The ultimate guide to color psychology in marketing (that you must know!)

Have you ever seen a product or advertisement with eye-catching colors that make you remember it at first sight even if you've never heard of the brand before? Assume you're looking for the go-to fabric softener in a supermarket but you can't remember the name of your favorite scent. The color on the packaging then helps ring a bell and saves the day! Using color for visual attraction is one of the most important marketing strategies. In every business, the goal of marketing is to generate revenue, simply put, to convince customers to buy. That’s why color psychology has been used as a psychological tool to influence purchasing behavior.

Businesses emphasize selecting colors that can convey the identity and  story of their brand. Given the fact that customers' perceptions of brands influence their purchase decisions. Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychotherapist and psychiatrist is quoted saying “Colors are the mother tongue of the subconscious”. Understanding the psychology of color is one of the keys that lead to marketing goals. If you want to run a successful business, we recommend you to keep on reading this article that will help you understand how each color reflects your brand identity and how colors affect the perceptions and behaviors of customers. Let’s jump in!

How does color affect customer behavior?

Satyendra Singh published a study called 'Impact of Color on Marketing' in 2006, which studied consumer behavior on color and discovered that people make decisions within 90 seconds of seeing a product. The color itself influences up to 90% of those decisions. According to the study, 80 percent of consumers believe that color helps them remember a brand better.

In addition, there has been a lot of research done on how each color affects the customer's perception of the brand at a subconscious level. Colors are used to persuade people which can affect them in different ways. Some of us might prefer bright red roses to express our love. Some of us may prefer to express our love with bright red roses. While some people believe that pink roses are sweeter. These are examples of emotional reactions to different colors. Colors can affect our moods and feelings, making us feel better or worse. So, let's take a closer look at the color psychology of each color.

Red

Red is the most stimulating color. Its fiery tone represents characteristics like courage, enthusiasm, excitement, passion, power, and fearlessness. Red also conveys a sense of urgency. A well-known company like CNN, which needs to keep up with global news 24/7, chooses red to represent its brand. In addition, research shows that red helps stimulate blood flow. It speeds up our metabolism which in turn makes us hungry. So, many food brands use this color. For example, KFC, Dairy Queens, and Coca-Cola.

Orange

Orange symbolizes creativity, cheerfulness, liveliness, energy, adventure, enthusiasm, friendliness, confidence, warmth, and innovation. This color is commonly used for call-to-action to the customer decision-making process. Harley Davidson and JBL are examples of companies that use orange.

Yellow

Yellow is the most noticeable color. When it comes to yellow, it can remind us of a summer day with the sun shining through a clear blue sky. This color conveys warmth, happiness, optimism, and creativity. Yellow is typically associated with happiness. Many food companies, such as McDonald's, Subway, and Chupa Chups, use this color to attract customers.

Green

Green is the most relaxing color for the human eye. People may think of trees when they hear the word "green”. Green represents nature, abundance, serenity, and health. Brands associated with nature and environment often use this green. This color gives a more positive feeling than most other colors. Green also represents wealth and money. Starbucks, Spotify, John Deere, and Perrier are among the companies that use green.

Blue

Blue is a powerful color in marketing. This popular color represents serenity, calmness, dependability, trust, safety, security, and loyalty. Companies that want to project credibility and dependability, such as Intel and Samsung, as well as financial institutions such as PayPal and Visa, use blue in brand marketing.

Pink

Pink is commonly used by companies that are specifically targeted at female customers. This color conveys femininity, tenderness, playfulness, youth, and love. There’s no doubt why pink is associated with Valentine's Day and the wedding industry. Pink is used by brands such as Barbie, Victoria's Secret, and Dunkin Donuts.

Purple

Purple represents elegance, luxury, wisdom, mystery, and creativity. It's a color that's both enticing and soothing. This color is frequently associated with creativity. They can also be used to express luxury and energy, too. Examples of companies include Yahoo, FedEx, and Cadbury.

White

White represents purity, cleanliness, goodness, humility, serenity, perfection, elegance, and fresh starts. It is also a great color to convey simplicity and modernity. Apple, Tesla, and Adidas are among the well-known brands that use this color.

Black

Black is widely used in a variety of industries. It represents mystery, power, grace, and assurance. It is the most commonly used color in retail because these are all characteristics that most retail stores want to be associated with. Prada and SEPHORA are two brands that want to represent elegance and sophistication.

Customers' perceptions of your brand are influenced by colors, so you must determine which colors work best in defining your brand identity and reflecting your story. Customers may be confused with brand imagery if the color used is not consistent with the product or brand. The right colors can help you create a distinct brand identity and make your brand easy to recognize, resulting in a successful marketing strategy.