What is Color Psychology? The Study of Colors in Marketing

When it comes to marketing, color psychology, as interesting as it is, is one of the most controversial aspects as it relates to persuading an audience.

If you were to imagine yourself inside the metaverse with your eyes closed. What are the things you see? The virtual environment you see is splashed with the color blue with a futuristic dark hue, the color purple beaming from the flowers, and a shade of different colors artistically molding the elements of this virtual world.

It is not strange news that Web3 and the metaverse are new experiences being introduced to the digital world. Like a familiar color palette, people usually relate blue and openness, black with mystery, and purple to be closer to the imagination.

A large percentage of a customer’s purchasing decision can be influenced by color psychology. This has been credited to why Pantone, which is known for its standard color system and color matching, had a team up with a studio lab Web3 VC to create the metaverse color palettes.

Color psychology is not a new concept, especially in traditional advertising. Merchandisers have popularly used colors to stir up certain emotions, to the end that the customer makes a purchase or at least develops an interest in what they have to offer.

When individuals who are developing their personal brand want their audience to feel a certain way about them, such as building their presence online to stir up trust or convey authority, they employ the use of color to project that image.

What Is Color Psychology?

The psychology of color or color psychology can simply be explained as the research that shows how color affects or influences human perceptions, decision-making processes, and human behavior.

Depending on the color, the hue, and the tone, the associations can be distinct. Color psychology is also dynamic, as culture and personal preferences play a part in its operation.

The perception that buyers have in marketing about various products and brands can be impacted by color, which makes it important to align your choice of color and tones with your business goal and your target audience.

When you are building a new business or you just want to rebrand an existing one, as you proceed to create the marketing assets, color psychology is an important aspect to study and consider so that you can implement it in your campaign.

Researchers discovered that about 90% of spontaneous decisions made about products are dependent on color alone. You can get more information about this in the study “Impact of color on marketing.”

How Color Psychology Is Used By Entrepreneurs

There is an influence that each color has on consumers. The CEO of Yellow Tree Marketing, a creative agency, Kevin Kaminyar, could better target his desired audience by using color psychology.

Paraphrasing what Kaminyar said about his process when it comes to creating a brand for his business. He said he asked [his clients] what popped in their heads when they took a look at various colors and found out that yellow was colossally positive. They produced or sprung up kindness, empathy, and warmth — which aligned with his brand.

We employ a research-driven method when it comes to the usage of a color that is already functional in the market, Dan Antonelli says. He runs the marketing agency kick charge and looks to his competitors for inspiration. 

Using the colors that rivals haven’t chosen can assist when it comes to standing out and increasing brand awareness.

Hillary Weiss, a creative director, suggested that we think outside our traditional or normal color wheel.

Paraphrasing, she said, 

To establish her own innovative and unique brand identity, Weiss used the colorful trio that consists of yellow, red, and blue.

Color is largely dependent on the personal experience of individuals, which makes it challenging to ascribe or translate a specific feeling to them. Some people prefer bold colours where others don’t and so colors influence their behaviour differently.

Research has revealed that cultural differences, cultural preferences, upbringing, experiences, and context have an effect on the way we perceive individual colors.

To generally ascribe that green means calm is too broad without a context to define it. This can be easily seen as green sometimes is also used to signify nature and the environment, and other times, it is used to brand finances or money, etc 

When you see Saddleback leather, you might almost forget that the color brown is oftentimes used for a more rugged appeal. Depending on the context it is applied, brown can even be used to create an inviting, warm feeling or even to stir up your appetite, as in the case of all the chocolate advertisements you’ve seen.

There are practical ways to make decisions about color, and there is a lot to learn and consider in this regard, starting from the breakdown of colors.

The results of a research show the association of colors with words.

Breakdowns of Colors 

Here, we will discuss the breakdown of colors and the likely influence they can have on an audience. You don’t need a knowledge of color theory to understand how colors work in marketing. Let’s take a look at these colors:

Blue

The most common color psychology of blue is that it projects trust, logic, serenity, dependability, and security. It also conveys unappetizing, unfriendliness, and emotionlessness.

Blue oftentimes projects a social personality, loyal and respectful feel. For example, a BlueShield or BlueCross logo.

Blue has its place as the favorite color of the world and tends to be more preferred by men than women. This also replicates itself when it comes to brands, as the calming tone of blue is the most popular color for logos.

Social media tech giants like Twitter and Facebook use blue for their logos, and it makes them appear more dependable, which is an almost indispensable trait for businesses for being in the custody of large user data.

The color Blue surfaces that feeling of trust, security, wisdom, and strength.

The sides of blue are not all bright, that is, it also has negative connotations in certain areas. For instance, Food; there are very few natural foods or foods found in nature that have the color blue, and therefore, the color tends to suppress our appetite. It also projects the feeling of unfriendliness or coldness.

The health insurance company, Blue Cross Shield Association has blue in its branding and name. They need to provide an equilibrium in collecting data that is personal as they also provide quality service as an insurance company. 

Their choice of color signals to the customers or clients that they are trustworthy and can be relied upon when it comes to making vital decisions.

Purple

Purple color psychology. When looking for a color that conveys that impression of sophistication, wealth, spirituality, imagination, and wisdom, then you’ll be looking towards the color psychology of purple.

It also projects moodiness, excess decadence, suppression, and reflection.

For example, the Hallmarks logo. Purple projects that understand personality, sensitivity, and dignity.

Royalty as well as superiority is what the color purple symbolizes. There was a time Tyrian purple was more expensive than gold when high-ranking officials wore it. It was held in such high esteem that Queen Elizabeth the first prohibited anyone that wasn’t royalty from putting on the color purple.

These historical associations that purple has caused it to be ascribed as a color that exudes a sophisticated, wise, and wealthy aura.

When a brand wants to communicate or project a superior experience, service, and product, it can use the color purple. On the other hand, purple is also used to project decadence, excess, and moodiness. This means you have to be careful to achieve a balance as you make use of the color.

There aren’t too many brands that use the color purple, which means it has more tendency to make a brand or company stand out. Also, purpose tends towards having a feminine association, and brands such as Hallmark utilize the tone to appeal to its largely female audience. Its TV channel likewise uses it to convey its movies’ unique offerings.

Orange

When looking for a color that conveys that impression of warmth, creativity, courage, confidence, friendliness, and energy, then you’ll be looking towards the color psychology of orange. It also projects frustration, immaturity, deprivation, and sluggishness. The logo for Nickelodeon is an example. Orange projects that personality that signals adventure, competition, and a disaffected personality.

Orange is a color that produces that feeling of warmness because of its association and outlook like the sun. The bright color projects confidence, courage, and creativity.

Despite this, you would find out that the color has other connotations that have nothing to do with a sunny disposition. It can also generate feelings of sluggishness, deprivation, and frustration. It can be seen as childish and immature.

When you see shows like SpongeBob Squarepants, it isn’t strange to acknowledge the connection between the logo and the feeling of creativity and childishness. It fits into the scope of their quirky branding and whacky programming. Nickelodeon’s iconic color splat is currently one of the widely known or most popular orange logos.

Red

The psychological effects of red. It exudes strength, passion, vigor, courage, and excitement. In addition, it communicates rage, peril, caution, defiance, aggressive behavior, and pain. The Coca-Cola logo is given as an illustration. Red has a confident, daring, and vivacious personality.

This intense hue is linked to passion, fearlessness, excitement, and energy. Red call-to-action buttons are used in sales to encourage customers to buy because they convey a sense of urgency. Red can physically affect people as well because it makes them hungry.

Red, however, has an equal capacity to engender unfavorable emotions. It stands for rage, caution, peril, aggression, defiance, and suffering. Stop signs require drivers to stop, and Police red lights warn them to do so. As a fierce red creature, anger is portrayed in Disney’s Inside Out. When used correctly, red in branding is effective.

Coca-Cola, for instance, has used the hue as its symbol for many years. Red encourages customers to drink its beverages, and it complements the dynamic branding of the business: “Real Magic” is its current catchphrase.

Green

The psychology of the color green. It exudes vitality, optimism, freshness, nature, development, and prosperity. Additionally, it portrays tedium, inertia, envy, blandness, and weakness. Let’s take the Whole Foods Market logo as an example. Green has a disaffected, competitive, and adventurous projection.

Without exaggeration, we see Green as the color of life. Green evokes sentiments of tranquility, health, prosperity, optimism, and freshness since it resembles grass, trees, and bushes. However, the color also stands for monotony, stagnation, and also blandness due to its primordial character.

Because of its reputation for offering fresh and high-quality items, Whole Foods employs the color green. Utilizing a color linked to development and health is in line with the brand’s positioning as “America’s healthiest grocery store.”

Yellow

The psychological effects of yellow. It exudes extroversion, warmth, innovation, optimism, and happiness. Additionally, it exudes cowardice, irrationality, anxiety, caution, fear, and frustration. Let’s take the McDonald’s logo as an example. Yellow has an impulsive, independent, and strategic personality.

Yellow, like orange, is a color that denotes youth and joy. It is the hue of rubber ducks, sunflowers, and happy faces. Brands use the color yellow to appeal to extroversion, creativity, optimism, and warmth.

Yellow branding, however, may also promote apprehension, and irrationality, including anxiety. Yellow is used on traffic lights, street signs, and police tape. You can consider this tale or story as a warning before getting involved with the color.

The optimistic qualities of yellow are well-used by McDonald’s golden arches. The fast-food chain’s yellow branding, coupled with the appetite-stimulating red, creates such a youthful and joyful association. The yellow smiley face on Happy Meals furthers the brand’s reputation as kid-friendly food.

Black

The color psychology of black. It exudes class, safety, strength, elegance, control, and substance. It also expresses tyranny, coldness, danger, darkness, wickedness, and mourning. Take the Nike logo as an example. Black has a determined, assured, and somber disposition.

Black is used frequently in logos, emails, and websites. Black, as the staple color that it is, may cause a brand to appear smart, elegant, and powerful. Black is a popular color choice for premium brands, like Chanel, to cause their trademarks to appear classy and sophisticated.

Black, however, also connotes repression and iciness. Consider Ursula the Sea Witch or Scar from The Lion King for examples of how black may even be interpreted as a symbol of evil.

While black is a fashion industry favorite, its effects don’t always carry over. For example, when it comes to black, it is seldom found in the health profession since it represents death and sadness.

Nike reinforces its power-focused branding with white-and-black marketing and its iconic swoosh logo. The brand uses the beautiful black to great use in its marketing, which centers on encouraging athletes and assisting clients in becoming greater performers.

White

White’s color psychology. It expresses simplicity, pristineness, cleanliness, innocence, and innocence. Additionally, it conveys the words sterile, empty, simple, cautious, and distant. For example, take the Adidas logo. White has a determined, assured, and somber personality.

White might be the best option for your company if you want to project a simple, clean vibe. In addition to black, white has a contemporary vibe, and it can help create a pure and innocent look or a serene appearance.

White, on the other hand, can have a clinical, hospital-like feel to it. Your brand might come across as plain, uninteresting, and empty without color. However, it is context-dependent, just like the majority of colors. White logos can be found on some of the most cutting-edge companies in the world, such as Tesla and Apple.

Very similar to the way that white functions for Adidas, black does the same for Nike. Adidas caters to the less athletic segment of the market than Nike. They frequently collaborate with individuals who are not athletes, such as musicians and artists. White then gives them access to a global and straightforward appeal.

Pink

The psychology of the color pink. It communicates imagination, fervor, compassion, creativity, innovation, and quirkiness. Additionally, it evokes introspection, decadence, restraint, excess, and gloom. The Barbie logo is an example. Pink has a creative, practical, and spiritual nature.

Pink, the hue most often used to denote femininity, may be used to give any business a more edgy, innovative, and eccentric feel. For instance, T-Mobile makes use of its magenta color to set itself apart from rivals.

Pink, however, can also convey a rebellious or childish feeling. If you’ve ever been to Victoria’s Secret, you know that the rosy walls may start to feel uncomfortable after some time. The initial exposure or encounter has been observed to wane as shoppers become accustomed to that color.

Pink may be leveraged as the ideal fusion of youth and femininity for brands like Barbie. Women prefer softer colors. The pink emblem of the big play doll company aids in marketing its goods to children.

Conclusion

Color Psychology in marketing can greatly influence your results as a brand, as it contributes to how your audience most times will make judgments about your brand. It can help to project your brand’s personality better. 

They are most likely to click red, green, or blue buttons more quickly. Having information like this can help you make better decisions when designing your campaign and selecting your elements.