Colours can change the mind, it can calm the mind or it can make a feeling of anger or hungry as well. Colours have a great impact on human behaviour and psychology. In research, it has been shown that red colour makes us hungry while blue colour helps in calming the mind. Colours help in making 75% of purchasing decisions. So, colour psychology helps the digital marketer to trigger the different emotions of the consumers. For example, through the right use of colours digital marketer can influence purchasing decisions, and increases branding as well. In this blog, I will focus on the different usage of colours for more effective marketing strategies which will help in influencing consumer behaviour in the right way.
How colour psychology impacts consumer behaviour?
In data, it has been shown that brand awareness & recognition increases by 80% through colours & 90% of first impression also comes through the colours of the visual. The digital marketer can convey trust, serenity or authority through these colours. So, even if you are giving the best services in the market or presenting the crispiest copies for the visual if you are not using the right colour combinations you will fail to hit the right emotions of your consumers.
The significance of each colour
2.1. Red: The red colour expresses the sense of authoritativeness, excitement, energy, power, fearlessness, and passion. The red colour makes human being hungry & it has a sense of urgency. So, most of the time red colour gets used for the call-to-action buttons. The classic example of live usage of its use by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is encouraging buyers to buy this beverage by enhancing their feeling of hunger & it is perfectly aligning with their current motto which is “Real Magic”. Netflix is also using red colour as its brand colour as it is powerful visual emotive.
2.2. Blue: Blue can be called the World’s favourite colour. In data, it has been shown that 57% of men’s & 35% of women’s favourite colour is Blue. 33% of top brands such as Facebook, Ford etc are using blue colour for their logo. Blue colour brings up the feeling of security, strength, wisdom, and trust. Different shades of blue help in bringing up a whole spectrum of emotions. However, as the blue colour helps in conveying the feeling of security, so, it is mostly used by healthcare & finance-related brands.
2.3. Yellow: Yellow is the colour of smiling faces. Yellow colour helps in triggering the feelings such as happiness, positivity, and optimism. So, Nikon is using this colour to convey how it helps in capturing the happy moments of the consumers while Macdonalds is using it on the backdrop of red which is helping in triggering both hungry & positive emotions.
2.4. White: White colour helps convey the feeling of purity, safety, transparency and pristineness. Brands like Intuit Turbo is using white colour in their logo to convey the feeling of safety and charity while Addidas is using white colour to convey simplistic & it is also helping in universal appeal.
2.5. Black: Black is a staple colour for brands when they want to convey sophistication, powerful, and elegance through their logo. One of the best examples of this is Channel. The brand is using the black colour in their logo to express to look sleek and refined. So basically, it is anyone who wants to look sleek, stylish yet sophisticated opts for Channel automatically. On the other hand, Nike is using white & black together which is helping them to convey the feeling of safety & stronger performance. Through the logo, the brand is conveying the message of empowering athletes and helping customers grow into stronger performers — perfect use of the elegant black.
2.6. Purple: Purple colour helps in conveying luxury, royalty & superiority. In the Roman Empire, high-ranking officials wore Tyrian purple, which cost more than gold at the time. Queen Elizabeth, I even banned anyone outside the royal family from wearing purple. Well, apart from royalty, purple colour has a lot of feminine energy and sentimentality as well. To address the most female consumer base & to adore them the brand Hallmark is using the purple colour in their logo.
2.7. Green: Green represents life. It helps in arousing the feeling of nature, health, and serenity. At the same time, it helps bring up feelings of relaxation, health, prosperity, hope, and freshness. Most of the time, food grain products or grocery products use the colour green in their logo to arouse the feeling of freshness & healthy. For example, the American brand Whole Foods uses green colour in its logo to convey the feeling of the healthiest products in the market which helps them to align with its branding, the brand is positing itself as the “America’s healthiest grocery store”
2.8. Orange: Orange colour helps around the feeling of courage, creativity & confidence. It is also one of the most popular colours in the world. Data has shown that 29% of people is considering it their favourite colour. The famous TV channel Nickelodeon is using orange colour in their logo. The orange colour is helping them to convey the feeling of creativity and even immaturity, it matches their whacky programming and quirky branding as well. On the other hand, the famous beverage brand Fanta is using a combination of orange & blue colours in their logo. The blue colour is helping them to arouse the feeling of trust while the orange colour is helping to arouse the feeling of creativity. The quirky style of Fanta is helping them to target every set of audience specifically, the kids.
Final words
Colours have a deep impact on human psychology & help in conveying a message without using a word. Colour helps a digital market to make an emotional bond with the consumers & also helps in making a strong presence in their minds as well. So, always choose the colour which is aligning with your brand statement & positioning.