RESOURCES

The psychology of colour as it relates to persuasion is one of the interesting topics in brand and marketing.

We have often heard RED evokes excitement, warmth, power etc or that GREEN evokes nature and harmony and whilst it may be true for some, its not that simple and there are also other factors of influence such as gender, age and culture. Colour perception is highly subjective, it is very dependent on personal experiences and depending on where you live in the world can have a cultural significance which in turn makes you bias one way or another.

However, there are numerous studies that conclude that there are indeed “messaging patterns” within how we perceive colour.

In a study titled “Impact of colour on marketing” by Satyendra Singh, it states “People make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interactions with either people or products. About 62‐90 percent of the assessment is based on colours alone. So, prudent use of colours can contribute not only to differentiating products from competitors, but also to influencing moods and feelings – positively or negatively.”

The findings of the study conclude that marketers who understand this impact of colour on customers and their purchasing behaviour can indeed use colour to increase/decrease appetite, provoke moods, enhance feelings, reduce perception of wait times among other things.

So to summarise, colour is indeed influential in how we interact with businesses and products but its not as easy as defining a colour based on universal meaning. It is important to understand and analyse the context in which the colour will be used and how the colours will be perceived by your prospective customer or client.