Psychology of color: what color and what it means in advertising. The meaning of color in advertising Yellow color in advertising

Color is one of the most powerful tools in a designer's toolkit. With its help you can attract attention, create a certain mood, influence emotions, perception and behavior.

Did you know that among the reasons that motivate customers to purchase a certain product, 90% are due to color? Or that color magazine ads are 26% more likely to be noticed than black and white ones?

The conclusion is clear: using the right color will help you achieve success. But a natural question immediately arises: how to choose the right color? To answer this, you will have to analyze several important aspects:

• color associations
• differences in color perception between men and women
• problems associated with color vision impairment.

Color not only helps to provide more objective information about a product, it can also have a powerful psychological effect. The same colors can act differently - in particular, it depends on the nationality and place of residence of a person. Let's dwell on color associations among people of the Western world.

Red color in psychology: danger, importance, passion

Red is the color of fire and blood. One of the most powerful colors in terms of impact, which is associated with both love and war. The well-known expression to see red (literally translated from English as “look at red”) means to become enraged, to lose one’s temper.

This color has a strong emotional impact. It may raise your blood pressure or increase your breathing rate.

Red color is energetic and impulsive. It is associated with speed and strength. This is why Netflix and YouTube use it as their dominant color.

The ability of red to attract attention is well known. In design it is often used as a powerful accent color. Similar to red carpets at awards shows, the color red can be used to highlight important details on a website page.

Orange color in psychology: confidence, energy, optimism

Orange is a very energetic color - like red, it excites, but to a lesser extent. It has an energetic aura, but without the aggressiveness inherent in red. Can create a joyful atmosphere.

Like red, orange has the ability to attract attention, so it can be used to highlight important details such as a call to action (CTA) button. Some people think this is too simple a solution, but many apps and websites often use this trick, which is “cheap” in a good way.

Yellow color in psychology: sun, happiness, attention

Oddly enough, yellow is associated with both joy and anxiety. It is often used to focus attention. An example would be warning signs. The color yellow can be associated with danger, but to a lesser extent than red.

The combination of yellow and black works especially effectively. A striking example of this is the New York taxi.

Green color in psychology: nature, development, success

The color green is naturally associated with nature. It is associated with vitality and growth, as most plants on earth are green in color.

In design, this color is often used to create balance and harmony. However, to achieve balance, designers should consider color saturation.

Rich green shades attract attention due to their energetic stimulating effect. This is why they are often used for call to action buttons.

Blue color in psychology: comfort, relaxation, trust

Blue is the color of the sea and sky. One of the most significant and frequently used colors in user interface design. At the same time, the visual perception of design developments will largely depend on the correct choice of shade:

• The light blue shade is associated with coolness, freedom and tranquility. Calmness can develop into trust, which is why this shade is often used in jars.
• Dark blue shades are great for projects where stability and reliability are very important.

Purple color in psychology: luxury, spirituality, creativity

The natural color purple is rarely found in nature, so it has a special role in design.

Historically associated with royalty, the color purple is still associated with luxury today. It subtly hints at the high quality of the product or site (even if it is not).

Interestingly, 75% of children prefer purple to all other shades.

Black color in psychology: strength, grace, sophistication

Black is the most powerful of all colors. It immediately attracts attention, which is why it is most often used for texts and accents.

When used as a dominant color - for example, to create a background - black can evoke original associations. With its help, it is easier to achieve a sense of sophistication and mystery in design.

White color in psychology: health, purity, chastity

The color white is often associated with purity, purity and virtue. By using associations of the color white with health or the development of innovations, you can emphasize the safety of the promoted product from the field of medicine or high technology.

White areas create space around design elements, helping to highlight or separate them from each other.

In design, white perfectly sets off the colors adjacent to it, making it popular as a secondary color. Proper use of white margin is a powerful design tool. Consider, for example, the Google search page. White color gives more expressiveness to other shades.

Gray: formality, neutrality, professionalism

Gray is a symbol of neutrality. It matches easily with other colors. As a main background, gray creates a feeling of formality, which is not always a bad thing. Like white, gray background sets off other colors well.

Gender and color

There are no definite norms yet regarding which colors are considered purely feminine and which are masculine. There are only the results of studies conducted over the past eight decades, which allow us to make some generalizations. And while the data is mixed, one conclusion is undeniable: men and women have different color preferences.

• Blue is the most popular color among both men and women. At the same time, men are much more likely than women to use variations on the theme of blue.
• The most unpopular colors among men and women are brown, orange and yellow. Gray is the least favorite color for women, while purple is the least favorite color for men.
• When it comes to shades and tones, men generally prefer bold colors, while women tend to choose softer shades.
• Most people think that pink is the color that all women adore, but this is not true. The number of his fans is a small percentage. Thus, although pink is associated with femininity in color psychology, it is not at all attractive to all women.

Color in marketing and business

The role of color in creating a corporate identity

When developing a brand philosophy, color takes center stage among other factors. Every color we see directly or indirectly implies something, and this helps influence the perception of a particular brand. Some colors go beyond individual brands, symbolizing entire industries, for example, blue for the tourism business, green for healthy eating, red for fast food.

There are no clear rules for choosing colors when developing a corporate identity. Some use colors that are familiar to their industry, while others, on the contrary, prefer to go against tradition, believing that this helps to attract attention more effectively. For example, Virgin America decided to change the traditional concept when developing its website and application. And although this may not be exactly what users expect from an airline website, it nevertheless attracts attention.

Thus, an unexpected color choice can be an effective technique to attract users' attention to your company.

Color and Conversion Rate Optimization

How can you use knowledge of color theory and psychology to encourage people to click? Choosing the color of your call to action (CTA) button is one of the oldest aspects of the conversion versus optimization debate. For every person who argues that red is the best color for a button because it attracts the most attention, there is someone who argues that green is the best color because it is associated with safety and encourages action.

HubSpot presented the results of its marketing research (A/B test), which shows how the choice of color for the call-to-action button affects the number of registered users.

Although it was initially expected that the green button would perform better, test results showed that the red button received 21% more clicks. However, HubSpot warned its users that the test results were somewhat subjective - perhaps the audience preferred red because it was the only saturated color on the site page.

The color of a button in itself does not affect its absolute effectiveness - what works well on one site may be ineffective on another. The claim that one color converts better than another is false because there is no universal best color. However, there are still some rules based on practical experience that help you effectively use color to your advantage. One of them is the use of a psychological principle known as the “isolation effect.” According to this principle, people remember better an object that stands out from the rest “like an eyesore.”

For example, if your website or app has a lot of green in its design, users will likely not pay attention to the green button, even though A/B test data has proven its effectiveness at another company.

Sometimes you need to change the visual hierarchy of colors on a page to highlight your call to action button. Contrast plays a very important role - if the color of the button does not attract the attention of a potential client, then there will be no registrations/sales.

Color and usability

Design involves not only beautiful design, but also functionality and usability - perhaps the two most important principles for the work of any UX designer.

Color is a tool that helps direct the eye to the desired objects. Choosing the right color when designing an interface not only attracts users, but also improves the efficiency of the user interface.

Limit the number of colors

When using different colors in your design, you should strive for balance. The more colors you use, the harder it is to achieve balance. Using too many colors is a common mistake developers make. They may be trying to influence users in this way and convey as much information as possible, but this can be very confusing for people visiting the site.

Interior designers follow a simple rule of 60–30–10, which also works well when designing websites. This timeless technique will help you choose a balanced color scheme: 60% should be the dominant color, 30% the secondary color and 10% the accent color. This ratio guarantees color balance and a comfortable transition of the gaze from one object to another.

Availability of color perception

People perceive colors differently. Approximately 8% of all men and 0.5% of all women suffer from color blindness to some degree. The combination of red and green suffers most from color vision impairment. The only way to avoid problems is to try not to use this color combination.

Let's take a common situation as an example. Have you ever received a message that a form was filled out incorrectly - something like “Fields marked in red are required”? While this is not a big problem for users with normal vision, people who are colorblind may find this message upsetting.

As stated in the W3C guidelines, colors should not be used as the sole visual tool for the following purposes: conveying information, prompting action and response, or highlighting a visual element. Following these recommendations, site developers should pay attention to some points: the response message about errors should be more informative, for example, like this: “The email address you entered is not available”; or perhaps you should add an icon next to the fill field to attract the user's attention.

Are there a few ways you can test your UI for accessibility?

• The WebAIM service will help you check color combinations.
• Using the Adobe Photoshop graphic editor will help you correct images using Color Universal Design. This will ensure accessibility of graphic information for people with color vision impairment, including color blindness.

Conclusion

We've looked at several color-related factors that can affect the user experience of your website or app. But we were never able to answer the question: “How to find the right color?” But you may have already guessed that there is no “best” color for conversion. One color can only do so much. The most important thing is what colors you choose and how you combine them.

If your goal is to increase the conversion rate, then you cannot do without a serious analysis of information: what users actually need, what wording or style of speech is most accessible to them, what method of purchasing goods they prefer. A properly designed website is a website that suits users.

There are no small details in sales copywriting. At all. Never. Even something that seems insignificant to you personally can become the main incentive for a buyer to make a purchase.

However, the wrong choice of colors for the design of a selling text can easily become a reason for the unconscious rejection of your offer.

How important is it to use the right colors when designing sales texts? Very important. Incredibly important. It is colors that sometimes play a decisive role in... If you scare it away, the buyer will leave even the most beautiful selling text. If you are able to create comfortable color images, the reader will forgive you even numerous flaws in the text and failures in the presentation of information.

We have recently touched on the importance of using colors when designing selling texts. Today I would like to conduct a workshop and introduce you to the correct use of colors in advertising. In our case, this will be the practice of designing selling pages and landing pages.

How to use colors in selling text?

Remember that each type of product has its own colors. Your task is to decide which colors are suitable for your material. We have to repeat ourselves: you can create an incredible selling text about baby diapers, but fail miserably only because you allowed the use of black and red shades in the design of the material.

So, let's look at each of the colors in more detail:

Red color in advertising . This is the color of energy and will, it carries a powerful sexual connotation and stands out against the background of any other colors. The color red in a sales text is almost mandatory, but remember that if there is too much of this color, it begins to become a source of aggression and danger. If there is too much red, it is already bad.

Due to its catchiness, it is often used during sales and as a way to sell goods for men (strong sexual connotations). Most often used when designing the main elements of advertising material. Pairs perfectly with white.

Orange. This is the color of cheerfulness, fun, optimism. The color is positive and attractive. Indispensable for designing headings and subheadings. The color orange conveys warmth and is very popular with children. Excellent for designing websites and texts intended for advertising children's products, medicines, and healthcare.

Yellow. The color of sociability, openness and good nature. Symbolizes goodwill and sociability. It is not as bright as red and orange, and therefore is more often used either as a background or as a means of decorating minor details. It is also perfect for decorating selling texts about children's products, creativity, and relaxation (a symbol of the sun and idleness). Yellow goes well with blue and green.

Green color. Green is the color of health, relaxation, freshness. Such text carries a huge charge of trust (remember the green checkboxes and “order” buttons). Often associated with ease and wealth. Green color somewhat visually reduces the volume of text. Try writing a call to action on a red background. That's right, this will only alienate the reader, unconsciously creating a feeling of anxiety. Now do the same procedure using green. A completely different picture: you already believe such a call!

Pink color. It has long been firmly established as the best color for expressing a romantic and tender relationship. Advertisements for driveshafts or all-terrain vehicles on a pink background will look ridiculous, but sales texts with advertisements for women's products, dating sites, perfumes and cosmetics are just right! Oddly enough, the color pink has practically no effect on men, but children and women love it.

Blue. Blue is the color of harmony, purity and sublimity. This color perfectly calms the reader, removes the feeling of danger, convinces the buyer of the veracity of what is being said, and gives a sense of integrity to the image. Often used to design texts about business and earnings. Used for advertising medicines, products for children, perfumes, and innovative products.

Blue color. Blue is the color of clarity, concentration, peace. Attracts attention, but does not repel. Does not cause a feeling of negativity or aggression. An almost universal color that can be used to design any text. Naturally, you need to make sure that there is not too much color.

Black color. The color of mystery, richness, complexity, elitism. As the main element of the design of a selling text, it is destructive, since in large quantities it causes depressive associations, in addition, reading on a black background is very tiring. Pairs perfectly with white, yellow and many other “light” colors. It is used when designing texts where it is necessary to emphasize the elitism, prestige and high cost of the service.

White color in advertising. Associated with purity, freshness, sincerity, innocence, peace. Symbolizes knowledge, openness, simplicity. Blends perfectly with yellow, blue, black, red and green. As a background for a selling text, it is almost ideal, since it carries a completely neutral message, inviting the reader to make their own personal choice, and therefore does not put pressure on a subconscious level. Used in selling services everywhere.

Examples of color combinations in advertising

As you understand, the possibilities for designing selling texts are completely limitless. You can experiment endlessly, constantly achieving new results. In order for you to immediately have some initial capital, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with those color combinations in advertising that have already proven themselves to be excellent. Try, add, fantasize!

Red on white;

Yellow on black;

Green on yellow.

White on blue;

Black on yellow;

White on black;

Blue on yellow;

Blue color on white.

Good luck to you, friends!

Have you ever thought about the fact that each color means something and causes certain reactions in people? You may not even notice it, but when you see yellow, red, blue, or any other color, different areas in the brain are activated that make you react in a certain way to what you see.

Very often the “right” colors are used in advertising to achieve the desired effect. If you want to attract the attention of a potential buyer, then use bright red; if you want to relax, then use blue or green. There is even a whole science - color psychology, which determines the influence of certain colors and their shades on a person’s perception of reality.

In this article we will talk about how to use colors in advertising, and how to make it as effective as possible using puns, sounds and various color schemes.

The right color in advertising can increase your sales significantly

Red color in advertising motivates the buyer to take decisive action. We are sure that you have noticed that red colors are used during the season of discounts and sales, as well as in order to convey some urgent and very important information to the buyer. As psychologists note, the color red evokes a strong desire to perform some action. This color attracts attention better than all others and fixes it on the desired object.

Color psychology claims that the semantics of red seems to say: “Don’t pass by, pay attention. Act for the sake of acting: thoughtlessly, quickly, decisively, boldly.”

The color red also has certain sexual vibes, and is often used in advertising with an erotic nature. It is also worth using the color red in advertising whose target audience is men. For them it has always been significant. Apparently, the male brain especially clearly perceives and concentrates on this spectrum of colors.

But don’t overestimate the capabilities of red: it will be effective if used in moderation. Highlight a small inscription or part of an ad, and this will be enough to attract attention. At the same time, if there is a lot of red, it can cause some kind of disgust, irritation, or even aggression.

Orange color in advertising helps the buyer get a surge of vitality, sets him up for optimism and joy. Our ancestors believed that the color orange gives health and develops creativity. Experts note that this color is best used in advertising medicines, products for children, as well as various services related to the healthcare sector.

Color psychology notes that orange gives vigor and activity, but at the same time leaves a person in a calm state. This is its characteristic distinguishing feature from the red color, which also gives strength, but at the same time excites and excites.

Yellow color in advertising encourages communication and sociability. Psychologists note that yellow is very sociable and open, therefore, it is best used in advertising products of a similar type. It also brings calm and balance to violent emotions, calms anxiety, and makes a person feel calm and comfortable. The color yellow is associated with warmth and joy, conveying the same emotions to those who look at it. An amazing fact: this color can “endow” many objects with intelligence. Therefore, advertising of modern gadgets is done in yellow colors, or all its possible shades.

This color goes well with red, creating an interesting fusion that attracts a person’s gaze for a long time. A good example is the Shell logo, and all of their advertising products are designed in these colors.

But do not forget that yellow is also used in a completely different interpretation. This is the color of risky and dangerous situations. It is on the cars of gas services and rescuers, on radiation signs and all kinds of warnings about threats. Tractors, bulldozers, and heavy work equipment are also marked in yellow. If your advertising is related to something like this, then feel free to use this particular color as a basis.

Green color in advertising relaxes and softens, relieves severity and calms a person. Green is associated with nature. He is very good at advertising various natural food products, medicines, skin care products. Green is often used in advertising of hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, health centers, etc.

What else green do we have besides nature? That's right, dollars. Therefore, this color can be used in advertising of various financial institutions, affiliate programs, methods of sales and earnings. In addition to being non-intrusive and relaxing, green also provokes the desire to try something new, to experience something that was previously unknown. It’s not for nothing that dark green colors are used by banking companies - Privat Bank (Ukraine), Sberbank (Russia), Rosselkhozbank (Russia), etc.

Goes great with blue and white. It is the palette of these colors that is used in advertisements for various products of natural origin.

Pink color in advertising associated with romance and relationships. It is the advertising of products in this direction that should be accompanied by pink flowers and its shades. Color psychology notes that pink enhances feelings, making us more tender and affectionate. The advertising spectrum where this color can be used is very wide: from beauty salons, advertising of perfumes and cosmetics, to marriage agencies and family centers.

Blue color in advertising also tunes in to feelings. Of course, it acts differently than pink, and is aimed more at platonic, spiritual relationships. This color is associated with sky and water, with purity, tranquility, smooth movement and development. A very good and neat color, the correct use of which can bring a lot of benefits.

Blue color is also associated with spiritual development. Therefore, it would be appropriate to use it in advertising various centers of spiritual development, yoga courses, some esoteric lectures and meetings.

Blue color– the best option in advertising. First of all, he is not irritable. It's the color of water and you can stare at it for hours. The most visited sites on the Internet (the same social networks) use blue as their base color. It attracts attention like red, but unlike the second one it will never cause irritation and anger. Very loyal color. It's even hard to outline specific areas where you can use blue colors. They are ideal for advertising products that should be associated with reliability and authority. Many companies use blue in their logos and corporate colors. Blue color and its shades are best used by companies involved in air transportation, airports, manufacturers of air conditioners and fans, breath fresheners, mineral water, seaports and travel companies.

Blue goes well with white, and this is perhaps a win-win option. If you want to combine blue and some other color in your advertising, then you need to be very careful so as not to create a repulsive effect. A good option for combining blue and red is the US flag. But this, it seems to us, is an exception to the rule rather than a pattern. Blue is good in itself, and its skillful use will bring many benefits.

Purple color in advertising It is not used often, but it should be given due attention. Color psychology tells us that purple brings inner harmony and concentration. It helps you go deeper into yourself, abstracting from everything unnecessary and disturbing for you at the moment. Another important detail is that violet stimulates those areas of the brain that are responsible for creativity and development. And it is absolutely no coincidence that creative people choose purple as their basis. Experienced marketers advise using this color in advertising products where novelty and creativity need to be emphasized, or in cases where advertising is aimed at creative people. A few purple elements are enough, and your message will be perceived in the right way.

Black color in advertising you don’t see it very often, and there is a completely logical explanation for this. All people with a normal psyche associate black with something dark, gloomy, and sad. It makes you plunge into yourself and experience not entirely joyful feelings. Therefore, try not to make your advertising dark, do not overload it with black colors. Of course, there are world-famous brands that use this color in their logos and commercials, but this is most likely the exception to the rule. And if a brand is known throughout the world, then it can afford non-standard solutions.

White is the exact opposite of black. It carries openness, light, purity. But don't forget that this is a completely neutral color. Although it will never cause irritation or negative emotions, it will be very difficult to convey the desired message with the help of white. As a rule, inscriptions and drawings are depicted on a white background, which are aimed at general familiarization, without further active actions. Using white color in advertising, you will not be able to focus attention on something specific or set the right priorities. Although in combination with red, white gives an excellent effect and incredible results. Many inscriptions about discounts, promotions and sales are made on a white background in red letters, or vice versa.

That's probably all we wanted to tell you. Now you know more about the psychology of color, and you can correctly use the right shades in your advertising. Always experiment, combine colors, look for optimal solutions, and watch people's reactions. Good luck!

When it's red, when it's green, and when it's blue.

Remember when you selected colors for yours - what were you guided by? If the old grandfather's rule is that you need a color that attracts attention, that's only half the battle.

In this article, we will tell you about the general practice of meaning of different colors that are used in advertising.

Red color in advertising

Because its brightness and saturation attracts attention and immediately catches the eye. Just don’t need to “sculpt” it everywhere, first understand the properties of the impact of this color and think about how appropriate it will be in your advertising messages.

This is the color of love and passion. Very bold and daring - if you use it, you need to be confident.

Remember what in everyday life do you associate the color red with?

1. Pomade
2. Prohibition signs
3. Blood
4. Ad Title Color

And think about whether your product and the specifics of the company’s activities can evoke the necessary associations with the color red. For example, I was amazed when I saw an advertisement for a dental clinic in red colors... Association with blood... Not the most pleasant association for such a field of activity.

Blue color in advertising

I confess - this is my favorite color. I don’t even know why, I like it - that’s all.

This is a strict color with a very important philosophy, which is associated with the following business qualities:

• decency
• responsibility
• reliability
• influence
• seriousness

This is a calm color that is not “insolent”, it simply says - you have decency and responsibility in front of you, we don’t need to shout about it, it can be felt from a distance.

Why do you think dark blue predominates in business suits? You already know the answer.

They say blue is the favorite color in the United States. Although I am not an American, I share this love.

Green color in advertising

The color green evokes two associations - life and money.

Remember how I talked about the dental clinic and the color red? So, in this case, green would look more appropriate in such advertising. Red is pain, green is life.

Given the widespread love for the environment, the importance of green in advertising has increased significantly in recent years.

If you are selling success and wealth, take a closer look at this color. It’s not for nothing that “dollars” are popularly called “green” or “greens”.

Yellow color in advertising

The main character of yellow color is the sun. Associations - warmth, joy and happiness.

However, it is one of the colors that lures the eyes. Examples:

• advertisements on poles
• stickers on websites and print advertising like “Best Sellers”
• price tags on goods

It is often found on various packages. Yellow is not as aggressive and provocative as red, but it nevertheless attracts the eye no worse than its more passionate counterpart.

Agree that a yellow background is not as irritating to the eye as a red one.

The color yellow has a very close friend - the golden shade. It has a different meaning - it is wealth, high cost, and also sophistication.

Receiving a “gold card” is considered prestigious - thanks to gold for the association.

Orange color in advertising

This is also a shade that is designed to attract attention.

It is the color of benefit, fertility, prosperity and productivity.

It is also the color of fun and joy, it is not for nothing that the group “Chaif” even has such a song as “Orange Mood”.

Orange is often used as a color for new products.

An ideal option for the entertainment sector, it is not suitable for a strict business and product, because with all its brightness it does not create the impression of high cost, maturity and seriousness.

Pink color in advertising

The color of tenderness and innocence, as well as mystery.

Its target audience is young people, mainly girls.

It may be a calm color, but it always has a sense of intimacy. One of the popular colors of women's clothing, including underwear.

The color pink is also loved by children, so many sweet packages and wrappers often contain the color pink. Do you remember children's chewing gum? We often notice pink colors there too.

Black and white classic

But there is no need to associate them with good and evil. If white is the color of purity and beginning, then black is the color for the TOP segment, which speaks of status, high cost and even a certain formality.

Remember, premium and luxury cars - what are their most popular colors? That's right - black and white.

I hope this information was useful to you. Choose the right colors.

First, let's do a little experiment. Here is a set of colors: blue, green, orange, yellow, red. Close your eyes and imagine something associated with these colors. Now we will try to guess your associations. So, in order: sky, foliage, orange, sun, blood. If none of the points match, then you are either an incredibly creative genius with rich life experience, or colorblind, and this text is unlikely to be useful to you. If we hit the mark in at least one case, then we invite you, together with TAM.BY, to dive into the study of color perception and see examples of how marketers famously use one of the most powerful tools of influence.

Surely you have heard at least once in your life about such a concept as “color psychology”. This branch of psychology studies how we perceive color depending on cultural, social, physiological, emotional and a number of other factors. In addition, each person has personal experience related to his profession, hobbies and situations that happened to him in life. Therefore, it is impossible to say exactly how someone will react to a certain color: no matter how much you say that yellow causes joy, you will ignore this color if you do not like it or evoke the opposite emotion. However, in a world where 85% of buyers cite color as the primary reason for choosing a product, marketers and designers cannot accept this “impossibility.” We will try to uncover their conspiracy and tell you how to stop reacting to colors the way they expect us to.

Why do we choose certain colors?

There are many theories about why we prefer one color or another. For example, evolutionary theory suggests that women like red because, from the time of gathering, they should have been able to see ripe berries and fruits in green foliage. Men, on the contrary, were engaged in hunting and fishing; accordingly, they are closer to blue, the color of water, or the colors of the animals they tracked: brown, gray, black.

Proponents of the linguistic approach are confident that even the name of a color evokes certain feelings, because unconsciously we react to advertising and the indoctrination of “color stereotypes” into us. For example, broadcasting red objects as indicators of determination, seductiveness and success. Having encountered the words “Ferrari” or “lipstick” in the text, in our imagination we automatically color them scarlet, because we have seen these objects in this color a thousand times.

At the same time, red indicates something that you need to pay attention to because it is different: it costs less, looks brighter, tastes sweeter. Thus, many companies encourage their customers to make purchases using labels with the inscription “Red Price”. There is also research showing that shoppers prefer more sophisticated color names to conventional ones. You’ll be more likely to choose “mint” over plain blue or “Marsala” over boring burgundy.

Another thing that influences choice is our gender. According to Joe Hallock's famous 2003 study, while most men and women share similar preferences for blue and green and dislike brown and orange, they were split on purple: only 8% of women said it was their least favorite color, compared with 22% of men. % are not his fans.

There are sciences, for example, color science, which analyze the processes of color perception based on physical, physiological and psychological reactions. It is thanks to the work of scientists in this field that we know how colors affect mood or state - the same red makes breathing quicken and the heart beat faster.

Realizing the enormous impact that choosing the right color can have on attracting new customers, advertising departments around the world are poring over studies and books by color scientists. Let's look at examples of how they try to manipulate us with the help of color.

Red

The most popular and most meaningful color in advertising. No other color evokes such a range of emotions and associations as red. According to surveys, for many people this color is associated with danger, anxiety, rage and fear. It seems that these are not very good emotions to associate your brand or product with. But the fact is that these feelings are abstract, that is, they evoke an idea on a subconscious level. But many brands use other aspects to create a story around color.

For example, Coca-Cola made red the color of Christmas, pleasure and pleasant anticipation. Other companies take advantage of this because it is more profitable for them to adapt to the idea that you have already formed than to create a new one. Clothing manufacturers often use red in winter collections because it is easier to sell during this period. Who needs a yellow or purple reindeer sweater?

It has been proven that red causes an unconscious feeling of hunger, which is why all famous fast food chains have red in their names. Another consistent use of red is to attract attention. Therefore, all kinds of “promotions”, “discounts” and “sales” are written either in red or on a red background. It arouses interest and encourages action, so if you see an abundance of this color in a store, rest assured: they are at least trying to sell you something. Seduced by the illusion of activity and determination, in reality you are simply following the lead of a bright bait.

Yellow

Perhaps the second most popular color. Besides the fact that it is as bright as red and is just as actively used to attract attention (when you are in a store, look at the color of the discounted price tags), yellow has its own line of associations. You can probably name them yourself, so let’s check the lists: joy, warmth, energy, sun, childhood, positive. It’s not for nothing that the smiling emoticon is neither blue nor pink.

The color of lightning and taxis all over the world, yellow is associated with something fast and swift. Now look how yellow in combination with other colors affects the perception of speed:

Because of its brightness and sunshine, children love yellow - and manufacturers of children's products take advantage of this, convincing parents that yellow jars are a wonderful choice. At the same time, the compositions are often unsafe for children, so we urge moms and dads to pay attention not only to the appearance, but also to the contents.

This color is also associated with home and everyday life. Packaging of detergents, rubber gloves and dish sponges are traditionally made yellow, so whether on purpose or not, manufacturers strengthen the connection between yellow and household chores in our minds, so when choosing between yellow and purple window cleaner, we may unconsciously choose the first - simply because that we are already used to.

Green

The color of life, nature, movement and harmony. It is strongly associated with health benefits and making the right choice, which is why it has become one of the most beloved by some unscrupulous manufacturers. Even the concept of “green camouflage” or “greenwashing” (from the English green - green) appeared. This is a marketing technique that creates a “green” image around a product or service when in fact there is no reason to do so.

There are quite harmless examples of greenwashing - for example, an image of a green leaf and the inscription “100% natural” are placed on the packaging of buckwheat. Yes, this may be done to make you prefer this particular packaging, but it won’t do you any harm overall - after all, it’s just buckwheat. However, there are also truly dangerous examples when marketers, trying to promote a product by speculating on the topic of benefits and environmental friendliness, can sell products that are harmful to health, such as household chemicals, under the guise of uncertified “eco”, “bio” and “organic” labels. To avoid falling for this scam, learn to understand the ingredients in products and read them carefully.

Remember another image that arises when you mention the color green? That's right, American dollars, which combined the idea of ​​“green” and wealth. Therefore, many banks design their corporate identity in green.

Blue

Is there a single person who has not heard the statement that blue brings peace? We doubt it. However, this is too categorical if used without context: in one case, blue will indeed be the color of calm and confidence (it’s not for nothing that many airlines choose it for their logos), but in another it can be associated with fear - for example, if we are afraid depths and think about the ocean. Blue is also the only color that is unnatural in food, so it can cause discomfort and even nausea if found in food.

Research notes that blue and its shades are the favorite of the majority of the population, and thanks to several popular social networks, blue has also become the color of communication. Indeed, this color is rarely used for “imposition”; it is rather associated with something neutral, calm, with water and intelligence. However, these representations can also be used for manipulation: for example, if an unknown company wants to earn your trust, it will most likely resort to blue for its logo.

Due to the stereotypes that surround us since childhood, blue is considered the color of boys, and blue is the color of men, and marketers cleverly use this if they want to sell “male” products - for example, shampoos or shower gels, although in composition they have nothing different from the rest.

Today we looked at the so-called primary colors that are most often used in advertising. We’ll continue the conversation next week, but in the meantime, send your examples of using “color stereotypes” and become more aware of