When a consumer decides about buying a product, he/she takes many factors into account. However, the most important factor that influences his/her buying decision, is the product’s color. The same is true when an individual browses a website. If the color scheme of your website doesn’t attract the viewer, he/she is not likely to get interested in your products or services. So, whether its a product or a website a consumer is looking at, color influences an individual significantly.
Before moving on to the ways in which you can implement color psychology in your marketing and branding strategies, let’s first realize how important it is to use the right colors, and let’s also get an idea of the psychological effect of different colors.
Influence of Colors:
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92.6% people state that, the #1 factor that influences their buying decision, is visual dimension.
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Studies show that people judge a product subconsciously within just 90 seconds from the initial viewing. About 90% of this judgment is based upon color only.
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Another study shows that full-color ads are recognized by magazine readers 26% more often as compared to black-and-white ads.
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Heinz changed their signature ketchup color from red to green. In the first 7 months, it sold more than 10 million bottles resulting in sales of $23 million.
Psychological Effect of Colors:
Red:
Red color gives a sense of urgency, making it suitable for clearance sales. It increases appetite, and is used often by fast-food chains. It stimulates the body physically, increasing heart rate and blood pressure. The color is associated with movement, passion and excitement.
Blue:
Blue color is preferred by men. Blue is associated with reliability, tranquility, water and peace. It creates a sense of security, reduces appetite and heightens productivity. Conservative brands widely use blue color for promoting trust in their services and products.
Green:
Green is associated with nature, power, tranquility and health. It’s used by stores to help customers relax, and is also used to promote environmental issues. The color stimulates harmony in the brain and establishes a balance resulting in decisiveness.
Purple:
Purple color is associated with respect, wisdom and royalty. It stimulates creativity and problem solving. It is often used in promotion of anti-aging and beauty products.
Yellow and Orange:
Yellow and orange are cheerful colors that give a feel of optimism. Yellow may make babies cry, and orange may give a sense of caution. These colors are often used to attract window shoppers and impulsive buyers.
Black:
Black color is associated with strength, stability, power and authority. It is often used as symbol of intelligence. However, if black is used too often, it can become overwhelming.
Grey:
Grey color symbolizes feelings of solidarity, old age and practicality. However, too much of this color can create feelings of depression and nothingness.
White:
White color is associated with safety, cleanliness and purity. It can be used for projecting neutrality or absence of colors. White space stimulates creativity, as it is perceived as a clean and unaltered state.
Tips to use color psychology in branding and marketing:
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Observe the standard color scheme of your industry, if you choose a color too different, it may cause cognitive dissonance in your audience. People may have no clue of what your brand deals with.
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Gender is an important factor to consider when choosing colors. One way to attract a wide audience and play safe, is choosing blues and greens.
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When buying a new item, visual appearance influences consumers largely. Don’t go for any shortcuts with your design and color choices. Consider seeking the help of professional branding consultants and designers to find out what works and what doesn’t. Ultimately, all elements and colors used in your design should complement the personality of your brand.
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Use colors properly to accentuate specific elements in your site like some buttons of content, lists, navigation and others.
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Color can boost up conversion rates. When designing Call To Action buttons, pick up colors that dramatically contrast from the remaining part of the site’s color scheme. This contrast ensures that the CTAs stand out. Always remember that people are flaky and have limited attention span when surfing the internet. The more you are able to draw their attention quickly, the more easily you can engage them.
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Make A/B testing an important part of the conversion optimization process. Instead of getting confused about which colors you should use, use the data to decide.
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The colors that are affected most by vision deficiency are red and green, especially in men. Work with these these colors quite carefully.
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There is a science behind choosing colors that go well together. Some basic color variations you will work with are shades, tints and pure colors. Find out what feelings and moods are likely to be evoked by the colors you are choosing.
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Colors have cultural and social connotations. When thinking of the way in which your audience will be affected by your color choices, have your frame of reference in mind.
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Use contrasting colors to ensure that your text can be read easily, even by people with problems in vision.
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Color can increase a brand recognition by about 80%. Use color schemes that will make people remember your website or product (but of course, for right reasons). When you choose a color scheme carefully, it will make your brand shine.
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If you have doubts, let your customers tell what they like. Observe the colors used by the brands that have the same target audience as yours. There are a lot of free, creative resources available, which you can use as a help.
So, whether you are thinking about redesigning your website, or launching a new product in the market, select the colors carefully. These tips would help you make a wise selection of colors. With a good color scheme, your website or product would certainly win hearts.
Authors Bio:
Thomas Miller is an Online Marketing Consultant in B3net Bio ā A leading Life Science Digital Marketing Company in Orange County, United States. He loves to explore the new opportunities in business and share news and updates through social media. He also loves to interact with others through his write ups.