What is color psychology? It is the emotional and mental effects colors have on individuals in all aspects of their lives. Regarding marketing and business, colors can greatly impact the perception of your business or brand in the minds of your customers and clients. Ultimately color usage could be the difference in whether someone interacts with your business, brand, service, product, etc, or steer clear of it. Let’s take a look at some colors and become familiar with some of the initial impressions they may have on your customers.
Each color has pros and cons in its usage and can change based on what shade of each color you use. For example, pastels are more calming while bold and saturated colors create more of an intense presence. Here are some introductory descriptions of the color psychologies associated with these common colors.
Red
If you’re looking for a color that will get people’s attention or have a strong presence, red is a good color to use. It’s very powerful and dynamic. Its uses include portraying love, affection, and romance but also fear, terror, and survival. It is a very energizing color that can portray friendliness but can also come across as demanding or aggressive depending on the context. Remember to use it sparingly to avoid some of the negative reactions it can stir up.
Orange
Orange has an interesting psychological meaning as it combines yellow’s friendliness and fun with red’s power and energy resulting in symbolizing warmth and motivation. It is also a very eye-catching color and is commonly associated with construction.
Yellow
Yellow is a very bright and energetic color that symbolizes the sun, happiness, optimism, etc. Whenever you need to lift someone’s spirits, increase their confidence, or provide inspiration, use yellow. However, avoid using yellow too much because it can also be hard to look at for some people because it is so bright.
Green
The most common things green represents are being eco-friendly, natural, organic, etc. It is also a sign of growth, whether that’s in a physical object like plants or in our income and wealth. Overall, if you’re looking to portray health, rest, and relieve stress, green is your color. While green does have minor negative aspects like over-possession and materialism, it has a more positive effect than most other colors.
Blue
Blue is known for its trust and dependability. It’s reliable, responsible, and mentally soothing. For that reason alone, it’s one of the most-liked colors across the world. Unlike red, blue lends a more mental reaction rather than physical that allows us to destress and calm down. Unfortunately, it can also be perceived as distant, cold, or unfriendly if used in great amounts. But overall, blue is a well-liked color that can bring a sense of calmness and trust when building relationships, especially in marketing.
Purple
Purple possesses the energy and power of red, with the stability and reliability of blue. Purple is often used to show luxury, loyalty, courage, mystery, and magic. It can also It’s a very intriguing color as it soothes, but also presents space for mystery and new ideas. This is why creativity is most often associated with the color purple.
Make sure to do some research into any color you are thinking of using to understand both the positive and negative effects it may have and make sure that it is aligning with your goal.
SOURCE: https://coschedule.com/blog/color-psychology-marketing
