How Colors Impact Purchases? The Psychology of Colors in Marketing

in: Digital marketing

    Orkhan Hajiyev April 2, 2019

Significance of color psychology for business growth

Colors are not just to make something look pretty, they have a huge impact on our attitudes and emotions. Their psychological effects come from our natural reactions to different wavelengths of light.

In our daily life, we do not even notice how much attention we pay to visuals and, especially, colors. In fact, people are willing to purchase a particular product only because of its color.

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There are many trending products available in online stores now. But people sometimes pay attention to colors rather than luxury and quality.

Color psychology is an important part of marketing. It can be used to create moods, affect our emotional state, and even change the way we behave. So, undoubtedly, marketing companies are not the only ones that use this field of research.

This is what color psychology – a study of the color influence on our mood and the decision-making process investigates. 

In the study, there is an experiment with pencils that people buy in the United States. People who buy pencils mostly prefer yellow paint, almost 75% of them choose the yellow color.

Seems like it’s not just a coincidence, right? 🤔

E-commerce trending products

Color psychology in marketing

Obviously, when choosing a particular color, firms are able to evoke various associations about the brand in the minds of customers. It is because not every trending product is in the desired color of the customer.

So if the business wants eCommerce growth it can use the color strategy as a part of marketing.

Moreover, it is also crucial to consider gender and cultural differences between people and their perceptions.

That is, let’s take the example of a purple color. In Western America, it is the color of wealth and fame, while Latino Americans associate it with death and mourning.

Additionally, according to the survey conducted by Joe Hallock in 2003, most of the males (57%) and females (35%) selected the blue color as their favorite, which destroyed the generally-accepted stereotype that most women tend to prefer pink.

Gender color preferences
Gender differences in color preferences

Pink or bubblegum?

You have not probably ever thought about this, but the color names matter to our perceptions as well.

According to another study titled “A rose by any other name…,”  subjects were asked to evaluate items with various color names and, surprisingly, most of the subjects preferred fancy names more than ordinary color names. “ Mocha”, for instance, was preferred far more than simply “brown” color.

Therefore, the more unique the color name is, the more people are attracted by it. That is why “wine” would be picked as the favorite by more people than the “dark red” color.

Role of colors in a marketing strategy

And here are some examples of basic color associations:

  • Red – symbolizes strong emotions, passion, and appetite. Many eCommerce merchants use the red color on their promo offers to revoke urgency and catch the attention of consumers. 
  • Green – associated with health, peace, and nature. Used to attract eco-friendly clients.
  • Black  – the color of elegance, authority, and power. Perceived as the premium class, however, may seem overwhelming if it is used too frequently.
  • Yellow – represents energy, cheerfulness, and warmth. It is a good way to attract infants. That is why it is a yellow color on baby toys. If parents see it they tend to buy for their children. This strategy is the best to boost sales of businesses. Additionally, it is the best way to stimulate hunger. Therefore, many restaurants use this color strategy.
  • Blue – the color of reliability and serenity. Perfectly applicable to technology and financial institutions.

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