Convey Urgency With Italics

Fonts convey meaning.

Why? Because they resemble the sensory world.

For example, slanted fonts look like fast objects:

In fact, you're quicker to read the word cheetah in italics because this slanted text matches your mental prototype for a cheetah (Walker, 2015).

Italics convey urgency because they seem:

• Alive. This text can move (and possibly disappear).
• Fast. Any change (e.g., disappearance) will be quick.
• Energizing. Motion primes us to take action.

Across multiple studies, ads with italics:

• Seemed urgent
• Boosted click-through rates
• Increased purchases

(see Mead et al., 2020).

Example:

Caveats

• Might Need Slanting, Not Italics. The research team used PhotoShop to skew the fonts by 35 degrees. Italics might be too subtle for some fonts.
• Slant Must Be Forward. You need to push attention toward the right so that people are focused toward the next step. Leftward slants didn't trigger this effect.

• Walker, P. (2015). Depicting visual motion in still images: forward leaning and a left to right bias for lateral movement. Perception, 44(2), 111-128.
• Mead, J. A., Richerson, R., & Li, W. (2020). Dynamic right-slanted fonts increase the effectiveness of promotional retail advertising. Journal of Retailing, 96(2), 282-296.