Color Psychology Cheat Sheet: How To Influence Consumer Behavior

Around 90% of first impressions about a product are based on its color alone!

Visuals are a critical component in your company’s branding and identity. Studies show that colors can directly influence how a brand is perceived by a customer, which consequently affects buying decisions. In fact, around 90% of first impressions about a product are based on its color alone!

Colors can influence human behavior, including consumer behavior, and color psychology explores the extent of that relationship. While contextual variables and culture define how individuals assign meaning to colors, there are universal messaging patterns to be found in color perceptions. Recognizing these patterns and leveraging them for your brand will help you better connect with your target customers.

Because of the color’s undeniable significance, it is important for business owners and marketers to understand color psychology. Harness the power of color in building a relatable brand. Here’s what you need to know.

COLOR-WORD ASSOCIATION

While color meanings are dependent on each person’s experiences, there are messaging patterns found in color perceptions. These trends are key to finding out which colors to use for your brand. CoSchedule shares insightful statistics on what feelings each color invoke in a person:

• Trust: blue (34%), white (21%), green (11%)
• Security: blue (28%), black (16%), and green (12%)
• Speed: red (76%) came out the top choice
• Cheapness: orange (26%), yellow (22%), brown (13%)
• Premium quality: black (43%), blue (20%)
• Tech know-how: black (26%), blue, and gray (both 23%) were at the same level
• Reliability: blue (43%), black (24%)
• Courage: purple (29%), red (28%), blue (22%)
• Fear: red (41%), black (38%)
• Fun: orange (28%), yellow (26%), purple (17%)
  

  TIPS WHEN CHOOSING COLORS

  1. Do your homework. Brands don’t just choose colors by random! Get your hands on resources (such as this one) to help you understand the psychological impact of colors on consumers.
  2. Study your competitors. What colors are they using and what emotion do they convey? More importantly, will you choose the same colors? This can impact the direction of your campaign.
  3. Match your product and color. Consider what you’re trying to sell and the color you’re attaching to it. For instance, it might look a bit off to portray a car wash service with the color orange. What do you want the consumer to feel when interacting with your product?
  4. Portray your brand’s personality with color. This depends on whether or not you want to look friendly, mysterious, luxurious, and so on. You can choose colors like yellow to depict fun (e.g., food brands or social apps), or blue to represent security and simplicity (e.g., banks and consumer tech brands).

  FINAL WORDS

  You’re done with your crash course of color psychology! Keep in mind that there are no clear-cut guidelines for choosing your brand’s colors. Beyond stereotypical color associations, it’s essential to consider the context you’re working with. It’s the feeling, mood, and image that your brand or product creates that matters.

  Infographic Source: MicroCreatives