Effectiveness of Custom Typography on Brand Recall among Culinary MSMEs in the Era of Digital Marketing

Abstract

Culinary micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) increasingly compete through social media, marketplace listings, and short-form visual content. In such environments, typography is not only a decorative element but also a visual brand asset that can support memory, differentiation, and consumer recognition. This study examines the effectiveness of custom typography on brand recall among culinary MSMEs in the era of digital marketing. The manuscript uses Indonesian market statistics from BPS, KADIN Indonesia, and DataReportal, then demonstrates the research model with an illustrative online experiment involving 120 respondents. Participants were assigned to view a culinary MSME social media advertisement using either custom typography or generic template typography. Brand recall score, unaided recall, aided recognition, perceived distinctiveness, attention, and purchase intention were measured. Results from the illustrative dataset indicate that custom typography produced a higher mean recall score (M = 7.40, SD = 1.29) than generic typography (M = 5.84, SD = 1.05), t(approx.) = 7.23, p < 0.001, d = 1.32. Unaided brand recall was also higher under the custom typography condition (46.7%) than the generic typography condition (11.7%). Regression analysis suggests that the custom typography condition remains positively associated with recall after controlling for attention and primary platform use. The findings support the argument that distinctive, consistent, and context-appropriate typography can strengthen brand memory for culinary MSMEs operating in crowded digital channels.