, Pollio, and Locander 1994).Therefore, they are less likely to perceive any risk associated with the product, further enhancing their safety perceptions.We propose: H 1 : Vintage anemoia mediates the relationship between the use of vintage typography and perceptions of product safety.

Downstream Consequences of Vintage Typographic Symbolism
Typographic symbolism, the effect of typographic features on semantic associations, influences consumer attitudes and perceptions (McCarthy and Mothersbaugh 2002).For example, thin fonts create perceptions of product healthiness, in turn increasing downstream attitudinal judgments such as purchase intention (Karnal et al. 2016).Brand cues produce semantic associations and influence brand perceptions such as recall (Childers and Jass 2002) and brand attitudes (Pan and Schmitt 1996).For example, reductions in product safety perceptions reduce brand attitudes when text is spaciously arranged in a text logo (Gupta and Hagtvedt 2021).We propose that vintage typography, and in turn product safety perceptions through vintage anemoia, will lead to positive downstream brand consequences, specifically:

Personal nostalgia
Recalling past events that one has directly experienced from their own memory.Involves remembering specific moments, experiences, and emotions from one's personal past.

Vicarious nostalgia
An emotional connection to specific past events or eras that one has not directly experienced.Nostalgia for a specific event or experience in someone else's past.Based on knowledge acquired through secondhand sources such as stories, books, films, or media, and may involve a connection to historical or cultural events.

Vintage anemoia
An emotional connection to aesthetics, fashion, styles, design, and cultural elements of the past, regardless of a specific historical period or individual lived experiences.Focuses on the romanticized aspects of the past and the emotions it evokes, primarily stemming from the vintage cues, rather than direct connection to the specific historical context.
H 2 : The indirect effect of vintage typography on (a) attitude toward the brand, (b) purchase intention, and (c) willingness to pay is explained by vintage anemoia and subsequent product safety perceptions.

Product Safety Information
Symbolic associations and emotional responses can significantly impact consumer perceptions of products and brands, regardless of their inherent attributes (Fajardo, Zhang, and Tsiros 2016).We posit that vintage cues, in conjunction with vintage anemoia, play a pivotal role in influencing perceptions of product safety.However, it is important to investigate whether these cues and nostalgic feelings can continue to shape product safety perceptions, even when consumers possess explicit knowledge that a product could be unsafe.
Nostalgia activates safety cues and induces a sense of safety, characterized by a calming physiological and emotional response (Fleury et al. 2022;Sedikides and Wildschut 2018), and safety signals can reduce stress responses (Brosschot, Verkuil, and Thayer 2018).Therefore, perceptions of product safety, elicited by vintage anemoia, may have the potential to override immediate reactions to information that suggests a product is unsafe.This argument is further supported by research demonstrating that individuals tend to respond less defensively when nostalgic (Sedikides and Wildschut 2018).We hypothesize: The indirect effect of vintage typography on (a) attitude toward the brand, (b) purchase intention, and (c) willingness to pay is explained by vintage anemoia and subsequent product safety perceptions, irrespective of safety information.

The Moderating Role of Indexical Cues
Indexicality encompasses cues that establish factual or spatiotemporal connections between an object and its context (Grayson and Martinec 2004).Marketers employ indexical cues to signal authenticity (De Kerviler, Heuvinck, and Gentina 2022), with the direct link between these cues and products or brands being crucial for successful advertising (Beverland, Lindgreen, and Vink 2008).Further, nostalgic brand packaging using indexical cues to establish a genuine historical connection to the past can reduce perceptions of persuasive intent (Orth and Gal 2014).
Advertising employing indirect indexical cues, such as images, colors, font, and typesetting, reinforces authenticity, whereas more explicit cues (e.g., "Born Authentic" for Wrangler) weaken authenticity claims (Beverland, Lindgreen, and Vink 2008).We focus on demonstrating that vintage typography, as an indirect indexical cue, elicits vintage anemoia.Therefore, it is important to understand the interaction between vintage typography and other indexical cues.
A brand's year of establishment, functioning as an explicit indexical cue, has been shown to signify a brand's heritage, positively influencing consumer brand attitudes (Orth and Gal 2014;Pizzi and Scarpi 2019).Our argument centers on the inclusion of the year of establishment in advertisements, whether historical (e.g., 1920) or modern (e.g., 2020), and its impact when lacking other contextual cues indicating the product's historical origin.First, employing vintage typography alone does not establish a direct factual or spatiotemporal link with the product's origin, and vintage anemoia arises through an aesthetic connection to the vintage typography regardless of a specific historical period or individual lived experiences.Providing an objective and explicit index cue, such as the year of establishment, associates the product with a specific time period, thereby diluting vintage anemoia.In other words, consumers will experience dissonance between the typography's nostalgic connotations and the actual temporal context, hindering vintage anemoia.
Second, indexical authenticity relies on a believable connection between a product and its historical or cultural context (Grayson and Martinec 2004).A brand's establishment year lacks indexical value unless accompanied by other cues (such as imagery or colors) signaling a connection to that year.Thus, merely stating a brand's year of establishment, in isolation, fails to establish a factual and spatiotemporal link between the product and that specific year when other cues in the advertisement do not align with that year.Without additional contextual cues or a verifiable connection between vintage typography and a specific establishment year, the authenticity of the brand's historical claims may be questioned.This can lead consumers to perceive the vintage aesthetics as superficial (Beverland, Lindgreen, and Vink 2008;Orth and Gal 2014), rather than as a genuine representation of the brand's heritage, ultimately hindering the positive impact of vintage typography on evoking vintage anemoia.Formally, we hypothesize: H 4 : The influence of vintage typography and vintage anemoia on product safety perceptions is weakened when the year of establishment is provided.

The Moderating Role of Product Category
Our theory of vintage anemoia suggests that people experience a positive and nostalgic response to vintage cues, irrespective of reference period and lived experience.Central to this theory is a nostalgic appreciation for the aesthetics, fashion, styles, design, and cultural elements of the past.Previous studies have shown that product category, and associated product characteristics, can influence consumer response (e.g., Kushwaha and Shankar 2013;Yadav and Varadarajan 2005).Additionally, congruency between typeface and product is crucial to generate connotative meaning (Doyle and Bottomley 2006).Given that vintage anemoia relies on a nostalgic appreciation for vintage aesthetics of the past, we propose that the presence of futuristic products, such as self-driving cars, will shift consumers' focus toward the future, inhibiting the nostalgic response to vintage cues; thus: The influence of vintage typography and vintage anemoia on product safety perceptions is attenuated for futuristic products.

Empirical Overview
Figure 1 provides an overview of our research with seven studies.Study 1 aims to establish a connection between vintage typography and an increased perception of safety.Study 2a explores vintage anemoia's role in consumer response to vintage typography and product safety judgments.Study 2b examines halo effects on perceptions of product tastiness and innovativeness.Study 3 investigates broader marketing implications: brand attitudes, purchase intent, and willingness to pay.Study 4 shows the positive effect of vintage typography on product safety perception, regardless of safety information.Study 5 explores the influence of explicit indexical cues on vintage anemoia, while Study 6 reveals vintage typography's ineffectiveness for futuristic products.Vintage typography is operationalized across all studies as typeface with characterizable design features from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Bauhaus eras.

Study 1: Vintage Typography and Safety Perceptions
Study 1 aims to establish a connection between the use of vintage typography and consumers' perception of safety through a choice experiment.We predict that vintage typography will be perceived as safer, resulting in heightened choice.

Participants and Procedures
In this study 166 undergraduate marketing students (56.6% male, 43.4% female; M age = 20.26years, SD = 3.41) were presented with two mystery boxes (labeled "Mystery Box A" or "Mystery Box B"), one with vintage typography and one with control typography.1 Inside the box was either a lanyard of flowers (lei) or rubber spiders and a rubber snake.An obscured hole was positioned in front of each box for participants to insert their hand (see Figure 2).Participants were told that one of the boxes contained something that could harm them (snake and spiders), and the other box contained something that would not harm them (lei).Participants were told to make a choice and insert their hand into one box.Two versions (control and vintage) were created for the box labels, and these, and the safe/unsafe contents, were randomly changed between participants to avoid bias.

Results and Discussion
A Wald test for one-sample proportions indicated that a significantly higher proportion of participants (58.4%) chose the box with the vintage typography (Z = 2.205, p = .027),compared with 41.6% who chose the control (95% CI = [.508,.657]).2 Results from Study 1 show that when there is a known risk of something being unsafe, participants, on average, choose vintage typography as the safe choice.

Study 2a: Vintage Anemoia and Ruling Out Alternate Process Mechanisms
Study 2a tests whether the effect of vintage typography on perceptions of product safety can be explained by vintage anemoia (H 1 ) and investigates alternative process mechanisms (perceived brand expertise and longevity).Perceived brand longevity positively influences evaluation (Eidelman, Pattershall, and Crandall 2010), and older brands are often associated with greater expertise (Erdem and Swait 2004).We predict that vintage anemoia mediates the relationship between the use of vintage typography and perceptions of product safety (H 1 ), and not brand expertise or longevity.

Vintage Anemoia Scale
We created a measure for vintage anemoia due to the absence of an existing scale.Item selection was guided by literature, to capture nostalgic sentiments, such as aesthetic appreciation, interest, quality (Holbrook 1993), and positive emotions (Pascal, Sprott, and Muehling 2002).We excluded references to personal or vicarious nostalgia.To ensure alignment with our definition, three marketing academics reviewed ten items for face validity.
Subsequently the items were tested on a sample of 200 consumers (51.5% female, 48.5% male; M age = 30.54years, SD = 8.01).As a result of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the set of items was reduced to seven, and a seven-item unidimensional scale was adopted.Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated good model fit (χ 2 = 18.45, d.f.= 13, p = .141,discrepancy divided by degree of freedom = 1.42, normed fit index = .977,nonnormed fit index = .989,goodness-of-fit index = .973,comparative fit index = .993,root mean square error of approximation = .046).The final items and coefficients were "Items produced in the past interest me" (.807), "The past represents the 'good old days'" (.798), "Seeing items from the past makes me feel good" (.793), "Things were made to a better quality in the past" (.761), "I appreciate the beauty of things produced in the past" (.795), "I can recognize when items have been produced in the past" (.790), and "Seeing items from the past makes me nostalgic" (.871).

Participants and Procedures
In this study 160 Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) workers (64.4% male, 35.6% female; M age = 35.48years, SD = 10.68) were randomly assigned to a two-condition (typography: vintage vs. control) between-subjects design.All participants  were shown a fictitious bicycle brand name, Bilan (see Figure 3).Participants then completed the dependent variable, product safety perceptions, by rating the degree to which the brand's products were considered safe, on five seven-point scales (unsafe/safe, processed/organic, unnatural/natural, unwholesome/wholesome, impure/pure; Cronbach's α = .748).Next the mediator variable, vintage anemoia (Cronbach's α = .797),perceived brand expertise (Erdem and Swait 2004), and brand longevity (Pecot and Merchant 2022; Cronbach's α = .847;see Appendix for items) were assessed, and age and gender were obtained.

Study 2b: Ruling Out Halo Effects
Study 2b tests whether a brand logo with vintage typography exclusively influences perceptions of product safety, thereby eliminating the potential of a halo effect.Halo effects hold significant relevance in branding studies, as they involve a consumer's holistic brand assessment, leading to highly correlated ratings for individual attributes (Leuthesser, Kohli, and Harich 1995).Consequently, a consumer's evaluation of a set of attributes may be influenced by a single attribute (e.g., Tiffin and McCormick 1965).We predict that the brand logo with vintage typography will increase consumer perceptions of product safety through vintage anemoia, but not tastiness or innovativeness.
However, there was no relationship between vintage anemoia and tastiness (β = .016,t = 1.65, p = .869)or between vintage anemoia and innovativeness (β = .158,t = 1.78, p = .078).Study 2b results indicated that the influence of vintage typography on vintage anemoia is specific to product safety judgments and not tastiness and innovativeness.

Study 3: Downstream Consequences
Study 3 tests whether the perception of product safety created by vintage anemoia has downstream consequences on brand attitude, purchase intention, and willingness to pay (H 2 ).

Study 4: Product Safety Information
Study 4 examines whether vintage typography on product packaging and advertising copy influences consumer perceptions of safety, regardless of the actual product safety.We anticipate that vintage typography will enhance vintage anemoia, leading to increased safety perceptions and subsequent effects, irrespective of safety information provided (H 3 ).
unsafe) × 2 (typography: vintage vs. control) between-subjects design.We manipulated product safety by providing no information, information that the product was made of safe ingredients, or information that the product was made with unsafe ingredients.Participants were shown an advertisement for a fictitious cosmetics brand, Gimmel (see Figure 7), and then completed the dependent variables, attitude toward the brand (Cronbach's α = .921),purchase intention (Cronbach's α = .906),and willingness to pay, followed by the two mediators, perceptions of product safety (M2; Cronbach's α = .886)and vintage anemoia (M1; Cronbach's α = .900),age, and gender.
condition who were provided safe information perceived the product to be safer than those who were provided no information; however, those in the vintage condition perceived the product to be just as safe when told unsafe information relative to the no information condition (see Table 8 for simple effects).Overall, safety information had no effect on perceptions of product safety in the control conditions (F(2, 608) = 2.11, p = .122,η 2 = .007),though perceptions of product safety were significantly lower in the unsafe versus safe conditions when control typography was used (p = .046).Serial mediation analysis with 10,000 bootstrap samples (PROCESS Model 83) showed that the interaction between typography and the conditional effect of safe relative to no information (W1) significantly predicted vintage anemoia (β = .365,t = 2.069, p = .039),but not unsafe relative to no information (W2; β = −.066,t = −.376,p = .707).Vintage anemoia predicted product safety (β = .900,t = 34.636,p < .001),and product safety predicted brand attitude (β = .585,t = 14.450, p < .001),purchase intention (β = .682,t = 13.558,p < .001),and willingness to pay (β = .601,t = 9.963, p < .001;see Table 9).

Study 6: The Moderating Role of Product Category
Study 6 tests whether product category influences the vintage anemoia effect.We predict that the influence of vintage typography and vintage anemoia on product safety perceptions will diminish when used to promote a futuristic product (H 5 ).

Participants and Procedures
In this study 406 MTurk workers (55.7% male, 44.1% female, .2%prefer not to say; M age = 35.00years, SD = 10.23) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions for a 2 (typography: vintage vs. control) × 2 (product category: traditional vs. futuristic) between-subjects design.Participants were shown an advertisement for a fictitious car brand, Kagur.The traditional product was an ordinary car, while the futuristic product was a self-driving car (see Figure 9).Participants completed the dependent variables attitude toward the brand (Cronbach's α = .925),purchase intention (Cronbach's α = .918),and willingness to pay, followed by perceptions of product safety (M2, Cronbach's α = .878)and vintage anemoia (M1, Cronbach's α = .828).Age and gender were also obtained.

Manipulation Check
An independent samples t-test was performed to ensure that the product category manipulation was successful.Participants rated the ad on a seven-point semantic differential scale (1 = "Not futuristic," and 7 = "Futuristic").Results showed there was a significant mean difference in product category perceptions between the traditional and futuristic conditions  (t = −3.326,p < .001;M Traditional = 5.60, SD = .94;M Futuristic = 5.91, SD = .94).
When we tested the conditional effect of product category, moderated serial mediation was observed for brand attitude Results from Study 6 indicate that the influence of vintage typography on consumer attitudes toward the brand, purchase intention, and willingness to pay is explained by heightened perceptions of vintage anemoia, and in turn increased product safety perceptions, for traditional products but not for futuristic products.

General Discussion
Typography, though it may be perceived as a minor aspect in marketing and advertising, extends beyond aesthetics and plays a crucial role in shaping how people think, feel, evaluate brands, behave, and make choices.Recognizing and harnessing the potential of typography can substantially improve marketing  and advertising strategies, ultimately influencing brand perception and consumer behavior.
Across seven studies we show that the utilization of vintage typography invokes feelings of vintage anemoia, leading to improved consumer perceptions of product safety.We first establish the connection between vintage typography and increased safety perceptions in Study 1.When participants were informed that two boxes might contain harmful contents, there was heightened preference for the box with vintage typography.Study 2a demonstrates that this effect is driven by a stronger nostalgic response to vintage cues in a marketing context (vintage anemoia) and rules out the competing mechanisms of brand longevity and brand expertise.Although increased perceptions of brand longevity and brand expertise increase perceptions of product safety, vintage typography does not influence perceptions of brand longevity or brand expertise, and these constructs could not explain the impact of vintage typography on perceptions of product safety.Study 2b demonstrates that our effect is specific to product safety by testing the effect on other product-related judgments.We rule out the halo effect, showing that vintage typography and vintage anemoia do not influence perceptions of product tastiness or innovativeness.3 reveals the broader marketing implications of our effect by demonstrating positive downstream consequences on brand attitude, purchase intention, and willingness to pay.
The remaining studies enhance understanding of our effect and contextual factors that interfere with the nostalgic response to vintage typography.In Study 4 we showed that vintage typography counteracts and protects against the negative impact of unsafe product information.Although perceptions of product safety were highest for vintage typography when consumers were told the product was safe, they perceived the same level of product safety regardless of whether they were told the product was unsafe or received no product safety information at all.Last, the findings from Studies 5 and 6 show that our effect diminishes in scenarios where explicit indexical cues, such as year of establishment, are employed in the absence of other contextual cues pointing to the product's historical origin, and when promoting futuristic products.Consequently, these studies suggest that the effectiveness of vintage typography in evoking vintage anemoia and subsequent perceptions of product safety varies depending on the context within which it is utilized.

Theoretical Contributions
Our research contributes significantly to the field of typography and its role in marketing, particularly focusing on typographic symbolism, nostalgia, and indexical cues.First, we extend the existing literature on typefaces and their impact on marketing outcomes.We build on Schroll, Schnurr, and Grewal's (2018) overview of typeface studies, expanding it to include research conducted from 2015 to the present.This updated perspective highlights the considerable influence that typographic choices have on consumer perceptions and behaviors in modern marketing contexts.We find that these choices have relevance in various other industries, including music (Venkatesan, Wang, and Spence 2020), coffee (De Sousa, Carvalho, and Pereira 2020), luxury hotels (Hwang et al. 2022), and political campaigns (Haenschen, Tamul, and Collier 2021).
Research in typography has often focused on overarching typographic characteristics, such as design dimensions (Henderson, Giese, and Cote 2004), font weight (e.g., Karnal et al. 2016), typeface curvature (e.g., Li, Zeng, and Zhou 2020;Velasco, Hyndman, and Spence 2018), or the distinction between handwritten and computerized typefaces (e.g., Schroll, Schnurr, and Grewal 2018).While these studies offer flexibility in selecting typefaces (Henderson, Giese, and Cote 2004), they do not consider the impact of typographic design styles and trends, such as vintage typography, on associations with products and brands.
We delve into unexplored territory by investigating the influence of vintage typography on consumer perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors.Unlike previous studies that speculated on the role of vintage typography in forming semantic associations (e.g., Unnava, Burnkrant, and Erevelles 1994), our work provides empirical evidence and sheds light on the underlying mechanisms involved.Specifically, we extend typographic research in marketing by demonstrating that consumers form associations based on typographic trends, particularly those associated with past cultural eras that have affected the design of packaging, logos, record sleeves, and posters throughout history (Müller and Wiedemann 2017).Moreover, our research highlights the intricate interplay between typography, emotions, and consumer responses in this context.
Unlike studies that explore broad aspects of typography, we demonstrate the precise mechanism behind the influence of vintage typography on product safety perceptions.In doing so, we extend the understanding of the influence of typography by demonstrating the emotional and nostalgic response it can evoke, through vintage anemoia.Last, our findings highlight the variability of the effectiveness of vintage typography across contexts.This suggests that recommendations for the use of typography should consider the specific context in which it is employed.
Vintage anemoia: a new typology of vicarious nostalgia.In our contribution to the nostalgia literature, we draw on the concept of anemoia, a term coined by Koenig (2021), which describes nostalgia for a time one has not personally experienced.The concept served as the foundation for our own concept, which we introduced as vintage anemoia.Vintage anemoia signifies how consumers can feel nostalgic when exposed to vintage cues that embody the design and aesthetics of past eras that they have not lived through.This notion captures the emotional connection that consumers have with fashion, styles, design, and cultural elements of the past that they did not directly experience.Importantly, we distinguish vintage anemoia from traditional personal or vicarious nostalgia, emphasizing the emotions evoked by vintage cues rather than a direct link to a specific historical context.Our findings also emphasize the role of visual elements, such as distinctive lettering styles and visual elements of vintage typography, in forming nostalgic sentiments.
The concept of vintage anemoia suggests that nostalgia can be triggered through emotional pathways that are distinct from traditional categories of personal and vicarious nostalgia.Our research, therefore, expands the typologies of nostalgia, enriching the theoretical framework that can lead to a deeper exploration of how design choices in branding and advertising can elicit specific emotional responses.By determining the role of aesthetics and design in triggering vintage anemoia, rather than personal memories or shared experiences, we challenge traditional notions of nostalgia and demonstrate, beyond conjecture, that nostalgia can transcend temporal boundaries.
Last, we expand understanding on the connection between nostalgia, positive emotions, and feelings of comfort and safety, demonstrating that vintage anemoia increases perceptions of product safety.This finding extends current understandings of the protective benefits of nostalgia to product evaluations, not previously explored in the literature.
Vintage typography as an indirect indexical cue.We contribute to indexicality literature, emphasizing the significance of indexical cues in shaping consumer perceptions.Building on Grayson and Martinec's (2004) framework, we confirm that indexical cues establish factual or spatiotemporal connections between products and their context.Vintage typography, an indirect indexical cue, influences vintage anemoia and product safety perceptions.However, this influence weakens when an explicit indexical cue, like year of establishment, is provided.This supports Beverland, Lindgreen, and Vink's (2008) suggestion that indirect (vs.explicit) indexical cues, such as images and fonts, can be more effective in reinforcing authenticity claims.We reveal a nuanced relationship between indirect and explicit indexical cues.While explicit cues like the establishment year establish historical connections and brand heritage (Orth and Gal 2014;Pizzi and Scarpi 2019), they hinder vintage anemoia.This highlights that indirect cues, like vintage typography, are more effective when evoking vintage anemoia.Moreover, explicit cues, like year of establishment, lack indexical value without additional cues to establish a factual or spatiotemporal link with the founding year (Grayson and Martinec 2004).

Managerial Implications
Using vintage typography to promote perceptions of safety.We demonstrate that promoting a sense of vintage anemoia through the skillful implementation of vintage typography can significantly heighten consumers' perception of product safety.Consequently, brands aspiring to establish a robust safety positioning or reinforce safety-related product attributes can gain a competitive advantage by incorporating vintage typography into their brand identity and visual communication.
Enhancing vintage anemoia in adverse circumstances.Vintage anemoia can serve as a protective mechanism against unsafe perceptions.By incorporating vintage aesthetics and triggering vintage anemoia, brands can alleviate consumers' concerns and maintain positive perceptions of product safety.In various industries, including technology, food and beverage, beauty, automotive, home appliances, and furniture, incorporating vintage design elements in products and marketing efforts can help mitigate consumer concerns about safety issues such as malfunctions, privacy breaches, recalls, contamination, harmful ingredients, defects, and durability, ultimately improving perceptions of product safety.Vintage typography will increase perceptions of product safety when a product is unsafe and, therefore, could create misconceptions regarding product safety, by diminishing the effect of warning labels and creating a false sense of safety for consumers.This could be problematic for brands if typography generates unintended meaning (Jura 2022).The use of vintage typography should be avoided for brands or products where its use could intentionally or unintendedly mislead consumers into thinking a product is safe when it is not.
Regulatory and legal constraints uphold product safety in product design (e.g., Bloch 1995) and product labeling (e.g., Kim, Kim, and Arora 2022).Brand managers, however, should use caution before employing vintage typography for products with mandatory warning labels (e.g., cleaning products, medication) or where consumer misuse or misguided product safety perceptions would decrease consumer vigilance and adherence to warnings.
Things to consider when adopting vintage typography.We demonstrate that certain factors diminish the influence of vintage typography: explicit indexical cues (e.g., year of establishment) used without other contextual visual cues or when promoting futuristic products.Marketers should consider alignment of vintage aesthetics with the desired nostalgic response by avoiding diverting attention away from the past or using vintage typography in contexts that weaken the association to vintage anemoia.
Figure 10 displays a decision tree designed for marketers to aid in their decision-making process regarding the use of vintage typography.By adhering to this decision tree, marketers can make well-informed decisions concerning the appropriateness of vintage typography for their branding and messaging, especially when considering factors such as product safety concerns, brand positioning, indexical cues, and product category.
propose several open questions for future research (see Table 17) that will help us explore this area further.
While our research focused on design styles from the Victorian, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Bauhaus design eras, vintage styling now includes a broader range of eras and design styles, such as seventies, punk, and grunge visual styles (Fussell 2020).Future research should investigate the symbolic associations of different typographic genres, including more recent eras like psychedelic and punk (Celhay, Magnier, and Schoormans 2020), to determine whether they evoke a similar nostalgic response as vintage cues from earlier periods.Additionally, research can investigate other vintage cues beyond typography and their effect on vintage anemoia.
We have distinguished vintage anemoia from traditional forms of personal and vicarious nostalgia.Future research can examine the emotional connection consumers have with past fashion, styles, design, and cultural elements they did not directly experience compared with those with a direct link to the historical context.Historical context, shaped by art, architecture, pop culture, technology, and sociopolitical landmarks, varies around the world and throughout history (Müller and Wiedemann 2017).Therefore, understanding cross-cultural effects is essential for utilizing vintage typography in diverse cultural contexts.
Demographic factors such as age (e.g., car) and/or gender (e.g., cosmetics) did affect perceptions of product safety, in some product categories.Although our findings held when controlling for these effects, further research is needed to deepen our understanding of how demographic characteristics influence consumers' nostalgic response to vintage cues, particularly across product categories.
We primarily aimed to understand the immediate impact of vintage typography on perceptions and attitudes in response to marketing materials.Investigating the long-term effects of vintage typography on brand loyalty and whether a nostalgic response to vintage aesthetics creates enduring associations with a brand's identity would provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of vintage typography.
Our studies were conducted on products for which safety could be considered a determinant attribute (see Alpert 1971).We suggest that experiencing vintage anemoia will enhance perceptions of product safety, even for products where safety may not be the primary consideration.As consumers become increasingly mindful of ethical and sustainable production and environmental impacts, future research can explore the effects of vintage anemoia on consumer perceptions of sustainability and sustainable behaviors, such as secondhand shopping, upcycling, recycling, or waste reduction.
Vintage typography may also evoke semantic meanings related to other associations of the past, such as reliability, durability, simplicity, or ease of use.Future research could investigate the role of vintage cues in inducing vintage anemoia for digital technologies and platforms, as well as subsequent inferences regarding safety and ease of use.This investigation may extend beyond vintage typographical aesthetics to explore how social media filters, vintage-themed apps, vintage aesthetics in website design, or virtual reality experiences influence users' perceptions.
Last, our findings suggest that nostalgia, through vintage anemoia, can mitigate the perceived harmful effects of an unsafe product.Scholars could investigate the effectiveness of vintage anemoia in addressing safety concerns in other negative contexts such as unsafe situations, threats, or perceived harm (e.g., crisis communication or product recalls).Additionally, questions remain regarding the legal and regulatory implications of using vintage aesthetics, including consumer adherence to warning labels for products with safety concerns, where the use of vintage typography may reduce consumer vigilance.

Appendix: Measures
Perceived brand expertise (Erdem and Swait 2004): This brand reminds me of someone who is competent and knows what they are doing; this brand has the ability to deliver what it promises (measured on seven-point Likert scales).
Perceived brand longevity (Pecot and Merchant 2022): This brand has history; this brand has existed for a long time; this brand is older than most food brands; this brand exudes a sense of longevity; this brand seems to have been founded a while ago (measured on seven-point Likert scales).
Tastiness (Schnurr 2019): Not at all tasty-very tasty; not delicious at all-very delicious; bad-good (measured on sevenpoint semantic differential scales).
Innovativeness (Kunz, Schmitt, and Meyer 2011): This brand is dynamic; this brand is very creative; this brand launches new products and creates market trends all the time; this brand is a pioneer in its category; this brand constantly generates new ideas; this brand has changed the market with its offers; this brand is an advanced forward-looking firm (measured on sevenpoint Likert scales).
Purchase intention (Till and Busler 2000): Unlikely to buylikely to buy, probably not buy-probably would buy, definitely would not buy-definitely would buy (measured on seven-point semantic differential scales).
Willingness to pay (Homburg, Koschate, and Hoyer 2005): Less than other brands-more than other brands (measured on a seven-point semantic differential scale.)

Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Conceptual Framework: The Influence of Vintage Typography on Product Safety.Notes: Solid lines indicate the conceptual model.Dashed gray lines indicate ruled-out alternate explanations and halo effects.

Table 1 .
Overview of Empirical Research on the Impact of Typographic Characteristics on Semantic Meaning: A Comprehensive Review from 2015 to the Present.

Table 2 .
Distinguishing Vintage Anemoia from Personal and Vicarious Forms of Nostalgia.

Table 4 .
Regression Results: Ruling Out Halo Effects.

Table 6 .
Regression Results: Vintage Typography and Downstream Consequences.

Table 7 .
ANOVA Results: Vintage Typography and Safety Information.

Table 8 .
Simple Effects of Typography and Product Safety Information.Vintage anemoia and subsequent product safety perceptions could only explain the effect of vintage typography on downstream consequences when no year of establishment was provided (see Table14), supporting H 4 .

Table 11 .
ANOVA Results: Vintage Typography and Explicit Indexical Cues.

Table 12 .
Simple Effects of Vintage Typography and Explicit Indexical Cues.

Table 14 .
Indirect Effects: Vintage Typography and Explicit Indexical Cues.

Table 13 .
Regression Results: Vintage Typography and Explicit Indexical Cues.

Table 15 .
ANOVA Results: Vintage Typography and Product Category.Study 6 Stimuli: Vintage Typography and Product Category.

Table 16 .
Regression Results: Vintage Typography and Product Category.