Marketing and the Psychology of Color
Have you ever heard of color psychology? Basically, it is the study of how different colors encourage people to act in a particular way. Think of your favorite color. How does it make you feel? Happy, sad, excited? Every business owner will choose colors for marketing materials at some point. The subconscious reasons behind those decisions will either add weight and reinforce his advertisement, or they will contradict and confuse people. Do you know what message your color choices are sending?
What color is the McDonald’s logo? Do you know why they chose yellow and red? Yellow stimulates people’s metabolism, while red increases the heart and breathing rate. The combination of colors makes people subconsciously eat more food faster and then move on. This reinforces McDonald’s “fast food” marketing message. Color can influence people’s behavior far more than they realize. If you understand this, you can use it to your advantage.
Another example of color psychology at work is adult toy websites. These sites typically use an abundance of black, red, and pink – all colors which are associated with romance, seduction, and sexuality. Children’s sites are comprised of an abundance of primary colors. This isn’t just a random choice. Bright colors are exciting and encourage a response from children more than a calming pastel scheme does.
The difficulty with color psychology is that, like language, different colors have distinctive meaning associated with a color. In the United States, white is associated with purity and cleanliness, but in China it is the color of funerals and mourning. In Brazil, purple is associated with death. Yellow connotates happiness in the Unites States, while the opposite meaning of sadness is more common in Greece and in France yellow equates with jealousy. Since different cultures have wildly different meanings associated with color, how can you successfully market without offending someone? Simply consider your target demographic and their preferences.
Perhaps that you are a loyal, sophisticated, and stable business. A blue and gray color scheme would support this message. Or maybe a brown, white, and green scheme to promote an organic, clean, and growing business. What message do you want to send? What colors would best reinforce that message?
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