In recent years, many organizations and companies have tried to dig deeper into the psyche of color for an improved customer base, but a few have managed to benefit from it. There exist many articles that talk about this topic. This article is a cumulation of everything. It gives a general idea about the effects and meaning of colors, consumer behavior related to colors, and how to choose the right color. And that is why we bring to you some Ways to Improve your brand with Color Psychology.
Colour! Something that surrounds us, engulfs us, yet to some extent remains unknown to us. It’s a proven fact that color is actually a subjective creation and not an objective one. We all see colors differently to some extent.
What is Colour Psychology?
In a layman’s language, color psychology is the study of how colors impact our behavior. Since it is perceived differently by different people, it also elicits a different response.
The foundation of modern-day color psychology was initially laid by Goethe and Schiller. This was a study about colors and emotions divided into four temperaments. It associated twelve colors with occupations or character traits. The temperaments were:
- Choleric (red/orange/yellow): tyrants, heroes, adventurers
- Sanguine (yellow/green/cyan): hedonists, lovers, poets
- Phlegmatic (cyan/blue/violet): public speakers, historians
- Melancholic (violet/magenta/red): philosophers, pedants, rulers
It was later dropped and picked up many times by the era of the Renaissance due to the advancement of medicine and how subjective these temperaments were.
Understanding Colour
To understand the psychology of color, it is important to understand the basics of color first. The three main components that make up colors are:
- Hue
Hue is what we think of when we think “color”. It is what marketers usually pay all their attention to, which turns out to be a mistake. For example: red, orange, blue, green, and so on.
- Saturation
Also called “chroma” or “intensity”, saturation describes the vividity of a color. It encompasses other several factors like richness, intensity, purity, or grayness of a color.
- Value
Value is the brightness of the color. It is its relative lightness or darkness. This component is further divided into shades and tints.
Shades are the darker versions of a color, i.e., they have “low value”.
Tints are the lighter or brighter versions of a color, i.e., they have a “high value”.
Ways to Improve your brand with Color Psychology
Meaning of Colours
For better understanding, we have divided this section into –
How Colors Get Their Meaning
- Experience
- Culture
- Context
The Meaning of Colors: Associations and Branding
How Colors Get Their Meaning
As mentioned previously, we all have different meanings for different colors. There are some colors that have a degree of universality to some extent like red is associated with lust or anger, yellow with happiness, and so on. But more often than never we give them meaning based on our personal experiences. This occurs due to the associative network theory.
The interconnected web exists with multiple points of connection, each representing a particular type of knowledge. These points are in turn connected to other points, where the strength of these connections depends on the similarities between them. Stronger the similarities, the stronger the connection.
Throughout our lifetime, as we gain new experiences, we continue modifying these nodes. The associative network theory was proposed by Gordon Bower. According to Bower, our brains have an interconnected web of knowledge. It explains that each word is associated with a memory or an emotion, which represents a different meaning for each individual.
These subjective differences can take place or depend on three primary factors:
- Experience
As we encounter a new color during a certain experience, we start associating that color with the emotion felt during the experience. Thus, with regard to colors, each color can elicit or trigger different emotions in the brain for different people.
For example, if you get hit by a blue car, your brain might consciously or subconsciously start associating blue with pain even though it is infamously known as a calm and soothing color.
This can also hold true for occupations. Like green might signify money for an investor but vegetation for a farmer.
- Culture
Throughout the years, different cultures have used colors in different ways. A color that might be considered auspicious in one culture might signify something completely opposite in another.
For example, the color blue is associated with corporate or feelings of calmness in Western countries while it signifies sinister intentions in East Asia.
- Context
The color black, in context with kitchen appliances, is less likely to trigger feelings of sadness and mourning even though it usually is related to funerals. This is because kitchen appliances have no connection whatsoever to funerary rituals.
In the same way, red on a dating site can trigger feelings of lust, romance, or passion, but in an achievement setting, it relates to failures since it’s an ideal choice for grading papers.
The Meaning of Colors: Associations and Branding
| Name of Colour | Associations | Symbolism in Branding |
| Red | Passion, love, lust, anger, danger | Up to date, arousing, daring, power, health |
| Orange | Energetic, feeling of change, positive | Security, daring, happiness, extraversion, comfort |
| Yellow | Happiness, hope, cowardice, caution | Arousal, cheerful, happiness, extraversion |
| Blue | Calming, honesty, loyalty, sadness, loss, spirituality | Efficiency, trust, peace, intelligence, reliability, tranquillity, comfort |
| Green | New beginnings, growth, affluence, stability, money | Security, nature, peace, comfort, health |
| Purple | Mystery, romantic, royalty | Charming, luxurious, sensuality |
| Black | Elegant, sophisticated, sad, death | Efficiency, security, tough elegance, power |
| White | Purity, innocence, death | Happiness, down to earth, peace, cleanliness, honest |
| Brown | Solid, dependable, dirty | Reliability, security, nature, tough |
Choosing the Right Colour
If you are looking to create a logo or something similar to make your brand, it is important to understand how you can combine colors to keep it true to your brand value. Incorrect color choices and combinations tend to send off the wrong message. These are common ways to combine colors:
- Monochromatic
Using different variations of the same hue. Example: Animal Planet
- Analogous
Uses hues in close proximity on the color wheel. Example: CNBC News
- Triadic
Uses three colors situated at 120 degrees on the color wheel. Example: Fanta
- Complementary
Uses colors on opposing sides of the color wheel. Example: FedEx
All in all, there are no rigid rules about colors. You can use it anyhow BUT color psychology gives you a rough framework to work around. The best way to make sure your colors work together is to take opinions from people. Ask them how the combinations make them feel and if they would want to change anything. As a fun activity, try and collect data from different cultures, genders, age groups, among other things, to know more about color psychology!
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