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Undergraduate Publication

Peer Reviewed

Title:

The Use of Color in Marketing: Colors and their Physiological and Psychological Implications

Journal Issue:

Berkeley Scientific Journal, 17(1)

Author:

Shi, Tommy, University of California, Berkeley

Publication Date:

2013

Publication Info:

Berkeley Scientific Journal, Office of Undergraduate Research, UC Berkeley

Permalink:

http://escholarship.org/uc/item/67v2q6g3

Keywords:

marketing, affect, emotion

Local Identifier:our_bsj_16151

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http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/escholarship-uc-item-67v2q6g3 2/7Berkeley Scientific Journal • colorS • F AL 2012 • V olume 17 • ISSUE 1 • 1

Whenever you see the combination of the colorsred and yellow together, what does that remind youof? Do you happen to have a sudden pang of hunger?Perhaps you’ve also developed an urge to satiate it withhamburgers and fries. From the mention of a red andyellow pattern, it is highly likely that you may have

thought of the popular fast food chain McDonald’s,whose bright golden arches and red restaurant roofsare easily noticeable and quite distinct. Thoughcharacterizing color as a hunger-inducer may be quitea stretch, color has been found to affect cognition andmood, which in turn inuences consumer decision-making. Color is a highly signicant aspect in themarketing eld because a large amount of transactionsare made in environments where color can be a background aspect (in a store), or a foreground trait(in a product). Thus, due to its ubiquity in the market,

it is a factor that holds much inuence on the decisionsand attitudes of consumers.Color has a diversity of uses. It is vital in

brand recognition, as is the case in the McDonald’sexample presented earlier. It is also an essential toolin drawing attention to a product, which is applicableto the bright red and yellow in McDonald’s signaturelogo. Color can also inuence mood or an attitudetowards a product and create a certain image for aproduct. In the market for produce, color is often usedas a direct or indirect estimate of quality. Fruits andvegetables with brighter colors are regarded as fresher,

and consequently more appealing. A mathematicalrelationship has even been established betweenthe grade of a tomato and its color, which is fondlyregarded as the Tomato Colorimeter (Francis, 1995)How color is able inuence consumers’ decisions may be explained most fully from a biological as well as

a psychological perspective. Because our perception

The useof color inmarketing:

Colors and their

physiological andpsychological implicationsTommy Shi

“The results of this study

suggest that color can have

customer drawing power

as well as image-creating

potential in retail store

design.” Bellizzi, Crowley,

Hasty


http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/escholarship-uc-item-67v2q6g3 3/72 • Berkeley Scientific Journal • colorS • F ALL 2012 • V olume 17• ISSUE 1

of colors is actually based on photons of light andenergy, they may induce biological changes. On a broader level, this energy can serve as stimuli andincite certain biological functions and responses in thehuman body. The induction of physiological changesis a partial reason for behavioral changes, as the brainand human physiology governs our decisions. Societyhas also implicitly established strong meanings andassociations behind certain colors. Pink, for example,may be regarded as a more feminine color than bluein a Western society. Thus, analyzing the propertiesand effects of color from both disciplines can lead tovaluable implications for the potential uses of color in

marketing.It is highly likely that some of the effects that

colors can have on consumers stem from their rolesas biological stimuli. The reason behind thesedistinctions can be better comprehended with anunderstanding of the basic properties behindcolor. Color derives from the spectrum of light,and light is a form of electromagnetic radiationthat is visible to the human eye. Light hastwo important properties that are related toeach other: wavelength and frequency. Thewavelength of a photon of light determineswhat we as humans see. Visible light ofa short wavelength (380 nm) would be perceived as blue, whilevisible light of a longerwavelength(740 nm)would bep e r c e i v e das red.Due to therelationship

between wavelength and frequency, a shorterwavelength implies a higher frequency, which meansthat the energy of a photon of light is dependent onthose factors. The varying energies of each type ofcolor may inuence us biologically through a role as astimulus.

Hence, taking into mind the fact that colorscan be used as a stimulating device, there has been

much research exploring exactly how color canstimulate consumers. One supported idea is that thelight can increase arousal, which in turn enhances theprocessing of any given information. The reticularactivating system, which is a system of severalneuronal circuits connecting the brainstem and thecortex, is the structure responsible for regulatingarousal. External stimuli, such as certain colors, canactivate the reticular activating system (RAS). The RASis highly linked to other regions in the cerebral cortexof the brain, which plays a central role in memory,attention, perception, and thought. Activation of the

RAS can lead to increased activity in certain areas ofthe cerebral cortex. Consequentlyw i t h some regionso f the cerebra

cortex morea c t i v a t e d ,some of itsfunct ionsare moreefficient.S t u d i e shave been

conductedin which

participants ares t i m u l a t e d

with ana r o u s i n g

i m a g e ,and their

“…regardless of color

preference, subjects may be

physically drawn to warm

colors, but feel that warm-

color environments are

generally unpleasant.”



physiological responses are measured. The methodsused to gauge arousal often involve measuring blood circulation, respiration, energy expenditure,electrophysiological responses, and biochemical in thesubject. This idea of physiological arousal is vital tothe success of an advertisement. If an advertisementis able to increase a consumer’s level of activation, theconsumer will more likely process the information in

the advertisement, regardless of whether or not theymay be persuaded by it (Kroeber-Riel, 1979). While it ispossible to use other factors, such as imagery or text, toactivate the reticular activating systems in consumers,neither is as quickor easy at increasingnatural arousalas colors, whichrequire no readingor xed attention.Thus, marketersalways try to utilize

colors they believeto be activating,as it will allow formaximal processingof the content of theiradvertisements. Asidefrom enabling moreefcient processing ofinformation, arousalcan also enhance thestorage of information.As mentioned earlier,the reticular activatingsystem is linked to the cerebral cortex, in whichmemory is also a function. This implies that arousalmay enhance long-term memory, short-term memory,or both. A study on the effectiveness of televisioncommercials obtained results that support this idea.Commercials that were embedded in more arousingtelevision programs were found to lead to bettermemory and recall, and also information processing.The participants were found to remember the contentand some details of the advertisement relatively better.

Though the results of this study were applicablespecically to the medium of television, it is likelythat the same concept would apply to advertisementsin general—including print, digital, and in televisionforms (Singh and Churchill, 1987). Components of anadvertisement upon which a person focuses on morefrequently are recalled better (Bernhard, 1978). Theuse of colors as a tool that could potentially inducelong-term storage of the advertisement information isinvaluable, as recall of the advertisement could leadto recollection of the product, which would deem

the marketing campaign successful. Remembranceof the product could also lead to brand loyalty andcontinued publicity via word-of-mouth.

With the potential applications of colorestablished above, one may wonder how speciccolor selections would maximize the effectivenessof advertisements. One posited idea is a U-shapedrelationship between the wavelength of light (which

determines color) and arousal, in which the moreextreme wavelengths (light in the visible spectrum ofthe shortest wavelengths and the longest wavelengths,which are blue and red, respectively) lead to greater

arousal (Wilson1966). From hisexperiments, Wilsonfound red to be muchmore physiologicallyarousing thangreen, based on skinconductance measures

and conductancechange. The studyfocused on the effectsof red and green based on the ideathat green was in themiddle of the visiblespectrum and wouldnot have as great aneffect as red, whichis on the extremeend of the visiblespectrum of light

Based on the results of this study, utilizing the colorred in advertisements and products could potentiallymaximize marketing efciency.

In order to increase purchases of a particularproduct, it is logical that a marketer would wanta consumer to develop a positive and favorableattitude towards the product. From the psychologicalstandpoint, colors may also be used to develop aperipheral or subconscious attitude toward a productThus the evaluative appeal of colors is a highly

signicant factor that must be considered whendeciding on what colors to use for an advertisementBesides eliciting an automatic and natural biologicaand neurobiological response, colors can also elicitcertain feelings and moods. Establishing conclusionson preferences for certain colors is denitely a difculttask, as every individual may widely differ in theirassociations of different colors and what each colormay mean to him or her. However, society has alreadyestablished strong associations with most colors thatthe general consensus may either already agree with



or accept. For example, the color gold is often linkedto success, achievement, and luxury, and implieswealth and extravagance. Such associations havean important effect on what a consumer thinks of aproduct and whether or not the consumer will want to buy it. Research on color preference has occasionallydichotomized colors into a warm group (red, orange,yellow), and a cool group (green, blue, violet).

Multiple studies have shown that cool colors areconsistently preferred over warm colors (Silver andMcCulley, 1988). The reasoning behind this may lie inthe fact that blue is a cooler color and perceived to bemore relaxing and pleasant, which would increase thefavorability of a product to a buyer. Though gold waspreviously mentioned to have positive connotations,the color merely establishes a particular imagethat may or may not appeal to all consumers. It istherefore effective only if the created image is alignedwith that of a consumer’s intentions for a product.Consequently, it is not a factor that may affect the

likelihood of purchases on a general level. Knowing which colors to utilize in anadvertisement is only one part of the questionmarketers must face. The other part of the questionconcerns the medium by which the colors arepresented. So far the discussion above has maintainedan implicit assumption that the colors mentioned are

those utilized specically in an advertisement or in the

packaging of a product. However, another importantconduit through which color can inuence people isthrough the store or purchasing environment. The background color of a room can affect feelings abouta product, or even impact the mood and behavior ofa customer. In an experiment, one study found thatrespondents presented with a slide of a pen againsta blue background exhibited a more positive attitudetoward buying the product than those shown thesame slide of a pen but against a red background(Middlestadt, 1990). Another experiment by Bellizzi

and Hite (1992) showed that subjects in blue purchasingenvironments expressed a greater intention to shop, browse, and purchase in the simulated store. In thestudy, participants were presented with a table ofslides in which each slide depicted a different modelof a television. They were then asked to “shop” for atelevision as they would if they were in a store andselect a television that they would purchase. The

color variable was presented in the backgrounds ofthe slides, and participants were either assigned tothe blue or the red condition. The study found thatthere were more simulated purchases and fewerpostponements to the transactions. The results froma portion of the experiment also suggested that theaffective perception of colors rather than the arousaldimension, referring to the arousing properties of colormight be responsible for the outcome. These studiesare all highly signicant in that the presence of colorsin a store or the environment was found to also affectconsumer behavior and their decisions. Besides being

relevant merely to marketers and advertisers, colorsare a factor that storeowners must also acknowledgein order for their businesses to be successful. It isuncertain whether the colors affected the consumersthrough the arousal dimension (biological changes)or through the evaluative approach (attitudinal andmood changes), or both. Either explanation is possible

as arousing colors can induce biochemical changes that

are more “pleasing” and lead to more transactionsThe color blue for example, may induce physiologicachanges that include uctuations in hormone levelsor also circulation of neurotransmitters, which governthe feelings of “pleasure” and “happiness.”

A store that has arousing colors can also drawmore attention. Bellizzi, Crowley, and Hasty (1983)found that subjects were physically drawn to warmcolors such as red and yellow. When presented withimages of retail displays, subjects viewed red andother warm colors as colorful yet negative, and high

“Color is such a pervasive part of everyday life that

one tends to take it for granted. Yet, differentialeffects (both physiological and psychological) for

various colors have been found repeatedly across

decades of research in psychology.” - Crowley



on arousal. Blue and the other cooler colors were ratedas positive, relaxed, and favorable. The association ofcertain colors with certain cultural images also explainsthe inuence of color in an environment. Returningto the color gold and its societal associations, a storeenvironment in which gold is a primary could alsosubliminally or explicitly convince customers to makepurchases, as some may feel a strong association to

luxury and sophistication. Choosing the right colors to maximize theeffectiveness of an advertisement or to increasepurchases of a product or in a store is a difculttask, mainly due to the unpredictability of consumer behavior. The existence of patterns, however, alleviatesthe uncertainty, leading to potential success. Fromexperimental ndings, it can be condently believedthat red is more arousing than a color in the middle ofthe visible spectrum, like green. Wilson (1966) was ableto establish this through measures of electrodermalresponses and galvanic skin responses, both of which

involve measuring the electrical conductance of theskin that can vary with physiological arousal. TheTwo Dimensions hypothesis, which suggests thatthere is an evaluative dimension as well as an arousaldimension dependent on the wavelength of light,or color, ties together the two possible bases for theinuence of color. For the arousal dimension, therelationship is U-shaped, with more arousal elicitedon the extremes of the wavelength spectra. Withregards to the evaluative dimension, the relationshipis positively linear, in which the longer wavelengthsare more negatively perceived relative to the shorterwavelengths (Crowley, 1993). Other factors that mayaffect the effectiveness of color in advertisements orstore environments may be the hue and saturationof color. Such features of a color include how brightthe color is, how concentrated or “solid,” and evenany variances of a color. The color blue, for example,has the variants teal and turquoise. One study hasfound that higher levels of chroma in a color elicitedmore excitement and subsequently led to greater adlikeability (Gorn et.al, 1997).

Even when a few colors are found to be

favorable in advertisements or retail environments,it is still important to realize that most of the colorresearch mentioned above should only be applied tothe United States and possibly the Western culture.Colors do have distinctly different meanings acrosscultures. Some cultures may view white as a pure,holy and positive color, while others associate it withdeath and passing. Such consideration of color must be taken into account when entering foreign markets.A cross-cultural perspective is consequently vital indeveloping global marketing strategies that will be

effective and also noncontroversial (Aslam, 2006).Because marketing is a means of increasing prots orfurthering the interests of organizations, it is likelythat some research ndings are being withheld frompublic accessibility in order to maintain advertisingeffectiveness, protability, and a competitiveadvantage. Nevertheless, the research conductedso far has yielded invaluable insights into not only

consumer behavior, but also human physiologicaland psychological responses to stimuli. Once moreconclusions can be drawn about the arousal orevaluative effects of color, further research should be conducted on the applications of that knowledgeinto increasing consumer purchases or the success ofadvertisements. Crowley found that a physiologicallyactivated consumer is more likely to engage inimpulse buying (1993). Such a nding, for examplewould be highly valuable to the sales of a product thatis intended to be purchased with less consideration—like a bag of chips as opposed to a television. Such

ndings can even be generalized outside of the eld ofmarketing, to publicity, non-prot marketing, or eventhe public sector, such as the use of red in stop signsDepending on the goal of the advertisement, productor company, different colors will be used. Despite allthe research on the determination of the ideal colors touse in marketing, it is still important to note that just because there has been strong support for the use of blue in a purchasing environment, it does not suggestthat storeowners should repaint the walls of theirentire store blue. The research regarding this eld haspointed out clearly that color is a highly signicantfactor that must be considered when designing thepackaging of a product, the product itself, and theenvironment in which products are sold.

REFERENCESAaronson, B. S. (1970). Some affective stereotypes of color. Internationa

journal of symbology, 2(1), 15-27.

Aslam, M. M. (2006). Are you selling the right color? a cross-cultural reviewof colour as a marketing cue. Journal of Marketing Communications12(1), 15-30. doi: 10.1080/13527260500247827

Bellizzi, J. A., Crowley, A. E., & Hasty, R. W. (1983). The effects of color instore design. Journal of retailing, 59(1), 21-45. Retrieved from http://www.jjtok.io/3m10p/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Effect-of-COlor-on-Store-Design.pdf

Bellizzi, J. A., & Hite, R. E. (1992). Environmental color, consumerfeelings, and purchase likelihood. Psychology & marketing9(5), 347-363. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=9f624613-bc91-4e78-a21e-692f1353df7f@sessionmgr13&vid=4&hid=18

Crowley, A. E. (1993). The two-dimensional impact of color on shoppingMarketing letters, 4(1), 59-69. Retrieved from http://wwwspringerlink.com/content/u823vpl23k51k321/fulltext.pdf

Francis, F. J. (1995). Quality as inuenced by color. Food quality and



preference, 6(3), 149-155. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0950-3293(94)00026-R

Gorn, G. J., Chattopadhyay, A., Yi, T., & Dahl, D. W. (1997). Effects ofcolor as an executional cue in advertising: The’yre in the shade.Management science, 43(10), 1387-1400. doi: 10.1287

Kroeber-Riel, W. “Activation research: Psychobiological approaches inconsumer research.” Journal of consumer research. 5.4 (1979): 240-250.Print. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/2488677>.

Middlestadt, S. E. (1990). The effect of background and ambient color on

product attitudes and beliefs. Advances in consumer research, 17,244-249. Retrieved from http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=7028

Silver, N.C., McCulley, W.L. (1988). Sex and race differences in color andnumber preferences. Perceptual and motor skills, 66, 295-299

Singh, S. N., & Churchill,Jr., G. A. (1987). Arousal and advertisingeffectiveness. Journal of advertising, 16(1), 4-10. Retrieved fromhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4188608

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