research paper on color psychology

MINI REVIEW article

Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work.

$\r\nAndrew J. Elliot*$

Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

In the past decade there has been increased interest in research on color and psychological functioning. Important advances have been made in theoretical work and empirical work, but there are also important weaknesses in both areas that must be addressed for the literature to continue to develop apace. In this article, I provide brief theoretical and empirical reviews of research in this area, in each instance beginning with a historical background and recent advancements, and proceeding to an evaluation focused on weaknesses that provide guidelines for future research. I conclude by reiterating that the literature on color and psychological functioning is at a nascent stage of development, and by recommending patience and prudence regarding conclusions about theory, findings, and real-world application.

The past decade has seen enhanced interest in research in the area of color and psychological functioning. Progress has been made on both theoretical and empirical fronts, but there are also weaknesses on both of these fronts that must be attended to for this research area to continue to make progress. In the following, I briefly review both advances and weaknesses in the literature on color and psychological functioning.

Theoretical Work

Background and recent developments.

Color has fascinated scholars for millennia ( Sloane, 1991 ; Gage, 1993 ). Theorizing on color and psychological functioning has been present since Goethe (1810) penned his Theory of Colors , in which he linked color categories (e.g., the “plus” colors of yellow, red–yellow, yellow–red) to emotional responding (e.g., warmth, excitement). Goldstein (1942) expanded on Goethe’s intuitions, positing that certain colors (e.g., red, yellow) produce systematic physiological reactions manifest in emotional experience (e.g., negative arousal), cognitive orientation (e.g., outward focus), and overt action (e.g., forceful behavior). Subsequent theorizing derived from Goldstein’s ideas has focused on wavelength, positing that longer wavelength colors feel arousing or warm, whereas shorter wavelength colors feel relaxing or cool ( Nakashian, 1964 ; Crowley, 1993 ). Other conceptual statements about color and psychological functioning have focused on general associations that people have to colors and their corresponding influence on downstream affect, cognition, and behavior (e.g., black is associated with aggression and elicits aggressive behavior; Frank and Gilovich, 1988 ; Soldat et al., 1997 ). Finally, much writing on color and psychological functioning has been completely atheoretical, focused exclusively on finding answers to applied questions (e.g., “What wall color facilitates worker alertness and productivity?”). The aforementioned theories and conceptual statements continue to motivate research on color and psychological functioning. However, several other promising theoretical frameworks have also emerged in the past decade, and I review these frameworks in the following.

Hill and Barton (2005) noted that in many non-human animals, including primate species, dominance in aggressive encounters (i.e., superior physical condition) is signaled by the bright red of oxygenated blood visible on highly vascularized bare skin. Artificial red (e.g., on leg bands) has likewise been shown to signal dominance in non-human animals, mimicking the natural physiological process ( Cuthill et al., 1997 ). In humans in aggressive encounters, a testosterone surge produces visible reddening on the face and fear leads to pallor ( Drummond and Quay, 2001 ; Levenson, 2003 ). Hill and Barton (2005) posited that the parallel between humans and non-humans present at the physiological level may extend to artificial stimuli, such that wearing red in sport contests may convey dominance and lead to a competitive advantage.

Other theorists have also utilized a comparative approach in positing links between skin coloration and the evaluation of conspecifics. Changizi et al. (2006) and Changizi (2009) contend that trichromatic vision evolved to enable primates, including humans, to detect subtle changes in blood flow beneath the skin that carry important information about the emotional state of the conspecific. Increased red can convey anger, embarrassment, or sexual arousal, whereas increased bluish or greenish tint can convey illness or poor physiological condition. Thus, visual sensitivity to these color modulations facilitates various forms of social interaction. In similar fashion, Stephen et al. (2009) and Stephen and McKeegan (2010) propose that perceivers use information about skin coloration (perhaps particularly from the face, Tan and Stephen, 2012 ) to make inferences about the attractiveness, health, and dominance of conspecifics. Redness (from blood oxygenization) and yellowness (from carotenoids) are both seen as facilitating positive judgments. Fink et al. (2006) and Fink and Matts (2007) posit that the homogeneity of skin coloration is an important factor in evaluating the age, attractiveness, and health of faces.

Elliot and Maier (2012) have proposed color-in-context theory, which draws on social learning, as well as biology. Some responses to color stimuli are presumed to be solely due to the repeated pairing of color and particular concepts, messages, and experiences. Others, however, are presumed to represent a biologically engrained predisposition that is reinforced and shaped by social learning. Through this social learning, color associations can be extended beyond natural bodily processes (e.g., blood flow modulations) to objects in close proximity to the body (e.g., clothes, accessories). Thus, for example, red may not only increase attractiveness evaluations when viewed on the face, but also when viewed on a shirt or dress. As implied by the name of the theory, the physical and psychological context in which color is perceived is thought to influence its meaning and, accordingly, responses to it. Thus, blue on a ribbon is positive (indicating first place), but blue on a piece of meat is negative (indicating rotten), and a red shirt may enhance the attractiveness of a potential mate (red = sex/romance), but not of a person evaluating one’s competence (red = failure/danger).

Meier and Robinson (2005) and Meier (in press ) have posited a conceptual metaphor theory of color. From this perspective, people talk and think about abstract concepts in concrete terms grounded in perceptual experience (i.e., they use metaphors) to help them understand and navigate their social world ( Lakoff and Johnson, 1999 ). Thus, anger entails reddening of the face, so anger is metaphorically described as “seeing red,” and positive emotions and experiences are often depicted in terms of lightness (rather than darkness), so lightness is metaphorically linked to good (“seeing the light”) rather than bad (“in the dark”). These metaphoric associations are presumed to have implications for important outcomes such as morality judgments (e.g., white things are viewed as pure) and stereotyping (e.g., dark faces are viewed more negatively).

For many years it has been known that light directly influences physiology and increases arousal (see Cajochen, 2007 , for a review), but recently theorists have posited that such effects are wavelength dependent. Blue light, in particular, is posited to activate the melanopsin photoreceptor system which, in turn, activates the brain structures involved in sub-cortical arousal and higher-order attentional processing ( Cajochen et al., 2005 ; Lockley et al., 2006 ). As such, exposure to blue light is expected to facilitate alertness and enhance performance on tasks requiring sustained attention.

Evaluation and Recommendations

Drawing on recent theorizing in evolutionary psychology, emotion science, retinal physiology, person perception, and social cognition, the aforementioned conceptualizations represent important advances to the literature on color and psychological functioning. Nevertheless, theory in this area remains at a nascent level of development, and the following weaknesses may be identified.

First, the focus of theoretical work in this area is either extremely specific or extremely general. A precise conceptual proposition such as red signals dominance and leads to competitive advantage in sports ( Hill and Barton, 2005 ) is valuable in that it can be directly translated into a clear, testable hypothesis; however, it is not clear how this specific hypothesis connects to a broader understanding of color–performance relations in achievement settings more generally. On the other end of the spectrum, a general conceptualization such as color-in-context theory ( Elliot and Maier, 2012 ) is valuable in that it offers several widely applicable premises; however, these premises are only vaguely suggestive of precise hypotheses in specific contexts. What is needed are mid-level theoretical frameworks that comprehensively, yet precisely explain and predict links between color and psychological functioning in specific contexts (for emerging developments, see Pazda and Greitemeyer, in press ; Spence, in press ; Stephen and Perrett, in press ).

Second, the extant theoretical work is limited in scope in terms of range of hues, range of color properties, and direction of influence. Most theorizing has focused on one hue, red, which is understandable given its prominence in nature, on the body, and in society ( Changizi, 2009 ; Elliot and Maier, 2014 ); however, other hues also carry important associations that undoubtedly have downstream effects (e.g., blue: Labrecque and Milne, 2012 ; green: Akers et al., 2012 ). Color has three basic properties: hue, lightness, and chroma ( Fairchild, 2013 ). Variation in any or all of these properties could influence downstream affect, cognition, or behavior, yet only hue is considered in most theorizing (most likely because experientially, it is the most salient color property). Lightness and chroma also undoubtedly have implications for psychological functioning (e.g., lightness: Kareklas et al., 2014 ; chroma: Lee et al., 2013 ); lightness has received some attention within conceptual metaphor theory ( Meier, in press ; see also Prado-León and Rosales-Cinco, 2011 ), but chroma has been almost entirely overlooked, as has the issue of combinations of hue, lightness, and chroma. Finally, most theorizing has focused on color as an independent variable rather than a dependent variable; however, it is also likely that many situational and intrapersonal factors influence color perception (e.g., situational: Bubl et al., 2009 ; intrapersonal: Fetterman et al., 2015 ).

Third, theorizing to date has focused primarily on main effects, with only a modicum of attention allocated to the important issue of moderation. As research literatures develop and mature, they progress from a sole focus on “is” questions (“Does X influence Y?”) to additionally considering “when” questions (“Under what conditions does X influence Y and under what conditions does X not influence Y?”). These “second generation” questions ( Zanna and Fazio, 1982 , p. 283) can seem less exciting and even deflating in that they posit boundary conditions that constrain the generalizability of an effect. Nevertheless, this step is invaluable in that it adds conceptual precision and clarity, and begins to address the issue of real-world applicability. All color effects undoubtedly depend on certain conditions – culture, gender, age, type of task, variant of color, etc. – and acquiring an understanding of these conditions will represent an important marker of maturity for this literature (for movement in this direction, see Schwarz and Singer, 2013 ; Tracy and Beall, 2014 ; Bertrams et al., 2015 ; Buechner et al., in press ; Young, in press ). Another, more succinct, way to state this third weakness is that theorizing in this area needs to take context, in all its forms, more seriously.

Empirical Work

Empirical work on color and psychological functioning dates back to the late 19th century ( Féré, 1887 ; see Pressey, 1921 , for a review). A consistent feature of this work, from its inception to the past decade, is that it has been fraught with major methodological problems that have precluded rigorous testing and clear interpretation ( O’Connor, 2011 ). One problem has been a failure to attend to rudimentary scientific procedures such as experimenter blindness to condition, identifying, and excluding color deficient participants, and standardizing the duration of color presentation or exposure. Another problem has been a failure to specify and control for color at the spectral level in manipulations. Without such specification, it is impossible to know what precise combination of color properties was investigated, and without such control, the confounding of focal and non-focal color properties is inevitable ( Whitfield and Wiltshire, 1990 ; Valdez and Mehrabian, 1994 ). Yet another problem has been the use of underpowered samples. This problem, shared across scientific disciplines ( Maxwell, 2004 ), can lead to Type I errors, Type II errors, and inflated effect sizes ( Fraley and Vazire, 2014 ; Murayama et al., 2014 ). Together, these methodological problems have greatly hampered progress in this area.

Although some of the aforementioned problems remain (see “Evaluation and Recommendations” below), others have been rectified in recent work. This, coupled with advances in theory development, has led to a surge in empirical activity. In the following, I review the diverse areas in which color work has been conducted in the past decade, and the findings that have emerged. Space considerations require me to constrain this review to a brief mention of central findings within each area. I focus on findings with humans (for reviews of research with non-human animals, see Higham and Winters, in press ; Setchell, in press ) that have been obtained in multiple (at least five) independent labs. Table 1 provides a summary, as well as representative examples and specific references.

TABLE 1. Research on color and psychological functioning.

In research on color and selective attention, red stimuli have been shown to receive an attentional advantage (see Folk, in press , for a review). Research on color and alertness has shown that blue light increases subjective alertness and performance on attention-based tasks (see Chellappa et al., 2011 , for a review). Studies on color and athletic performance have linked wearing red to better performance and perceived performance in sport competitions and tasks (see Maier et al., in press , for a review). In research on color and intellectual performance, viewing red prior to a challenging cognitive task has been shown to undermine performance (see Shi et al., 2015 , for a review). Research focused on color and aggressiveness/dominance evaluation has shown that viewing red on self or other increases appraisals of aggressiveness and dominance (see Krenn, 2014 , for a review). Empirical work on color and avoidance motivation has linked viewing red in achievement contexts to increased caution and avoidance (see Elliot and Maier, 2014 , for a review). In research on color and attraction, viewing red on or near a female has been shown to enhance attraction in heterosexual males (see Pazda and Greitemeyer, in press , for a review). Research on color and store/company evaluation has shown that blue on stores/logos increases quality and trustworthiness appraisals (see Labrecque and Milne, 2012 , for a review). Finally, empirical work on color and eating/drinking has shown that red influences food and beverage perception and consumption (see Spence, in press , for a review).

The aforementioned findings represent important contributions to the literature on color and psychological functioning, and highlight the multidisciplinary nature of research in this area. Nevertheless, much like the extant theoretical work, the extant empirical work remains at a nascent level of development, due, in part, to the following weaknesses.

First, although in some research in this area color properties are controlled for at the spectral level, in most research it (still) is not. Color control is typically done improperly at the device (rather than the spectral) level, is impossible to implement (e.g., in web-based platform studies), or is ignored altogether. Color control is admittedly difficult, as it requires technical equipment for color assessment and presentation, as well as the expertise to use it. Nevertheless, careful color control is essential if systematic scientific work is to be conducted in this area. Findings from uncontrolled research can be informative in initial explorations of color hypotheses, but such work is inherently fraught with interpretational ambiguity ( Whitfield and Wiltshire, 1990 ; Elliot and Maier, 2014 ) that must be subsequently addressed.

Second, color perception is not only a function of lightness, chroma, and hue, but also of factors such as viewing distance and angle, amount and type of ambient light, and presence of other colors in the immediate background and general environmental surround ( Hunt and Pointer, 2011 ; Brainard and Radonjić, 2014 ; Fairchild, 2015 ). In basic color science research (e.g., on color physics, color physiology, color appearance modeling, etcetera; see Gegenfurtner and Ennis, in press ; Johnson, in press ; Stockman and Brainard, in press ), these factors are carefully specified and controlled for in order to establish standardized participant viewing conditions. These factors have been largely ignored and allowed to vary in research on color and psychological functioning, with unknown consequences. An important next step for research in this area is to move to incorporate these more rigorous standardization procedures widely utilized by basic color scientists. With regard to both this and the aforementioned weakness, it should be acknowledged that exact and complete control is not actually possible in color research, given the multitude of factors that influence color perception ( Committee on Colorimetry of the Optical Society of America, 1953 ) and our current level of knowledge about and ability to control them ( Fairchild, 2015 ). As such, the standard that must be embraced and used as a guideline in this work is to control color properties and viewing conditions to the extent possible given current technology, and to keep up with advances in the field that will increasingly afford more precise and efficient color management.

Third, although in some research in this area, large, fully powered samples are used, much of the research remains underpowered. This is a problem in general, but it is particularly a problem when the initial demonstration of an effect is underpowered (e.g., Elliot and Niesta, 2008 ), because initial work is often used as a guide for determining sample size in subsequent work (both heuristically and via power analysis). Underpowered samples commonly produce overestimated effect size estimates ( Ioannidis, 2008 ), and basing subsequent sample sizes on such estimates simply perpetuates the problem. Small sample sizes can also lead researchers to prematurely conclude that a hypothesis is disconfirmed, overlooking a potentially important advance ( Murayama et al., 2014 ). Findings from small sampled studies should be considered preliminary; running large sampled studies with carefully controlled color stimuli is essential if a robust scientific literature is to be developed. Furthermore, as the “evidentiary value movement” ( Finkel et al., 2015 ) makes inroads in the empirical sciences, color scientists would do well to be at the leading edge of implementing such rigorous practices as publically archiving research materials and data, designating exploratory from confirmatory analyses, supplementing or even replacing significant testing with “new statistics” ( Cumming, 2014 ), and even preregistering research protocols and analyses (see Finkel et al., 2015 , for an overview).

In both reviewing advances in and identifying weaknesses of the literature on color and psychological functioning, it is important to bear in mind that the existing theoretical and empirical work is at an early stage of development. It is premature to offer any bold theoretical statements, definitive empirical pronouncements, or impassioned calls for application; rather, it is best to be patient and to humbly acknowledge that color psychology is a uniquely complex area of inquiry ( Kuehni, 2012 ; Fairchild, 2013 ) that is only beginning to come into its own. Findings from color research can be provocative and media friendly, and the public (and the field as well) can be tempted to reach conclusions before the science is fully in place. There is considerable promise in research on color and psychological functioning, but considerably more theoretical and empirical work needs to be done before the full extent of this promise can be discerned and, hopefully, fulfilled.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords : color, psychological functioning, hue, lightness, chroma

Citation: Elliot AJ (2015) Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work. Front. Psychol. 6:368. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00368

Received: 25 November 2014; Accepted: 16 March 2015; Published online: 02 April 2015.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2015 Elliot. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Andrew J. Elliot, Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, University of Rochester, Intercampus Drive, Rochester, NY 14627, USA [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Influence of Color Perception on Consumer Behavior

Conference paper
First Online: 05 June 2018
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Long Ren 22 &
Yun Chen 22

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 10923))

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International Conference on HCI in Business, Government, and Organizations

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1 Citations

With the intensified competition, attracting and retaining the customers has become a top concern for businesses. Color has been identified as one of most significant factors influencing consumers’ purchasing behavior. The purpose of the research is to explore the ways color perceptions influence consumer behavior. A better understanding of influence of color perceptions enables them to direct marketing strategies design and implementation. In the research, the researcher makes an attempt to review relevant research papers and account for why color is important in capturing the interest of consumers. In the paper, consumer behaviors, influential factors and influence of colors on consumer behavior, color meanings and roles are reviewed and critically discussed. It is expected that the study can help better understand consumers’ color perceptions and their potential influence on consumer behavior. The color psychology has become growingly significant in producing and packaging products. Colors, thus, accomplished prominence in marketing activities. The findings in the established literature can offer some great implications for businesses in terms of how to leverage color for creating distinct customer experience. The established literature also highlights colors have different meanings in different culture. That indicates the importance of considering cultural difference when exploring influence of color perceptions on consumer behaviors. The paper simply reviews the established literature, and these established findings remain to be empirically tested.

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A Conceptual Framework for Examining Color Preference, Importance and Categorization in a Multiattribute Context – A Comparative Approach

A Conceptual Framework for Examining Color Preference, Importance and Categorization in a Multiattribute Context among Blacks

When Do People Purchase a Product of Color Which They Do Not Like?

Color perceptions
Consumer behavior

1 Introduction

In the modern society, consumers dominate. The intensified globalization and competition prompts businesses to seek for alternative approaches to influencing consumers. Immaterial and intangible features of products influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. Sensory marketing, under such circumstance, has become an innovative solution to generate emotional features of brand/product and capture strong relationship with consumers (Hultén 2011 ). The sensory marketing offers an excellent opportunity for using color as an approach to differentiate one product from another. Color may generate emotional link leading to product differentiation, competitiveness, strengthened customer loyalty, increased sales, reduced perception time for the brand, enhanced positive emotions and customer relationship (Aghdaie and Honari 2014 ). The researchers such as Cian and Cervai ( 2011 ); Kauppinen-Räisänen and Luomala ( 2010 ) argued that color is a cost-saving and effective approach to generate consumers’ positive opinions. Color psychology is found to significantly influence human beings’ lives in a variety of approaches. Many organizations worldwide have recruited color consultants to help figure out the best color for products so as to best capture consumers. It was found that 62–90% of purchasing decision was based on product color (Singh 2006 ). However, the established researches into color and its influence (Kareklas et al. 2014 ; Labrecque et al. 2013 ) are few. Little has been understood about the influence of color perception on consumer behavior. There is death of generalized material, in which information about color use in marketing would be explained in a systematic way. That allows the formulation of the research problem, “how does color perception influence consumer behavior?”

2 Consumer Behavior

According to Blackwell et al. ( 2006 ), consumer behavior refers to activities including obtaining products or service, consumption and product disposal. In marketing field, consumer behavior has captured interest of market-oriented marketers as it investigates into the ways consumers purchase and why they purchase. With insights into consumption behavior, marketers are capable of developing strategies for influencing consumers’ purchasing behavior. Marketing activities no more flow from marketers to consumers. Instead, it is important for marketers to truly learn the ways consumers react to marketing efforts. Evans et al. ( 2006 ) develop model known as hierarchy of communication effects model, including seven stages, “exposure, attention, perception, learning, attitude, action, and post-purchase”. Nevertheless, as other business model, it is unnecessary consumers observe sequence in the process of purchasing. However, the model offers marketers logical model for integrating psychological concepts into interpretation of why and how consumers react to marketing activities (Evans et al. 2006 ) (Fig. 1 ).

Sequential effects of response to marketing (Evans et al. 2006 )

Color is differentiated in hue, brightness and saturation (Ogden et al. 2010 ). In terms of hue, colors can be categorized into cool color (e.g. orange and red) and warm color (e.g. violet, blue). Brightness and saturation are significant in color perception. Brightness plays an important role in determining lightness or darkness of color; saturation suggests purity of color. It was found that color is much more pleasant with enhanced attributes (Camgöz et al. 2002 ). According to Hemphill ( 1996 ), bright colors are linked with positive emotions like happiness, joy and hope. Likewise, Elliot and Maier ( 2007 ) considers brighter colors as friendly, cultured, pleasant and beautiful. Conversely, dark color is associated with negative emotions like boredom and sadness (Camgöz et al. 2002 ). According to Elliot and Maier ( 2007 ), color may generate associations and responses, and they take meaning of color as bipartite. Meanings of colors are triggered by learned associations or shaped by the nature. Likewise, Tofle et al. ( 2004 ) also claimed emotional responses evoked by color as an outcome of learned associations on basis of culture and individual-related features. Cherry ( 2015 ) explores link between color and mood. Cool colors are linked with the moods as calm, serene and comfort. Conversely, arm colors are relevant to stressful and exciting moods. Furthermore, Valdez and Mehrabian ( 1994 ) confirms long-wave length color as much more arousing the short-wave length ones. Colors are capable of attracting attention. That indicates retailers are capable of leveraging color to elicit appropriate behaviors. Bellizzi and Hite ( 1992 ) identified people had higher willingness to stay and purchase products in environment with blue than environment with red.

In some case, “meaning” may represent a kind of mental stimulation (Osgood et al. 1957). Seahwa (2014) definitions colour meaning in her research: “Colour meaning is not about combinations that create pleasing responses (colour harmony), not about the processes with which people understand and react to colour (colour perception), and not about liking a particular colour among alternatives (colour preference). Instead, it is concerned with the meanings that are associated with certain colours.”

The meanings linked with colors are different in different cultures. No absolute universal meanings are given to specific color. The most widely known studies on the feelings that different colors represent are mainly located in the context of North America. With expansion of North American culture, interpreting color meanings worldwide have been alternated and shown tendency of convergence. The color meanings identified in North America are presented in Table 1 .

In addition to influence of culture, colors are different because of dependence on lighting conditions, observation position and surrounding especially the adjacent color. All these factors can shape the ways of perceiving a specific color. Moreover, even when people are exposed to the same color, the ways they perceive color, meanings and emotions incurred by the same color are different among people due to gender, age, educational and culture, childhood association and others (Scott-Kemmis 2013 ). A research by Choungourian ( 1969 ) into people from four countries identified variance in color preferences represents individual variation. It was found that the US consumers prefer red and blue, but least like blue-green. However, respondents from Iran and Kuwait preferred blue and green. As for gender, women tended to have different color preferences from men. Besides, many men in the western countries are red/green color blind, but marketers can use unisex colors like blue, red, black and white. There is a trend of shifting from bright and primary colors toward sophisticated color in form of patterns. Adults were found to be less open to experiment of new colors, but they adhered to the favorite color for lowing the risks. Regarding education, well-educated people are found to be much more complicated in color choice.

4 Roles of Color in Consumer Behavior

The established literature has been dedicated to exploring the relationship between colors and purchasing behaviors. It is found that packaging and color significantly and directly influence consumers’ psyche (Raheem et al. 2014 ). Thus, it is significant to carry out the studies on relationship between colors and consumer behavior so as to distinguish color that mostly influence positively or negatively influence consumers’ choice and thereby purchasing behavior. Brody et al. ( 1981 ), television advertising significantly influenced children consumerism. Thus, children without knowledge of substantial components may be fascinated by colors. That indicates advertising with good color was likely to attract children and purchasers. Color is taken as an important non-verbal sign in understanding consumer behavior (Kotler and Keller 2006 ). Consumers generally link specific color with specific product categories by understanding dependencies among different colors. Especially, colors play important in marketing and packing. Harmony, proper arrangement of colors can help to capture consumers’ interest. A major factor influencing consumer perception is the type of color adopted in packaging. It is the color that captures consumers’ attention (Hagtvedt 2016 ). Consumers get color of specific products on basis of relations they build up. on some occasions, having pleasant experience may result in favor of a specific color, and on other occasions consumers may acquire color on basis of relations (Luscher and Scott 2003 ).

Color is expected to be helpful for capturing consumers’ attention as human beings are capable of quickly identifying colorful items. That is because the pre-attentive system of brain is designed and developed to easily spot color in the external environment, and what is more important sis that the system can immediately help select the items for following attentional processing. Nevertheless, color is not alone. In other words, it is hardly possible to perceive a specific color on its own, but a specific color is used with other adjacent colors. Therefore, adopting color for capturing consumers’ interest may be inhibited by the surroundings where items with target colors are placed, and different colors have different values for capturing attention (Jansson-Boyd 2010 ). In addition, a recent research (Huang and Lu 2013 ) suggests that blue and red mediated the perception of healthiness perception of the food product.

Furthermore, relying on setting, a single color or combined color communicates symbolic meanings that can generate affective reactions and are adopted in marketing practices to figure out brands, categorize products, make assumptions and direct consumers’ choices (Hanss et al. 2012 ). Ones’ perception of color is based upon link between color and associated meanings. Consumer researches claim successful adoption of color significantly relies upon congruency between symbolic meanings of color and product attributes. Bottomley and Doyle ( 2006 ) conduct a research into brand logo and they found that cool colors such as blue and green are proper for utilitarian products, and warm colors such as red and orange are proper for products or services generating hedonic experience.

5 Practical Implications

The established literature has highlighted two important themes. First, it is highlighted that human beings have continued to be influenced by color psychically or mentally. How human beings are influenced by colors has remarkably psychological essence that indirectly affects norms, responses and individual consumer’s behavior (Elm 2012 ). Second, it is highlighted that in different countries or cultures, colors are possessed with different meanings. That offers implications that mistakes in selecting color may discourage people from purchasing specific products. Colors, thus, accomplished prominence in marketing activities. The findings in the established literature can offer some great implications for businesses in terms of how to leverage color for creating distinct customer experience.

First, the established literature implies that marketers need to learn emotions and needs generated by each color for leveraging color in marketing activities. A good understanding of meanings of different colors is the prerequisite to successful use of color. For instance, cool colors such as blue and green are associated with attribute “pacifying”, and warm colors such as red and orange can stimulate interest. Thus, if a business intends to stimulate consumers’ interest, it is desirable to use warm colors.

Second, it is implied that businesses should capitalize on color for creating the customer experience that they intend to deliver to the customers. For attracting consumers, color has been taken as critical element. Learning well psychological influence of colors and its variance combination can help marketers a lot. However, color selection should be congruent with the business. For instance, brown, a color with the impression of being dull, can generate great effect in coffee shops or bakeries to enhance customer experience. Likewise, UPS, the leading shipping company worldwide, is renowned for its brown trucks. That indicates there is no formula for how to use different colors in creating customer experience.

6 Conclusion

Overall, the established literature has identified the great impact of color perceptions on consumer behaviors. The color psychology has become growingly significant in producing and packaging products. Colors, thus, accomplished prominence in marketing activities. Color can stimulate interest and enhance desire for purchasing a specific product or service. With the intensified competition, attracting and retaining the customers has become a top concern for businesses. Color has been identified as one of most significant factors influencing consumers’ purchasing behavior. Color in marketing directly influences consumer behavior, which has been confirmed by lots of researches. Considers link color with different products, which increases difficulties of learning the ways people respond to colors. Each color must be deployed for suitable product in line with psychological features. The color psychology has become growingly significant in producing and packaging products. The established literature also highlights colors have different meanings in different culture. That indicates the importance of considering cultural difference when exploring influence of color perceptions on consumer behaviors. The paper simply reviews the established literature, and these established findings remain to be empirically tested.

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Ren, L., Chen, Y. (2018). Influence of Color Perception on Consumer Behavior. In: Nah, FH., Xiao, B. (eds) HCI in Business, Government, and Organizations. HCIBGO 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 10923. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91716-0_32

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Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel?

How color impacts moods, feelings, and behaviors

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kateryna Kovarzh

Psychological Effects of Color
Modern Research
Influence on Performance
Consumer Behavior

Do you feel energized when you see red? Does the color blue make you feel calm and relaxed? Artists and interior designers have long believed that color can dramatically affect moods, feelings, and emotions. "Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions," the artist Pablo Picasso once remarked.

Color is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions. Certain colors have been associated with physiological changes, including increased blood pressure, increased metabolism, and eyestrain.

"It's amazing how colors can truly impact our mood and influence our behavior," says Rachel Goldman PhD.

"Take a moment to think about a familiar space to you, is there a color that stands out about that space? Think about your clothes and how different colored clothing makes you feel when you wear them. Perhaps the next time you are feeling kind of blah, think about this and see if your mood shifts by wearing a different color. Many times, it's the small things that can have the largest impact."

Press Play to Learn More About How Colors Affect the Mind and Body

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast shares how colors influence the mind and body. Click below to listen now.

Follow Now : Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Music

At a Glance

Color can play an important role in conveying information, creating certain moods, and even influencing the decisions people make. Color preferences also exert an influence on the objects people choose to purchase, the clothes they wear, and the way they adorn their environments.

People often select objects in colors that evoke certain moods or feelings, such as selecting a car color that seems sporty, futuristic, sleek, or trustworthy. Room colors can also be used to evoke specific moods, such as painting a bedroom a soft green to create a peaceful mood.

What Is Color Psychology?

Color psychology is the study of how different colors affect human mood and behavior. It explores how colors can influence emotional responses, as well as how responses to color are affected by factors such as age and cultural background.

Different topics that are of interest in this area include:

The meanings of colors
How colors impact physiological responses
Emotional reactions to color
Factors that impact color preferences
Cultural differences in the meanings and associations of different colors
Whether colors can impact mental health
How colors can influence behaviors
Ways that colors can be utilized to promote well-being
How colors can be used to improve safety and design more optimal home and work environments

Much of the evidence in this emerging area is anecdotal at best, but researchers and experts have made a few important discoveries and observations about the psychology of color and its effect on moods, feelings, and behaviors.

The Psychological Effects of Color

The scientific exploration of color psychology is relatively new, but people have long been interested in the nature and impact of color. In ancient cultures, colors were often used to treat different conditions and influence emotions. They also played a role in different spiritual practices.

Why is color such a powerful force in our lives? What effects can it have on our bodies and minds? While perceptions of color are somewhat subjective, some color effects have universal meanings.

Colors in the red area of the color spectrum are known as warm colors and include red, orange, and yellow. These warm colors evoke emotions ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple, and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.

Symbolic Color Meanings

Symbolic meanings that are often associated with different colors:

Red: Passion, excitement, love
Pink: Soft, reserved, earthy
Purple: Mysterious, noble, glamorous
Blue: Wisdom, hope, reason, peace
Green: Nature, growth, freshness
Yellow: Hope, joy, danger
Orange: Warmth, kindness, joy
White: Truth, indifference
Black: Noble, mysterious, cold

One 2020 study that surveyed the emotional associations of 4,598 people from 30 different countries found that people commonly associate certain colors with specific emotions. According to the study results:

Black : 51% of respondents associated black with sadness
White : 43% of people associated white with relief
Red : 68% associated red with love
Blue : 35% linked blue to feelings of relief
Green : 39% linked green to contentment
Yellow : 52% felt that yellow means joy
Purple : 25% reported they associated purple with pleasure
Brown : 36% linked brown to disgust
Orange : 44% associated orange with joy
Pink : 50% linked pink with love

The study's researchers suggested that such results indicated that color-emotion associations appear to have universal qualities. These shared meanings may play an essential role in aiding communication.

Our feelings about color are often deeply personal and rooted in our own experience or culture. For example, while the color white is used in many Western countries to represent purity and innocence, it is seen as a symbol of mourning in many Eastern countries.

"Given the prevalence of color, one would expect color psychology to be a well-developed area," researchers Andrew Elliot and Markus Maier noted in a review of the existing research on the psychology of color. "Surprisingly, little theoretical or empirical work has been conducted to date on color's influence on psychological functioning, and the work that has been done has been driven mostly by practical concerns, not scientific rigor."

Color Psychology as Therapy

Several ancient cultures, including the Egyptians and Chinese, practiced chromotherapy, or the use of colors to heal. Chromotherapy is sometimes referred to as light therapy or colorology.

Colorology is still used today as a holistic or alternative treatment . In this treatment:

Red is used to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation.
Yellow is thought to stimulate the nerves and purify the body.
Orange is used to heal the lungs and to increase energy levels.
Blue is believed to soothe illnesses and treat pain.
Indigo shades are thought to alleviate skin problems.

While more research is needed, a 2020 study suggested that chromotherapy may be an effective way to help combat feelings of compassion fatigue and post-traumatic stress in intensive care unit nurses.

Modern Research on Color Psychology

Most psychologists view color therapy with skepticism and point out that the supposed effects of color are often grossly exaggerated. Colors also have different meanings in different cultures.

However, the mood-altering effects of color may only be temporary. A blue room may initially cause feelings of calm, but the effect dissipates after a short period of time.

However, existing research has found that color can impact people in a variety of surprising ways:

While-colored pills are associated with greater pain relief., while red pills are associated with having greater stimulant properties.
Red causes people to react with greater speed and force, something that might be helpful during athletic activities according to researchers.
Black- uniformed players are more likely to receive penalties in competitive sporting events.

Additional Research Is Still Needed

Interest in the subject of color psychology is growing, but there remain several unanswered questions. How do color associations develop? How powerful is the influence of these associations on real-world behavior?

Can color be used to increase worker productivity or workplace safety? What colors have an impact on consumer behavior ? Do certain personality types prefer specific colors? As researchers continue to explore such questions, we may soon learn more about color's impact on human psychology.

Zena O'Connor, a faculty member in the Department of Architecture, Design, and Planning at the University of Sydney, suggests that people should be wary of many of the claims they see about the psychology of color.

"Many of these claims lack substantiation in terms of empirical support, exhibit fundamental flaws (such as causal oversimplification and subjective validation), and may include factoids presented as facts," O'Connor explains. "In addition, such claims often refer to outdated research without referring to current research findings."

More research is needed to understand the mental and physical effects of color. Universal associations may exist, but many other factors, including personal preferences and individual experiences, also play an important role in your unique emotional and behavioral response.

Color Can Influence Performance

Studies have also shown that certain colors can have an impact on performance. No one likes to see a graded test covered in red ink, but one study found that seeing the color red before taking an exam actually hurt test performance.

While the color red is often described as threatening, arousing or exciting, many previous studies on the impact of the color red have been largely inconclusive. The study found, however, that exposing students to the color red prior to an exam has been shown to have a negative impact on test performance.

In the first of the six experiments described in the study, 71 U.S. colleges students were presented with a participant number colored either red, green or black prior to taking a five-minute test.

The results revealed that students who were presented with the red number before taking the test scored more than 20% lower than those presented with the green and black numbers.

Color and Consumer Purchases

Color psychology suggests that various shades can have various effects, from boosting our moods to causing anxiety. But could the color of the products you purchase ever say something about your personality? For example, could the color of the car you buy somehow relate to some underlying personality traits or quirks?

When buying items, your color preferences might say something about the image you are trying to project. Color preferences, from the clothes you wear to the car you drive, can sometimes make a statement about how we want other people to perceive us. Other factors, such as age and gender, can also influence our color choices.

White : As many of our readers have suggested, the color white can feel fresh and clean. The color is often used to evoke a sense of youth and modernity.
Black : Our readers often describe black as a "powerful" color, which might be the reason why black is the most popular color for luxury vehicles. People often describe the color as sexy, powerful, and mysterious.
Silver : It's the third most popular vehicle color and is linked to a sense of innovation and modernity. High-tech products are often silver, so the color is often seen as new, modern, and cutting-edge.
Red : Red is a bold, attention-getting color, so preferring this type of car might mean you want to project an image of power, action, and confidence.
Blue : People often describe blue as the color of stability and safety. Driving a blue car or SUV might indicate that you are dependable and trustworthy.
Yellow : According to the experts, driving a yellow vehicle might mean you are a happy person in general and perhaps a bit more willing than the average person to take risks.
Gray : The experts suggest that people who drive gray cars don't want to stand out and instead prefer something more subtle.

Of course, our color selections are often influenced by price, selection, and other practical concerns. Not only that, but color preferences can also change over time.

A person might prefer brighter, more attention-getting colors when they are younger, but find themselves drawn to more traditional colors as they grow older. The personality of the buyer can play an important role in color selection, but buyers are often heavily influenced by factors such as price as well as availability.

For example, purchasing a white vehicle might be less about wanting people to think that you are young and modern and more about the climate you live in; people who live in hot climates typically prefer light-colored vehicles over dark ones.

Keep in Mind

So what's the bottom line? Experts have found that while color can have an influence on how we feel and act, these effects are subject to personal, cultural, and situational factors. More scientific research is needed to gain a better understanding of color psychology.

Yang J, Shen X. The application of color psychology in community health environment design . J Environ Public Health . 2022;2022:7259595. doi:10.1155/2022/7259595

Jonauskaite D, Abu-Akel A, Dael N, et al. Universal patterns in color-emotion associations are further shaped by linguistic and geographic proximity . Psychol Sci . 2020;31(10):1245-1260. doi:10.1177/0956797620948810

Elliot AJ. Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work . Front Psychol . 2015;6:368. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00368

Azeemi STY, Rafiq HM, Ismail I, Kazmi SR, Azeemi A. The mechanistic basis of chromotherapy: Current knowledge and future perspectives . Complement Ther Med . 2019;46:217-222. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.08.025

Emani R, Ghavami H, Radfar M, Reza Khalkhali H. Impact of chromotherapy on professional quality of life in intensive care unit nurses: a randomized controlled trial . Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior . 2020;8(3):121-129. doi:10.1080/21641846.2020.1782058

Amawi RM, Murdoch MJ. Understanding color associations and their effects on expectations of drugs' efficacies . Pharmacy (Basel) . 2022;10(4):82. doi:10.3390/pharmacy10040082

Elliot AJ, Aarts H. Perception of the color red enhances the force and velocity of motor output . Emotion . 2011;11(2):445-9. doi:10.1037/a0022599

Frank MG, Gilovich T. The dark side of self- and social perception: black uniforms and aggression in professional sports . J Pers Soc Psychol . 1988;54(1):74‐85. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.54.1.74

O’Connor Z. Colour psychology and colour therapy: Caveat emptor . Color Res Appl . 2011;36(3):229-234. doi:10.1002/col.20597

Elliot AJ, Maier MA, Moller AC, Friedman R, Meinhardt J. Color and psychological functioning: the effect of red on performance attainment . J Exp Psychol Gen . 2007;136(1):154-68. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.136.1.154

Taylor C, Schloss K, Palmer SE, Franklin A. Color preferences in infants and adults are different. Psychon Bull Rev . 2013;20(5):916-22. doi:10.3758/s13423-013-0411-6

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Color and psychological functioning: a review of theoretical and empirical work
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Abstract. This paper seeks to contribute to the discussions concerning the study a rea of colors. Bearing in mind that the. psychological effects of colors on indi viduals' cognition are gaining ...
The Effects of Color on the Moods of College Students
We live in a world of color (Huchendorf, 2007, p. 1).According to the various researches, the color that surrounds us in our daily lives has a profound effect on our mood and on our behavior (e.g., Babin, Hardesty, & Suter, 2003; Kwallek, Lewis, & Robbins, 1988; Kwallek, Woodson, Lewis, & Sales, 1997; Rosenstein, 1985).In clothing, interiors, landscape, and even natural light, a color can ...
Color Psychology: Effects of Perceiving Color on Psychological
Color is a ubiquitous perceptual stimulus that is often considered in terms of aesthetics. Here we review theoretical and empirical work that looks beyond color aesthetics to the link between color and psychological functioning in humans. We begin by setting a historical context for research in this area, particularly highlighting methodological issues that hampered earlier empirical work.
Color and Psychological Functioning
Genetic, Social & General Psychology Monographs, 116, 387-412. Color effects on psychological functioning are not thought to be constrained to red. Other colors undoubtedly impact affect, cognition, and behavior as well, and research to examine such possibilities is needed.
PDF Color Psychology: Effects of Perceiving Color on Psychological
for a review of this research. Several Annual Review of Psychology(ARP) articles have been written on color. Until 1989, each ... Bradley color papers) or picked colors by visually matching (i.e., "eyeballing") them to systematic sets without independent veriﬁcation. In addition to this critical ﬂaw, many of the studies con-
PDF Handbook of Color Psychology
color vision and psychology. However, color psychology is now a burgeoning, exciting area and this Handbook provides comprehensive coverage of emerging theory and research. Top scholars in the ﬁeld provide rigorous overviews of work on color categor-ization, color symbolism and association, color preference, reciprocal relations between
(PDF) A review study of cognitive design research on colors from a
Abstract: This review study aims to explore the relationship between color psychology and. cognitive design in various environments, w ith a focus on human perception and vi sual. comfort. By ...
The psychological dimension of colors: a systematic literature review
1 Expanded from the conference paper "A systematic bibliographic review into color psychology: the main researched items", published in 2020 during the XVI Color Conference at Bergamo (Italy). Research, Society and Development, v. 11, n. 5, e34111528027, 2022
Frontiers
In research on color and selective attention, red stimuli have been shown to receive an attentional advantage (see Folk, in press, for a review).Research on color and alertness has shown that blue light increases subjective alertness and performance on attention-based tasks (see Chellappa et al., 2011, for a review).Studies on color and athletic performance have linked wearing red to better ...
(PDF) Color Psychology Research Paper
The review on the usage of color and light in affective computing includes a detailed study of the characteristics of methods and the most recent research trends. The paper is complemented with the study of the importance of light and color from demographic, gender and cultural perspectives. Download Free PDF. View PDF.
PDF The Psychology of Color
The bulk of Dr. Goldstein's work was done in the late 1950's and early 1960's. About the aspects of color in our everyday lives he wrote: "Life is a condition alternating between excitation, destruc tion, and unbalance [followed by] reorganization1 equilibrium and rest. In the course of life colors play their role.
Impact of Colors on the Psychology of Marketing
The present paper attempts to highlight and discuss the following research questions: 1. ... The beginners guide to color psychology, London: Kyle Cathie. Google Scholar. Zettl H. (2005). ... Nayanika Singh is a Research Scholar, Dept. of Psychology, Punjabi University, Patiala. ...
Influence of Color Perception on Consumer Behavior
The color psychology has become growingly significant in producing and packaging products. Colors, thus, accomplished prominence in marketing activities. ... Royal College of Art Research Papers, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-5. Royal College of Art, London (1993) Google Scholar Gage, J.: Colour and Meaning: Art, Science and Symbolism. Thames and ...
Color Psychology: Does It Affect How You Feel?
Artists and interior designers have long believed that color can dramatically affect moods, feelings, and emotions. "Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions," the artist Pablo Picasso once remarked. Color is a powerful communication tool and can be used to signal action, influence mood, and even influence physiological reactions.
The Effects of Color on the Moods
Yellow is thought of as joyful, outgoing, open, and friendly. Psychologically, yellow is the strongest color. In color-mood association studies, yellow is associated with comedy, a happy mood, and playfulness. Yellow ribbons have been used as a sign of hope and optimism since the nineteenth century (p. 45).
(PDF) Color Psychology in Marketing
Abstract and Figures. The purpose of this research was to review the psychology of colors in marketing. People make their minds about product or people within 90 seconds. About 62 to 90 % of a ...
(PDF) Colour Psychology's Impact on Marketing ...
The purpose of this research was to review the psychology of colors in marketing. People make their minds about product or people within 90 seconds. About 62 to 90 % of a product or people ...
PDF , 2 1- DOI: 10.21694/2378-7031.16009 Research Article Open Access Color
In this paper, the researcher will facilitate the impact of color on many aspects from different culture views. Keywords: The perception of colors, Cultural reference, Verbal and nonverbal influence. Color Psychology American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (ARJHSS) ISSN (Online) : 2378-7031 Volume 2, 2016, 1- 6 pages