Colour Psychology: How Colours Affect Consumer Behaviour

Colours significantly influence consumer behaviour, which is a critical factor in the presentation of your product or service to the market.  Analysing how consumers react to different colours can provide vital information that supports effective branding strategies, making it essential for optimising market presence.

Academics Already Found It

American Psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote his motivational theory, ‘The Hierarchy of Needs,’ in 1943. In his theory, humans are compared to an animal in need who is rarely completely satisfied except for a short period. Once his wishes are fulfilled, he attends to another desire. In fact, his theory is extremely useful for marketing managers as they offer insight into the motives of consumers to ensure their products reach the needs of their target market.

Several variables, internal and external, impact consumer behaviour. Consumer behaviour is a mental, emotional, and physical activity. The process involves choosing, buying, using, and discarding products and services that either satisfy customers’ needs and demands or frustrate them.

Consumer satisfaction, therefore, is a function of quality, price, advertisements, and the way the products are presented, i.e., packing, colours, literature, website demos, staff skills, etc., to meet the customer’s demand.

Scholarly and academic papers have demonstrated that colours affect customers. Scholars have discussed everything from the selection of fresh vegetables to coffee drinking to restaurant eating, gardening, book cover selection, and so on. Colours and their associations are everywhere.

Marketing and Branding

Many variables are partly controlled by the seller, such as price, quality, delivery time, promotions, and others.  It is crucial for sellers to understand that aligning their products with the specific needs and preferences of their customers is essential for market suitability.

One significant factor influencing consumer behaviour is the colour of the product they are considering purchasing. Don’t we use this in our choice of car colours? The bright iconic red of Ferrari, the superb, brilliant yellow of Lamborghini, or the ultimate Wimbledon white of the Mustang? Indeed, colours play a pivotal role in shaping consumer identity.

Typically, the interpretation of colours by individuals is influenced by the associations between a specific colour and its attributed significance. For instance, do you feel calm when surrounded by blue skies and green fields? Or frightened by a red signal? Colour psychology is, therefore, a determinant of human behaviour and is used by brands to induce different responses.  

How Colours Influence People’s Decisions

I would recommend a highly insightful article by Gregory Ciotti on The Psychology of Colour in Marketing and Branding, which is really worth reading. He discusses how colour affects our spending with a beautiful guide on colour emotions that I reproduce below.

The Importance of Colours in Marketing

Therefore, if you are planning an office redesign, advertising, or developing your brand, do not forget the wise use of colours.  According to Shortstack research , 84.7% of consumers affirm that colour is a primary reason for them to buy a product and 93% look at visual appearance when they buy. These are staggering numbers for us to just forget and buy the colours that are on sale!

How Colours Affect the Visual of Your Product

Consumers notice colour before words. So, if you are thinking of advertising, promotions or a brand-new branding development then remember that colours influence consumer feelings about your product or service and have the same power to generate sales as any well-written slogan.

• Colours change moods and attitudes – For example, do you want your customers to feel serene and clean? Then use blue. Do you need to emphasise clarity and purity? Well, choose blue and white. The emotion the colour generates will be associated with the emotions the consumer feels towards your product and hopefully will be extended to a purchase experience.
• Colours grab consumers’ attention because of the specific association we have with those colours. For instance, red is one of the most vibrant colours in the visible spectrum. It invariably attracts the consumer’s eyes because of the numerous associations we have with that colour, including the presents from Santa Claus!
• Colours appeal to your customers – They play with their desires and wants. Do you live in an urban marketplace? Maybe blue, green and white will offer you the expansiveness and closeness with nature that you desire.
• Colours show product characteristics to attract the target customer base. Does your product emphasise elegance, mystery, and power? Then use black.

Psychological Aspects of Colours

The primary colours are red, yellow, and blue, and the secondary colours are orange, green and purple. With them, we create warm and cool colours, tints, shades, tones and beautiful colour harmonies to set the mood, attract attention or make a statement.

Finding Your Own Palette

Generally, choosing the perfect colour scheme is still a tricky thing to do, even with all the skills we have developed. Subsequently, the impact of different colours on shopping behaviour, especially regarding time pressure and willingness, has still been scrutinised.

However, the colour of the product a person is willing to buy has a profound effect on the shopping experience. So, if colours are combined with attractive prices and excellent quality, we should have an invincible tactic to lead to a shopping decision aligned with the customer’s needs and desires.

Call to Action

As we have seen, colour is an essential tool with an incredible impact on marketing. It is essential to understand what colours mean to your customers in practical and emotional ways.

We don’t all react the same way to colours, and, in particular, the significant events, cultures, people, and memories we have accumulated will influence our decisions. Consequently, test your colours to see which ones make people click on your content more frequently. Testing is extremely important. Without it, you will not know how your audience will respond, and with the testing results, you will be able to determine colour combinations and placement to generate better positive results.