psychology of colors...
Color psychology is the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior. Color influences perceptions that are not obvious, such as the taste of food. Colors can also enhance the effectiveness of placebos. For example, red or orange pills are generally used as stimulants. Color can indeed influence a person; however, it is important to remember that these effects differ between people. Factors such as gender, age, and culture can influence how an individual perceives color. For instance, heterosexual men tend to report that red outfits enhance female attractiveness, while heterosexual females deny any outfit color impacting that of men.
Color psychology is also widely used in marketing and branding. Many marketers see color as an important part of marketing because color can be used to influence consumers' emotions and perceptions of goods and services. Companies also use color when deciding on brand logos. These logos seem to attract more customers when the color of the brand logo matches the personality of the goods or services, such as the color pink being heavily used on Victoria's secret branding. However, colors are not only important for logos and products, but also for window displays in stores. Research shows that warm colors tended to attract spontaneous purchases, despite cooler colors being more favorable.
Influence of color on perception
Perceptions not obviously related to color, such as the palatability of food, may, in fact, be partially determined by color. Not only the color of the food itself but also that of everything in the eater's field of vision can affect this. (Arcade, J. et al., 2012). Josef Albers' role in the understanding of color perception was through his research of how colors interact with each other. He also studied the optical illusions of color and how different hues looked the same. This was during his tenure at Yale University.
Placebo effect
The color of placebo pills is reported to be a factor in their effectiveness, with "hot-colored" pills working better as stimulants and "cool-colored" pills working better as depressants. This relationship is believed to be a consequence of the patient's expectations and not a direct effect of the color itself. Consequently, these effects appear to be culture-dependent.
Color preference and associations between color and mood
Color has long been used to create feelings of coziness or spaciousness. However, how people are affected by different color stimuli varies from person to person.
Blue is the top choice for 35% of Americans, followed by green (16%), purple (10%) and red (9%).
A preference for blue and green may be due to a preference for certain habitats that were beneficial in the ancestral environment as explained in the evolutionary aesthetics article.
There is evidence that color preference may depend on ambient temperature. People who are cold prefer warm colors like red and yellow while people who are hot prefer cool colors like blue and green.
Some research has concluded that women and men respectively prefer "warm" and "cool" colors.
A few studies have shown that cultural background has a strong influence on color preference. These studies have shown that people from the same region regardless of race will have the same color preferences. Also, one region may have different preferences than another region (i.e., a different country or a different area of the same country), regardless of race.
Children's preferences for colors they find to be pleasant and comforting can be changed and can vary, while adult color preference is usually non-malleable.
Some studies find that color can affect mood. However, these studies do not agree on precisely which moods are brought out by which colors.
A study by psychologist Andrew J. Elliot tested to see if the color of a person's clothing could make them appear more sexually appealing. He found that, to heterosexual men, women dressed in the color red were significantly more likely to attract romantic attention than women in any other color. The color did not affect heterosexual women's assessment of other women's attractiveness. Other studies have shown a preference for men dressed in red among heterosexual women.
Common associations connecting a color to a particular mood may differ cross-culturally. For instance, one study examined color associations and moods using participants from Germany, Mexico, Poland, Russia, and the United States. The researchers did find some consistencies, including the fact that all nations associated red and black with anger. However, only Poles associated purple with both anger and jealousy and only Germans associated jealousy with yellow. These differences highlight how culture influences peoples' perceptions of color and color's relationship to mood.
Despite cross-cultural differences regarding what different colors meant there were cross-cultural similarities regarding what emotional states people associated with different colors in one study. For example, the color red was perceived as strong and active.
Light, color, and surroundings
Light and color can influence how people perceive the area around them. Different light sources affect how the colors of walls and other objects are seen. Specific hues of colors seen under natural sunlight may vary when seen under the light from an incandescent (tungsten) light-bulb: lighter colors may appear to be more orange or "brownish" and darker colors may appear even darker. Light and the color of an object can affect how one perceives its positioning. If light or shadow, or the color of the object, masks an object's true contour (outline of a figure) it can appear to be shaped differently from reality. Objects under a uniform light source will promote the better impression of three-dimensional shape. The color of an object may affect whether or not it seems to be in motion. In particular, the trajectories of objects under a light source whose intensity varies with space are more difficult to determine than identical objects under a uniform light source. This could possibly be interpreted as interference between motion and color perception, both of which are more difficult under variable lighting.
Carl Jung is most prominently associated with the pioneering stages of color psychology. Jung was most interested in colors' properties and meanings, as well as in art's potential as a tool for psychotherapy. His studies in and writings on color symbolism cover a broad range of topics, from mandalas to the works of Picasso to the near-universal sovereignty of the color gold, the lattermost of which, according to Charles A. Riley II, "expresses ... the apex of spirituality, and intuition". In pursuing his studies of color usage and effects across cultures and time periods, as well as in examining his patients' self-created mandalas, Jung attempted to unlock and develop a language, or code, the ciphers of which would be colors. He looked to alchemy to further his understanding of the secret language of color, finding the key to his research in alchemical transmutation. His work has historically informed the modern field of color psychology.
General model
The general model of color psychology relies on six basic principles:
- Color can carry a specific meaning.
- Color meaning is either based on learned meaning or biologically innate meaning.
- The perception of a color causes evaluation automatically by the person perceiving.
- The evaluation process forces color-motivated behavior.
- Color usually exerts its influence automatically.
- Color meaning and effect has to do with context as well.
Uses in marketing
Since color is an important factor in the visual appearance of products as well as in brand recognition, color psychology has become important to marketing. Recent work in marketing has shown that color can be used to communicate brand personality.
Marketers must be aware of the application of color in different media (e.g. print vs. the web), as well as the varying meanings and emotions that a particular audience can assign to color. Even though there are attempts to classify consumer response to different colors, everyone perceives color differently. The physiological and emotional effect of color in each person is influenced by several factors such as past experiences, culture, religion, natural environment, gender, race, and nationality. When making color decisions, it is important to determine the target audience in order to convey the right message. Color decisions can influence both direct messages and secondary brand values and attributes in any communication. Color should be carefully selected to align with the key message and emotions being conveyed in a piece.
Research on the effects of color on product preference and marketing shows that product color could affect consumer preference and hence purchasing culture. Most results show that it is not a specific color that attracts all audiences, but that certain colors are deemed appropriate for certain products.
Uses in Graphic Design
Not as a tool for psychological manipulation, but rather, designers should use an understanding of color to relate to their audiences. Audience targeting and color use play a vital role for the designer who must understand the cultural and personal connotations color plays within the scope of a project. Certain social elements, such as social causes and campaigns, also need to be factored in when dealing with color. For example, yellow symbolizes military support, pink for breast cancer research, red with medical activism, and green with eco-friendly approaches. Color communicates and designers can best use this communication tool once they have an understanding of the color language of their target audiences. Color choices based on impulse or the designer’s personal favorites are evidently not as effective as choices that give careful attentiveness to message, audience, context and the influence on viewers.
In conclusion and much like color, there is a vast spectrum of factors that influence the role color plays in design. How we as designers can effectively use color knowledge relates back to our target audiences to create meaningful communication within the pieces and projects we create. Analyzing the full context of a project to create an understanding of the color language required for the target audience will result in higher perceived designs. This understanding of visual communication in regards to color is invaluable to designers seeking to create a more powerful means of communication within their designs.
Attracting attention
The color is used as a means to attract consumer attention to a product that then influences buying behavior. Consumers use color to identify for known brands or search for new alternatives. Variety seekers look for non-typical colors when selecting new brands. And attractive color packaging receives more consumer attention than unattractive color packaging, which can then influence buying behavior. A study that looked at visual color cues focused on predicted purchasing behavior for known and unknown brands. Participants were shown the same product in four different colors and brands. The results showed that people picked packages based on colors that attracted their voluntary and involuntary attention. Associations made with that color such as 'green fits menthol', also affected their decision. Based on these findings implications can be made on the best color choices for packages. New companies or new products could consider using dissimilar colors to attract attention to the brand, however, off brand companies could consider using similar colors to the leading brand to emphasize product similarity. If a company is changing the look of a product but keeping the product the same, they consider keeping the same color scheme since people use color to identify and search for brands. This can be seen in Crayola crayons, where the logo has changed many times since 1934, but the basic package colors, gold and green, have been kept throughout.
Attention is captured subconsciously before people can consciously attend to something. Research looking at electroencephalography (EEGs) while people made decisions on color preference found brain activation when a favorite color is present before the participants consciously focused on it. When looking at various colors on a screen people focus on their favorite color, or the color stands out more before they purposefully turn their attention to it. This implies that products can capture someone's attention based on color before the person willingly looks at the product.