Handwriting: The Foodie Font of Love.

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Food can conjure up all kinds of warm and fuzzy feelings--childhood nostalgia, memories of road trips, or just the simple comfort of a nourishing cup of soup. For restaurants, though, conveying a sense of love could be as simple as picking a different menu font.

A study in the Journal of Business Research found that, when restaurant diners read menus with healthy food options printed in a typeface that appears handwritten, they were more likely to believe that the food was better for their bodies, made of better ingredients, and prepared with more care than similar items printed in machine-style fonts.

"The handwritten typeface conveys love, and that sense of human touch feels even more salient," says study coauthor Stephanie Liu, assistant professor of hospitality management at Ohio State University, Columbus. "It feels to the customer like there is more heart, more effort, and...