Why are COLOURS so important in marketing ?

Psychologically studies shows that colors affects behaviours and perception. Colour psychology is focused on how it impacts a consumer’s impressions of a brand and whether or not they can persuade consumers to consider a specific brands and make purchases. That is why choosing the right colour scheme could affect your brand into a much larger scale, the more vibrant , the more it catches the eyes of consumers.

It’s also an important field of study in creating marketing assets, rebranding, building a new business or also improving your existing one. In a study titled “impact of color on marketing”, researchers found that up to 90% of judgements made about a product is based on it’s colour alone.

But, colour alone is too broad on personal experiences to be specify as something in relative of marketing. However, research shows that personal preferences, experiences, emotions, cultural differences, and upbringings can effect that individual’s colour of choices that we choose for our brand. The idea that bright colours such and yellow or pink are able to evoke some hyper-specific emotions is about as accurate as your standard palm reading.

Considering the inaccuracy of making such a broad statements such as, “blue is content”. The context is absent, sometimes blue is used to brand technology services or even networking devices. While brown may be useful for a rugged appeal, such as camping brands, barbeque chain or even hardware. But, there’s plenty to learn and consider if we humble accept that concrete answers aren’t a guarantee. The key is to look for practical ways to decide on a colour for your brand.

Purchasing is greatly affected by colours due to their affect on how a brand is perceived. Colours influence hon a consumer views the personality of the brand. For example Louis Vuitton, Gucci and other luxurious brands, they often display a gold shade with brown to show exclusivity and also masculinity to make a remark of how strong their branding really is.

Meanwhile, a certain colours do broadly align with specific traits, nearly every academic study on colours and branding will tell you it’s far more important for colours to support the personality you want to portray instead of trying to align stereotypically in colour associations .Ask yourself, “What do I want my brand’s personality to be, and how can I use colour to match that personality?”

Researchers found that the relationship between brands and colours hinges on the perceived appropriateness of the colour being used for the particular brand. When it comes to picking the “right” colour, research has found that predicting consumer’s reaction to colour fitness is far more important than the colour itself. Especially in cultural perceptions, it plays a strong role in dictating colour appropriateness for gender, which can influence individual colour preferences.

Additional research on colour preferences shows that when it comes to shades, hues, tints men generally prefer bolder colours while women prefer a much more softer shades of colours. Also men will likely select colours of their favourites ,such as dark blue, black, blue or white, whereas women are more receptive to various colours and brighter tones. Although these are debatable issues in the colouring category, brands can easily work outside of gender stereotypes as well. Especially in current days, people are more open minded into inviting a different colour onto their wardrobe or any accessories. In fact, ”perceived appropriateness” shouldn’t be so rigid as to assume a brand or product isn’t successful because the colours don’t match the brand.

Though, different colors can be perceived in different ways, the descriptive names of those colors matter as well. According to a study titles “A rose by any other name..” when subjects were asked to evaluate products with different colour names – such as makeup – fancy names were preferred more than often. For example “mocha” was found to be significantly more appealing than “brown”, despite the fact that the subjects were shown the same colour. It has also been shown that more unusual and unique colour names are preferable for everything from candies to apparel.

Studies has revealed that our brains prefer immediate recognizable brands, which makes colour an important element when creating a brand’s identity. It’s important for new brands to pick colours that ensure difference from competitors. Choosing the right colour can help your brand stand out. Consider the psychological principle known as the Isolation Effect : It states that an item “stand out like a sore thumb” is more likely to be remembered. Consumers are most likely to recognize and recall and item far better when it’s eye-catching.

Two studies on colour combinations, one measuring the aesthetic response and the other looking at consumer’s preferences, found that while a large majority of consumers prefer colour patterns with similar hues. In terms of colour coordination, this means creating a visual structure consist the base analogue of colours and contrasting them with accent complementary colours.

This concept plays a big role in marketing. Another way to think of it is to utilize background, base, and accent colours. Let’s explore what psychological effects certain colors can have on customers when used in marketing:

Red: You have certainly noticed the huge red sales signs in stores or on websites. Red is used for such purposes because it is the color that triggers urgency in consumers. It can make consumers feel that if they don’t make a purchase straight away, the product they want will be gone.

Blue: The color of the sky, often associated with calmness, can help brands look more reliable in the eyes of their audience. Brands who want to pose as trustworthy companies often use blue.

Green: Associated by consumers with health, calmness, and cheerfulness, green also evokes the color of nature. Green is typically used by brands that want to be associated with environmentally-friendly practices.

White: White is associated with purity, cleanness, and innocence. Companies mainly use it from the healthcare industry who want to be associated with sterility. Also, white can be used in combination with other colors to highlight essential elements.

Black: In most cultures, black invokes negative feelings and loss. However, in marketing, it is associated with the symbol of seriousness and formality. Similar to white, black contrasts with other colors for a stronger impact.

Purple: In the psychology of colors, purple represents mysticism and magic. Yet, in marketing, it is the color of royalty, wisdom, and sophistication.

Yellow: Yellow is generally a bright color that triggers optimism in people. It can be used by companies that want to pose as energetic and fresh.

Let’s hope, now you have a better sense of why colours are important in marketing psychologically. The more you work with colours in mind, the easier it will becomes for you to convey your uniqueness of your brand to your consumers.

Using colours strategically is more than just choosing what looks good to you. Some mix of colours may look odd in your eyes, but not to the consumers. Maybe thinking outside of the box will help you achieve that goal of yours to broaden the creativity of your branding. Remember, the more eye-catching it be, the more attention you’ll get !