Color psychology is the biggest question I receive on a regular basis. The reason being is its importance. Color is a trigger that is associated with traditions and used in marketing over the years so well that they must be honored or sales are lost. Color will also trigger reactions. It is a given. This is why you must know how to choose the right color for the right reaction at the right time. Because of a color's relevance to success in marketing, I always like to continue sharing and repeating in some cases, what colors to use and when. Here are eleven of the basic colors. These colors work for triggers on Americans only. Every country, culture, has different representations for color. If you are even selling to the Asian culture in the United States, the colors will change. Learn the colors of whom you are selling too and sales will blossom just like a rainbow of tulips in your garden. Quick List Red Red creates excitement, displays strength, is used to express s*e*x, passion, speed and danger. Use appropriately and it works extremely well. Blue This is the most popular color. Why? Because it builds trust, reminds people of sky gazing/dreaming. Thus, builds trust, conveys reliability, a sense of belonging, coolness (in the 1980's sense), refreshing and clean. Yellow We think of the sun and sunshine, its warmth, being cheerful and happy. Place it together with blue and thoughts of sitting on the beach or looking out over the ocean connect. Orange Orange isn't used much in marketing. On a computer screen it looses its hue. When it is clearly visible that it is orange, it conveys playfulness, triggers child-like behavior -- great in workshops if you want to take people to that place, it also conveys warmth and vibrancy. Green When we think of green we associate with trees and grass. This brings up associations with nature, freshness, coolness. It also means growth and abundance. Money is green and we are automatically associating green with prosperity. Purple Royal purple brings up pictures of royalty. Conveyed through the centuries from religion and palace decorations isn't going to change any of our associations today. Purple means spirituality and dignity as well. Pink Usually associated with femininity, it means soft, sweet, nurturing, and many times security. The security of motherhood and all that it represents. As females mature they sometimes lose their feminine side due to business stiffness. To bring it back in surround you with pink for a year. Pink blouse, suit, watch, and household items. White White and black aren't really called a color but we recognize them as such. White represents pure, purity, virgin, clean, youthful and mild. This is why white backgrounds work better than black backgrounds on a website. Black Black can trigger representation of the dark side of things in certain situations. Usually when black is the dominant color on the page. It can also represent sophistication, elegance, mystery. Black in clothing is seductive and thus will represent the same thing in many marketing materials -- even though it is only a mindful trigger and not a voiced one. Gold Gold is worth more than silver or copper but not diamonds. Since we've been taught to associate gold with value, which is exactly what is triggered when we see it in marketing materials. It can seldom be used in marketing materials though because the color usually isn't duplicated well. On the Net it gets confused with yellow a lot and what yellow represents. Silver Silver also represents prestige just like gold. It too, is a hard color to express on the Internet or in printed materials. It sends signals of cold or scientific. This is why silver kitchen appliances sell so well. It also represents cleanness in some instances, especially kitchens. This isn't all the colors of the rainbow; they are the most important ones in marketing. Use them wisely and they will make a difference in sales -- or the type of response you are looking for. |
