As we approach the end of 2016, we are going to present some of the most popular of the nearly 1,500 posts that have appeared on Evans on Marketing. Today, we cover how colors affect consumers’ product perceptions.
An Infographic Overview: The Psychology of Color
From a marketing perspective, we tend to believe “perception is reality” — which means that what shoppers believe about product features is more important than the reality of those features.
With this in mind, Rachel Griffith has written a fascinating article for Fast Company on the impact of color on consumer perceptions. As she notes:
“When it comes to identifying your brand, your logo is probably the first thing your customers will think of. While honing the narrative and message behind your logo should of course be your primary concern, research suggests that your logo’s design — and specifically its colors — have more bearing on your customers’ opinions than you might think. Neuroscientist Bevil Conway, who has focused his recent research almost entirely on the neural machinery behind color, believes the science behind color processing to be very powerful and completely underexploited.”
“According to research complied by web design and marketing company WebPageFX, people make a subconscious judgment about a product in less than 90 seconds of viewing, and a majority of these people base that assessment on color alone. In fact, almost 85% of consumers cite color as the primary reason they buy a particular product, and 80% of people believe color increases brand recognition.”
To learn more about the perceptions of people with regard to red, yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple, click on the infographic from Fast Company.
I didn’t realize what an important role that “color” plays for a web page until I started to create our team project’s website. Different colors can give visitors totally different perceptions of our brand. I was using red as the main color at first to show passions but found too much red can make people feel tension. So at last, I choose green and white to show a peaceful yet healthy image. To be a marketer, we not only need to learn the basic marketing strategies but also other subjects’ knowledge like design, literature, psychology and so on. I think why I love marketing. Everything is new for us.
Very interesting. I didn’t realize that color relies so much on a consumer’s decision. I do however understand that to attract an audience a great logo must be used to draw them in. Colors in a logo are very eye-catching and most individuals are quick to remember a company or service based off of their logo. Much like how the golden arches of McDonald’s are known worldwide! This can also tie into how important graphic design can be for businesses; kind of like a make or break factor.
It is very interesting that color can have a huge effect and impact on a consumer. But, this does make a lot of sense. Certain colors have the ability to catch people’s eyes and draw them into taking a closer look at a product or logo. Also, some colors are immediately associated with certain companies, for example Tiffany blue or the yellow arches of McDonald’s.
This marketing perspective implies that the color is the most determining factor of the consumers’ product perceptions. According to research, 93% of customers look at the visual appearance of the product. Also, the color ads are almost two times frequently read rather than black and white ones. The primary colors of the ads should be red, yellow, and blue in order to catch the customer’s’ attention.
This made me think about how I shop. I wouldn’t have originally thought that color was a part of my buying process, but maybe subconsciously it is. Most of the places that I shop are places that I have been to before so I don’t think about the color of their logo or color of the sign for their store. I definitely agree that color helps with brand recognition. When I have traveled abroad I looked for restaurant signs or company signs to help me find places that I was comfortable with. I need to pay more attention to which colors catch my attention.
Color is an aspect of shopping and the decision-making process that comes with it than I had never really considered. However, it makes perfect sense when thought over thoroughly. Countless famous logos of brands have been altered and shaped as strategically as possible in order to be as aesthetically pleasing to the consumer as it can be. It is no surprise then that this thought process would eventually pay dividends in the form of higher overall profits.
Color is one of the most important parts in creating a brand and an image. One of the best examples is the “Facebook Blue”. Facebook specifically designed the color of its logo and page to be appealing to the user. The blue is design to make the users feel calm and attracted to the page so they will want to continue to be on the site and not use a different social media platform. Based off the success of Facebook and its color blue, I do believe color has a huge effect on the decision-making process of consumers.
It is very interesting to see this from a psychological perspective because I realize that I judge something in a store a lot based on its color. When it comes to clothing or accessories, I am a very plain person so I usually wear neutral colors. If I encounter any color outside of the neutral palate, the chances of me looking at it for more than 60 seconds are very low. It is also interesting to see how much color affects people’s perception of things. Wall colors affect people’s moods, too. Many people usually pick specific wall colors for certain rooms in their house because each color gives off a different “vibe”. It is also interesting to see how our mind makes these decisions for us regarding color even if we don’t want it to.
This article really attracts my interest to explore how color affects consumer perceptions. Until I read this article, I did not realize that the color of brands really matters a lot. Therefore, marketers may make a research to identify which color of logo fits this brand most to impress consumers with better perception.
Consumer behavior is one of the most interesting factors in marketing and there’s always more to research. Consumer behavior and market research like theories of color are what influence companies like McDonald’s to choose red and yellow and branding colors because they have been found to relate promote hunger. Choosing branding colors may be seen as insignificant to those who don’t know the information behind it, but if a manager were to really do their homework, choosing the branding colors would not be a quick decision. My last blog post was also about this topic https://samonmarketing.wordpress.com/2016/12/12/grey-areas-when-it-comes-to-color-marketing/