Color Psychology in Marketing (Article)

By Dr. Sajid Rehman Khattak, Haider Ali, Yasir Khan, and Mukharif Shah

Link to Article: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Yasir-Khalil/publication/336240833_Color_Psychology_in_Marketing/links/5d9627e4a6fdccfd0e744022/Color-Psychology-in-Marketing.pdf

1. Introduction (page 183-185)
   1. It was shown in a study that people make up their minds about products within 90 second. In a 2015 study by Gopikrishna and Kumar, it was found that 62-90% of a product’s consideration is based solely on color.
   2. Psychologist divide color into three main categories: cool colors (blue and green), warm colors (red and yellow), and neutral colors (white, gray, and black).
   3. Color is a vital part of marketing:
      1. “Selection of color enhances or decrease productivity of any product.  Color induces moods and emotions of the customers and it significantly influences perceptions and behaviors of the consumers.  Color also helps companies to distinguish its position from other competitors” (Khattak 184).
      2. “Often it is seen that within a given market different companies choose different colors that will differentiate them from the competitors. For example, in mobile market Verizon owns red T-Mobile, owns pink and AT & A owns blue” (Khattak 184).
      3. Ecological Valence Theory (a theory by Palmer and Schloss in 2010): “color preferences result from the individual emotional reactions towards the color related object”
   4. Color is considered to be one of the primary factors in product selection:
      1. A large part of color selection is based on demographics of the consumers like gender, age, race, culture, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level. 
      2. “Customers have different inclination towards different color preferences in order to select different categories of products. Customers’ choice for a color might not match with color of the product which they believe suitable” (Khattak 184).
   5. Color is a critical part of logo design and branding:
      1. It can help to easily identify a company, but also indicates the quality of a product
      2. The process of color selection depends on the “average life of the product” and the price of the product. “For example, when high priced and long lives of product are involved people are generally paying more attention to color in their choices. On the other hand, consumers are more flexible in their choices when low prices and short life of product is involved” (Khattak 185)
2. Color Controversy (page 185)
   1. Traditional psychologists reject the role of color in influencing one’s personality while modern psychologists believe that color can play a large role in determining one’s personality
3. Color and Culture (page 185)
   1. Color preference are extremely dependent on culture and religion
   2. Studies found that the color blue was the most accepted color in almost all cultures
   3. REFER TO TABLES IN APPENDIX FOR MORE INFORMATION
4. Color and Emotions (page 185-186)
   1. REFER TO TABLES IN APPENDIX FOR MORE INFORMATION
5. Application of Color in Marketing (page 186)
   1. Colors and Restaurants: 
      1. Fast-food restaurants prefer red because it affects our metabolism. They also use yellow to attract attention and increase appetite.
      2. Formal restaurants prefer blue because it is relaxing to customers, but, according to a study, it can become an appetite-suppressant if used too much.
   2. Colors and Waiting Time:
      1. Red light causes objects under it to seem heavier and time seems to pass slower.
      2. Blue light causes objects under it to seem smaller and lighter and time seems to pass quickly.
6. Conclusion (page 186-187)
   1. “Hues are disputable. A few therapists trust that human reactions to colors are steady, along these lines pertinent to everybody. While some psychologists are disagreeing with this notion” (Khattak 186).
   2. Marketing managers should be aware of the differences in color preference among various age groups, different cultures, and genders and try to pick the most popular hues.
      1. Research to this should be conducted before picking colors for a product
   3. “Global managers should be aware of different colors meanings in different cultures and divide market in multi-segment to boost sales.” (Khattak 187)
7. Future Research (page 187)
   1. “The purpose of this research was to study the psychology of colors in marketing. The current research just reviews past literature about the impact of color on marketing. Future research is needed to explore this matter in detail by conducting an experimental research or by using survey questionnaire to quantify the results of the study. Future research should compare different brands based on their colors by taking Pakistani sample” (Khattak 187). 

Works Cited

Khattak, Sajid R, et al. “Color Psychology in Marketing.” Journal of Business and Tourism, vol. 4, no. 1, 2018, pp. 183-190.