How does color affect marketing?

The psychology of color as it relates to persuasion is one of the most interesting — and most controversial — aspects of marketing.

These surface-level discussions leave us unequipped to make smart decisions about how to use the color spectrum to convey the right message with our marketing and branding. But why is such a potentially colorful conversation so unwaveringly shallow?

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.

The problem with the psychology of color in marketing and branding

There have been myriad attempts to classify how people react to different individual colors:

But the truth is that color is too dependent on personal experiences to be universally translated to specific feelings. Research shows that personal preferences, experiences, upbringings, cultural differences, and context muddy the effect that individual colors have on us.

So the idea that colors such as yellow or purple are able to evoke some sort of hyper-specific emotion is about as accurate as your standard palm reading.

Consider the inaccuracy of making broad statements such as “green means calm.” The context is absent: Sometimes green is used to brand environmental issues, like Seventh Generation, but other times it’s meant to brand financial spaces, such as Mint.

And while brown may be useful for a rugged appeal — see how it’s used by Saddleback Leather — when positioned in another context, brown can be used to create a warm, inviting feeling (Thanksgiving) or to stir your appetite (every chocolate commercial you’ve ever seen).

But there’s still plenty to learn and consider if we humbly accept that concrete answers aren't a guarantee. The key is to look for practical ways to make decisions about color.

How to make practical decisions about color in your marketing and branding

The bottom line is that there are no clear-cut guidelines for choosing colors for your brand. While it would be nice to be able to simply look at an infographic and make the right decision, the reality is that the answer to “What colors are right for my brand?” is always “It depends.”

It’s a frustrating answer, but it’s the truth. The context you’re working within is an essential consideration. It’s the feeling, mood, and image that your brand or product creates that matters.

The good news: Research into the psychology of color can help you make the right choice.

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The right color is appropriate for your brand

In a 2006 study, researchers found that the relationship between brands and color hinges on the perceived appropriateness of the color being used for the particular brand. In other words: Does the color fit what’s being sold?

When it comes to picking the “right” color, research has found that predicting consumer reaction to color appropriateness is far more important than the individual color itself.

So when considering colors for your marketing and branding, ask yourself (or better yet, collect customer feedback): “Is this color appropriate for what I’m selling?”

The right color shows off your brand’s personality

Purchasing intent is greatly affected by colors due to their effect on how a brand is perceived; colors influence how customers view the “personality” of the brand in question.

And while certain colors do broadly align with specific traits (e.g., brown with ruggedness), nearly every academic study on colors and branding will tell you that it’s far more important for colors to support the personality you want to portray instead of trying to align with stereotypical color associations.

Psychologist and Stanford professor Jennifer Aaker has conducted studies on this very topic, and her paper titled “Dimensions of Brand Personality” points out five core dimensions that play a role in a brand’s personality.

Brands can sometimes cross between two traits, but they are mostly dominated by one.

Ask yourself: what do I want my brand’s personality to be, and how can I use color to convey that personality?

The right color appeals to your audience

Joe Hallock's "Colour Assignment" is one of the more intriguing investigations on colour psychology in regard to gender.

The research from Hallock shows that different genders clearly like different hues. But it's crucial to remember that the majority of his responders came from Western cultures. Color suitability for gender is strongly influenced by one's environment, particularly by cultural perspective, which in turn can have an impact on personal colour choices.

According to other studies on colour perception and preferences, males tend to choose vivid shades, tints, and hues while women favour gentler hues. Men were also more inclined to choose shades of colours (colours with black added) as their favourites, whilst women are more open to tints of colours.

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Your brand is differentiated by the correct hue.

More research has shown that our brains favour instantly identifiable brands, which emphasises the significance of colour in developing a brand identity. Even one journal article makes the case that it's crucial for emerging businesses to use hues that set them apart from established rivals.

The perfect colour choice may 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.

I have no idea why this is such a contentious topic in colour theory. Brands may simply break free of gender norms. In fact, I'd contend that many have already received rewards for defying expectations.

The following argument, which brings me right into the next, is that "perceived appropriateness" shouldn't be so strict as to presume a brand or product can't flourish because the colours don't suit polled tastes.

Research demonstrates unequivocally that when an object stands out from its surrounds, whether it be text or a picture, participants are far more likely to notice and retain it.

While a sizable majority of consumers prefer colour patterns with similar colours, they also like palettes with a sharply contrasting accent colour, according to two studies on colour combinations, one evaluating aesthetic reaction and the other looking at customer preferences.

In terms of colour coordination, this entails building a visual composition using accent complementary (or tertiary) colours to contrast with basic analogous colours:

This idea is crucial to marketing as well. Another approach to think about it is to use backdrop, base, and accent colours to establish a hierarchy on your website that "guides" visitors on which colour promotes action, as designer Josh Byers illustrates below.

Why is this important? You may avoid consuming the conversion rate optimization Kool-Aid that has led so many people astray by being aware of these ideas. Take this frequently cited example of increased conversions brought on by a change in button colour.

The conversion rate increased by 21% when the button was changed to red. We cannot, however, draw quick conclusions about "the power of the colour red" in a vacuum.

The remainder of the website is obviously designed with a green colour scheme, thus a green call to action just fits in with the surroundings. Red, on the other hand, is a hue that complements green and offers a striking visual contrast.

How we define "success" for these tests is a final but crucial factor. More sign-ups and clicks are only two examples of simple measures that marketers strive to manipulate since they are so simple to take.

The right name belongs to the right hue.

Despite the fact that different colours might be seen in various ways, the labels given to those hues also matter.

When individuals were asked to evaluate goods with various colour names, such as cosmetics, fancy names were selected far more frequently, according to a research titled "A rose by any other name..." For instance, even though the individuals were shown the same hue, "mocha" was determined to be much more endearing than "brown."

According to other study, the same impact holds true for a wide range of items. For example, customers evaluated richly named paint hues as more aesthetically pleasant than their plainly called counterparts.

Conclusion

Even if this essay has come to a conclusion, there is still no cheat sheet for selecting the ideal hue or colour scheme. In actuality, we could have generated more queries than responses. What a scam. The fact is that we might never have conclusive answers because of the kaleidoscopic character of colour theory.

But just because there are a lot of "maybes" and "kind ofs" in a topic doesn't imply we should stop analysing it critically. The only reliable approach to arrive at improved answers is to challenge preconceptions and ask better questions by using the research that is already accessible.