Colour Psychology: The Psychological Effects Of Colour On Marketing & Branding

Starting off with the basics, what exactly is colour psychology?

Colour Psychology refers to the study of how colours affect perceptions and behaviours. In marketing and branding, it is often used to evoke emotions in users/customers.

You can persuade your customers to buy products from your company if your brand is appealing at first sight and it evokes the need for purchasing the product in customers.

Talking about multi-millionaire giants, when you see a Domino’s Pizza sign with blue and red colour, your brain is supposed to subliminally say, “Hey, eat here because you’re hungry and you need some energy (red), trust us, we will provide you best (blue).”

Isn’t it magical? How brands are playing with our subconscious mind to generate sales!

Talking about, the leader in technology industry, Apple Inc. uses white colour to create a brand image with a sense of transparency and cleanliness and also, by seeing grey colour brain subliminally say “This is classy! I will purchase it as it will make me stand out”.

The colours you choose to associate with your brand create a brand image and customers see your products with a stereotype. If you are in the corporate game, you can play with colours wisely to evoke need in customers and thus increasing sales of your brand.

Although it will be wrong to say that the complete perception of a brand is based on colours, there are various other factors on which it relies on, but yes, colours do play a vital part in brand positioning. In a study titled “Impact of colour on marketing,” researchers found that up to 90% of snap judgments made about products can be based on colour alone.

Fascinated yet? If not, let’s dive in deeper.

Now we will be talking about specific colours and how they create impact in the subconscious mind.

RED

Red is a bright, warm colour that evokes strong emotions such as love, warmth, comfort and it is also considered an intense and deep colour which creates a feeling of excitement or intensity.

Brands using red colour in their identity are:

Kellogs (need of energy~hunger)

Nintendo (excitement~gaming)

Coca-Cola (power~energy~passion~no wonder why it’s advertising primarily focuses on placing coca-cola as a “superior” drink)

Lays (need of energy~hunger)

Netflix (excitement~comfort)

YELLOW

Yellow is a bright colour that is often described as warm and cheery, it evokes emotions such as positivity, warmth and it is also considered as a colour which creates a feeling of optimism or energy. It is often used to indicate clarity of thoughts.

Brands using yellow colour in their identity are:

McDonald’s (joy~party~food)

Nikon (clarity~confidence~energy)

Subway (joy~party~food)

Ferrari (clarity~confidence~warmth~energy)

IKEA (warmth~confidence)

GREEN

Green is a cool colour that is often used to portray nature and the natural world, it evokes emotions such as health, tranquility, power, and hospitality and it is also considered as a colour that creates a feeling of relief, empowerment, and care.

Fun fact: Ever wondered why “Green Rooms” are called so? Green~Care~Hospitality.

Brands using green colour in their identity are:

Tropicana (health~care)

Spotify (feeling of relief~relaxing)

Monster (power)

Animal Planet (nature~care)

Starbucks (growth~freshness)

BLUE

Blue is a cool colour that is often used to portray a conservative, traditional world that is quiet and progressive.

It evokes emotions such as peace, reliability, serenity, and strength.

Fun fact: It is considered to be the most liked colour of many people(especially men) so make your brand blue and all men are yours(well, most of them)!

Brands using blue colour in their identity are:

Dell (reliability)

Oreo (strength~wisdom)

HP (imagination~wisdom)

Facebook (creativity~wisdom~reliability)

Oral-B (reliability)

BLACK

Black is a dark colour that is often used to symbolize mystery, boldness, unhappiness, luxury, and class.

It evokes emotions such as luxuriousness, seriousness, and confidence.

Brands using black colour in their identity are:

Nike (luxury~boldness~confidence)

Wikipedia (serious~boldness)

Sony (confidence~luxury)

Apple (luxury~class~confidence~proud)

Honda (luxury~confidence)

So summing up, colour psychology deals with colours impacting consumers’ impressions of a brand and whether or not they will persuade consumers to consider specific brands or generate sales.