The Impact of Serif vs Sans-Serif Typefaces on e-Commerce Websites

Abstract

E-commerce is a method of conducting business online, where the sales performance of each website is influenced by its design and usability. Typography is one of the characteristics of a website’s visual design that can impact how users perceive the page. The objective of this study is to determine whether the use of sans-serif typefaces enhances readability compared to serif typefaces, and to determine users’ preference for sans-serif or serif fonts and if there is any correlation between the preference and the objective variables. To achieve this goal, we employed eye-tracking to obtain objective measurements of readability, while also conducting a questionnaire to gather user preferences. The results of our analysis indicate that there were no statistically significant differences in the eye-tracking measures related to readability or preference across the four tests performed. However, the questionnaire revealed statistically significant variations in the appearance score, with individuals favoring the serif typeface over the sans-serif one. In conclusion, the sans-serif typeface used in this study did not increase readability when compared to serif typefaces, and it was not preferred by the study’s participants. We have found correlations between the eye-tracking variables measured and the scores participants gave for the appearance and legibility of the typefaces.

Keywords:

• E-commerce
• eye-tracker
• font type
• typeface
• website

Acknowledgment

We thank the participants of the experiment for their time.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to the nature of the information but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially funded by the Department of Science, Innovation, and Universities (Spain) under the National Program for Research, Development, and Innovation (project RTI2018-099235-B-I00) and by the Foundation for the Promotion of Applied Scientific Research and Technology (FICYT) in Asturias (Spain) under the grants for the promotion of scientific vocations in university master’s students (ref. AYUD/2022/26259).

Notes on contributors

Sara Vecino

Sara Vecino is a Ph.D. student at the University of Oviedo. She has a degree in Software Engineering and a master’s degree in Web Engineering. She has been awarded with the Severo Ochoa Predoctoral Fellowship. Her research interests include the field of HCI.

Martin Gonzalez-Rodriguez

Martin Gonzalez-Rodriguez works at the University of Oviedo, where he researches usability engineering and web design strategy. His research was awarded several times, including the ASPAYM Research Award on Accessible Technologies for Handicapped Users, the Vodafone Research Award on Mobile Technology, and the TAW Award on Web Accessibility.

Daniel Fernandez-Lanvin

Daniel Fernandez-Lanvin obtained his Ph.D. degree in computing from the University of Oviedo in 2007. From 1998 to 2003, he worked as Software Engineer in several companies. Since 2003, he has been Associate Professor in the Department of Computing, University of Oviedo. His research interests include Web development and HCI.

Javier de Andres

Javier de Andres has a Ph.D. in economics. He is currently a full Professor of accounting and finance with the University of Oviedo, Spain. His research interests include usability and accessibility of business information systems. He has published more than 50 chapters in books and articles in refereed scientific journals.