Psychological Effects of Color and Your Product

People make up there minds within 90 seconds of first interacting with a product. About 62-90% of the reason they make a choice is based on color alone. (Satyendra, Singh, 2006)

Researchers have also found that a well-designed brand affects the brain and even activates areas associated with positive emotions and rewards. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061128083022.htm)

Of course, this tells us that the colors we associate with our brand or product are VERY important. They are not only a source of information but also influence the mood and feelings of customers, positively or negatively.

When researching the effects color may have on your brand or product, it’s easy to find infographics with simple information like Green: Peaceful, Red: Excitement, etc.

But the truth is there just isn’t a lot of actual science to back up these claims. (Levy, 1984; Whitfield & Wiltshire, 1990).

As you’ll notice these infographics are rarely annotated (as the statement above) with real scientific studies. The reason being that the effects of color on our psychology and the way we view a product or brand varies greatly depending on the context in which it is viewed. For example a cowboy in Montana may view one brands color in a different way than a male ballerina from New York. They are both American Males but may have two very distinct life experiences and cultural points of view.

Color affects different people in different ways. There are even studies that suggest that there are gender differences in the perception of color (Khouw, 2002).

So, now that we know that people will react to our packaging and branding based on there relationship to the product and what the product does we can start to build color into our brand based on our target demographic. For example: A 15 year old girl will react differently to a purple logo on sun glasses than a 35-40 year old man.

Obviously there are sunglass manufacturers who target one of these specific demographics. The same product function but with two different audiences and therefore two different colored brands because the relationship the prospective customer has with the product is totally different.

Consumers can even have different relationships with a brand than they have with a specific product line from that brand name. Cars are great examples. A grown adult will like the solidity of the blue Ford Logo but may still buy the red Mustang because it looks fast and young.

Here are some key points to think about when choosing the right color for your product or brand.

1. What colors do your competitors use and which color will stand out against them?
2. What will your product be used for? Or what do your customer expect your brand to say in relation to your company or product. (Red probably isn’t the best for a funeral home).
3. People prefer color combinations with similar hues and contrasting accent colors.

I love paletton.com which allows you to create a ton of color combinations. Here’s an example of what I am talking about in point number 3:

I’ve pulled the selector to yellow and then selected the “Adjacent Colors” option. This has given me 3 different hues of the same color. You can Click on any of these colors to get the hex code and RGB.

Now, just by selecting the “Triad” Option and turing on the “add complementary” switch, Paletton gives us the opposite color on the color wheel and two complementary options.

There are no easy answers when it comes to the psychological effects of color but by asking the right questions we can find just the right color that communicates how customers (and even our employees) feel about our products and brands.