Color Psychology In Marketing
What is color psychology?
Color psychology is the study of how colors affect perceptions and behaviors. In marketing and branding, color psychology is focused on how colors impact consumers’ impressions of a brand and whether or not they persuade consumers to consider specific brands or make a purchase.
It’s an important field of study to consider when creating marketing assets, building a new business, or rebranding an existing one. Consider this: In a study titled “Impact of color on marketing,” researchers found that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products can be based on color alone.
In actuality, however, color is too reliant on individual perceptions to be consistently associated with particular emotions. According to research, our perception of specific colors is complicated by our tastes, experiences, upbringing, cultural background, and environment.
So, the notion that hues like yellow or purple can elicit a highly particular feeling is about as accurate as a conventional palm reading.
Think about how inaccurate it is to say something like, “Green implies calm.” The context is missing: Green is frequently used to brand environmental concerns, such as Seventh Generation, but it is also frequently used to brand financial industries, such as Mint.
Brown can be utilized to evoke warm, welcoming feelings (think Thanksgiving) or pique your appetite (think of all the chocolate advertisements you’ve ever seen).
How to use color psychology to improve your marketing
Here are some tips on how to use color psychology to increase the effectiveness of your marketing now that we have a better understanding of what color psychology is and how utilizing the right or wrong colors can affect your marketing.
Understanding the fundamentals can help you use color psychology in your marketing efforts. Red can cause increased attention or anxiety, as we discussed previously, whereas blue might have an unfavorable soothing impact. Consider the following other basic color correlations when creating emotive ads:
Red: excitement, passion, anger, danger, action, anxiety, power
Orange: playfulness, friendliness, creativity, warmth, enthusiasm
Yellow: happiness, optimism, warning, joy, originality, enthusiasm
Green: Youth, vibrancy, vigor, nature, growth, stability
Blue: Calm, stability, depth, peacefulness, trust
Purple: Royalty, luxury, romance, introspection, calm
Color Breakdowns
RED
This intense hue is linked to passion, boldness, excitement, and energy. Red call-to-action buttons are used in sales to encourage customers to buy because they convey a sense of urgency. Red can physically affect people as well since it makes them hungry.
GREEN
Green, without exaggeration, is the color of life. Green evokes sentiments of relaxation, health, prosperity, hope, and freshness since it resembles grass, trees, and bushes. However, the color can also stand for monotony, stagnation, and blandness due to its primordial character.
YELLOW
Yellow, like orange, is a color that denotes youth and joy. It is the hue of rubber ducks, wildflowers, and happy grins. Brands utilize the color yellow to appeal to extroversion, creativity, optimism, and warmth. Yellow branding, however, may also promote apprehension, irrationality, and anxiety. Yellow is used on traffic lights, street signs, and police tape. In other words, consider this story as a warning before getting involved with the color.
PURPLE
Purple is a representation of majesty and superiority. Tyrian purple, which at the time cost more than gold, was worn by high-ranking officials in the Roman Empire. Even people from outside the royal family were forbidden by Queen Elizabeth I from donning purple. Purple conjures up images of wisdom, richness, and sophistication as a result of its historical links.
BLUE
The most popular hue in the world is blue, with males favoring it more than women. And businesses share this sentiment: The most preferred logo color is this serene shade. The color blue evokes sentiments of safety, sturdiness, knowledge, and trust. Blue is a popular color choice for social media firms like Facebook and Twitter because it gives them an air of dependability, which is important for companies that keep a lot of user data. Blue, on the other hand, carries a bad reputation. Since there aren’t many blue meals in nature, the color makes us feel less hungry. Additionally, it can imply emotions of aloofness and coldness.
The right color appeals to your audience
Joe Hallock’s “Colour Assignment” is one of the more intriguing investigations on color psychology in regard to gender.
The research from Hallock shows that different genders clearly favor different colors. But it’s crucial to remember that the majority of his responders came from Western cultures. Color appropriateness for gender is strongly influenced by one’s environment, particularly by cultural perspective, which in turn can have an impact on personal color preferences.
According to additional studies on color perception and preferences, men tend to choose vivid shades, tints, and hues while women favor gentler hues. Additionally, while women are more responsive to tints of colors (colors with extra black), males were more likely to choose shades of colors as their favorites.
The right color differentiates your brand
More research has shown that our brains favor instantly recognizable brands, which emphasizes the significance of color in developing a brand identity. Even one journal article makes the case that it’s crucial for emerging brands to use hues that set them apart from established rivals.
The perfect color choice can make your brand stand out. The Isolation Effect is a psychology theory that asserts that something that “sticks out like a sore thumb” is more likely to be recalled.
Research demonstrates unequivocally that when an item stands out from its surroundings, whether it be text or an image, participants are much more likely to notice and retain it.
While a sizable majority of consumers prefer color patterns with similar colors, they also like palettes with a sharply contrasting accent color, according to two studies on color combinations, one evaluating aesthetic reaction and the other looking at customer preferences.
In terms of color coordination, this entails building a visual composition using accent complementary (or tertiary) colors to contrast with basic analogous colors
This concept plays a big role in marketing, too. Another way to think of it is to utilize background, base, and accent colors, to create a hierarchy on your site that “coaches” customers on which color encourages action.
Take this cited example of increased conversions brought on by a change in button color.
The conversion rate increased by 21% after the button was changed to red. We cannot, however, draw quick conclusions about “the power of the color red” in a vacuum.
The remainder of the page is obviously designed with a green color scheme, thus a green call to action simply blends in with the surroundings. Red, on the other hand, is a color that complements green and offers a striking visual contrast.
The ad shows a Lego Darth Vader grilling with Leia sitting in the sun hanging out nearby. It’s a playful scene with these Star Wars figures, dropping them into a casual, fun atmosphere to make a new story. It’s no wonder that the background is orange — an open, inviting color that inspires creativity.
The next example we have McDonald’s:
Starbucks
Fanta
Color is at the center of marketing. From choosing a tone to make your logo pop to utilizing the right hue to inspire brand awareness and loyalty and inspire action, color psychology can help you maximize the subconscious effects of your marketing efforts.
