Color Psychology: How Different Hues Influence Human Perception

Have you ever felt angry when you see red or happy when you see yellow? Color psychology is a field that explores how different colors in marketing influence human perception. Advertisers often use various colors to reach targeted audiences.

Understanding the neurological mechanics behind colors is important to avoid being misled by companies. For instance, a brightly colored cereal box might conceal its potential health dangers.

Pseudoscience or Not?

There is limited research on the impacts of color psychology on humans, however this has not stopped brands from using colors as part of their marketing repertoire. In fact, color commands attention, and research has shown the relevance of color psychology in business. Over 90% of people say that colors influence an initial impression.

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Red:

Red is commonly associated with love, power, passion, confidence, aggression, and dominance. The intensity of the various perceptions red provides gives a sense of urgency to the color. From the STOP sign to the Netflix logo, red demands attention. By using the sense of urgency, brand strategists employ red in their special offers, like in a "BOGO” sale.

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Orange:

The color orange is connected to optimism, energy, attention, warmth, anxiety, impatience, and pride. Orange combines the power of red and levity of yellow which helps brands who want to appear adventurous and cool such as Home Depot.

It is important for marketers to know though that orange can also induce anxiety and appear slightly appalling. Using the right amount of orange, marketers create an adventurous and cool perception that influences their audiences initial impression.

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Yellow:

Yellow is related to perceptions of intellect, optimism, creativity, clarity, energy, and anxiety. Because of yellow's positivity, publicity teams can use it to make their brand invoke motivation and encouragement to potential buyers.

Yellow resembles the sun in the human mind, so marketers can use the color yellow to galvanize their customers as a lasting impression. It is important for marketers to note that yellow (when used in excess amounts) can invoke anxiety due to its brightness being overstimulating.

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Green:

The color green reminds us of renewal, balance, health, relaxation, nature, money, and poison. Due to the feelings of health that the color green can give feelings of security, which businesses can capitalize off of to make their potential customers feel welcome. Additionally green is a reminder of nature, which can be used by brands that are involved with camping, fishing, and other activities found in nature.

An example of green being used by companies is through John Deere, a tractor company, using green to be a reminder of nature. Another example is a hotel company called the Holiday Inn in their logo, using green to appear welcoming.

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Blue:

The color blue is commonly associated with perceptions of confidence, honesty, introvertism, loyalty, communication, sadness, and anxiety. Due to the honest nature of the color blue, marketers can use this color to promote a sense of trust with their customers since blue also can represent communication. Some common types of businesses that capitalize off of the communication and trustworthy perception of blue include healthcare, finance, and social media platforms.

An example of blue being used to show communication is through the Facebook logo, where marketers utilize blue to give a sense of communication and honesty through their platform. The Facebook logo also uses white, which adds to an aspect of purity in the logo.

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Purple:

The color purple is commonly associated with perceptions of creativity, mystery, enlightenment, royalty, rarity, and femininity. Purple can be an excellent color for expensive brands, who want to give their products a sense of luxury and royalty.

Due to the perception of mystery, the color purple can provide a sense of quirkiness to a product marketers are trying to sell. An example of a company using purple is Hallmark through their logo, which uses a magenta hue of purple.

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Black:

The color black is commonly associated with perceptions of authority, power, elegance, intelligence, anger, sadness, and death. Much like purple, black can invoke mystery which can provide a sense of quirkiness and luxury to more expensive brands.

However it is important to note that when used in large amounts by marketers, the color black can be overwhelming which can ultimately drive a person away from a product. An example of black used in a business is Chanel in their logo, using it to add a sense of luxury to their luxury brand.

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White:

The color white is commonly associated with perceptions of purity, cleanliness, innocence, and integrity. The sense of cleanliness the color white gives off makes it a popular color amongst cleaning brands. However it is important to note that when white is used in excess it can be overstimulating much like yellow.

Additionally in some cultures the color white can symbolize mourning, so it is very important for a business to know their audience. An example of businesses using white are wedding brands making their dresses white for wedding days in some western countries.

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Pink:

The color pink is commonly associated with perceptions of femininity, healing, romance, and warmth. Marketers will often use pink because it gives off a sense of playfulness and adds charm to logos. Marketers can use pink to target both younger and older audiences!

For example, the barbie logo has pink editions which gives off a sense of femininity and playfulness. Targeting older audiences, the brand Victoria’s Secret uses pink to exude a sense of femininity and romance.

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Conclusion:

It is important for marketers to note the potential psychological implications and benefits for each color when marketing a specific item or multiple items. Additionally, marketers should also be aware of the fact that using multiple colors at once can help their product but also hurt their marketability by making their product too overstimulating for customers.

The purpose of color psychology is for businesses to influence us in ways we don’t realize, using subtle hues to appeal to our various perceptions. Finally, it is important to note that different hues of each color may influence perception and marketability as well.

So, the next time you see a brand, take a moment to notice the color!