Color Theory: How Your Color Choices Can Influence Your Sales

Whether consciously or subconsciously, color plays an important role in company branding. Some studies have shown that an initial reaction to a product or a brand is made within the first 90 seconds of viewing, and between 62%-90% of that decision is based on color alone. With that being said, the choice of color in your logo design or company branding standards can greatly impact how your company is perceived and what values your company projects to the public.



Below is a brief list of characteristics associated with various colors:

Red – Pros: Energetic, Eye-catching, Passionate. Cons: Aggressive, dangerous.

Orange – Pros: Cheerful, Fun, Exuberant. Cons: Can be perceived as childish.

Yellow – Pros: Optimism, Light, Adventure, Warmth. Cons: Doesn’t hold attention for long.

Green – Pros: Freshness, Wealth, Serenity. Cons: Meanings vary greatly with shades.

Blue – Pros: Trustworthy, Dependable, Stable. Cons: Can be considered cold or institutional.

Purple – Pros: Sophistication, Elegance. Cons: Childish connotations can be associated with certain shades.

Black – Pros: Serious, Classic, Expensive. Cons: Can be considered boring and is not eye-catching.

White – Pros: Simplicity, Purity, Cleanliness. Cons: Culturally-based meanings vary greatly. Can also be considered boring.

Brown – Pros: Durability, Stability, Dependability. Cons: May be perceived as dirty.

While it is tempting to use a simplified list of perceived color values, like that above, to design your companies branding, it is important to remember that an individual’s reaction to a particular color is an extremely personal response. Cultural traditions, life experiences, and personal preferences play an important role in how people react to color stimuli, which makes assigning specific characteristics to colors difficult.

Studies such as The Interactive Effects of Color show that the perceived appropriateness, or how relevant the color scheme is to a particular product line or company brand, is more important than the color palette itself.

For example, it seems appropriate for a company like Keen Footwear, which specializes in rugged, outdoor apparel and shoes, to use the colors black and yellow in their branding. Not only do those colors denote adventure, they also lend themselves to a perceived durability and reliability.


As a point of comparison, a footwear company like LifeStride, whose main demographic consists of affluent, professional women, chose to use a blue and brown palette which is appropriate to convey a sense dependability and sophistication.

 


 

In both cases, the colors chosen seem to make sense in regards to the branding identity of each company, which makes them prime examples of how color theory can work in your favor.

The choices that you make when developing your company’s image are extremely important to how your company is perceived by your clients. Simple changes in the typestyle or color of your logo can completely change what values your company is projecting and for customers who may not be familiar with your product line or services, those perceived values may be the difference in making a sale.

 

Additional Resources:

http://www.webpagefx.com/blog/web-design/psychology-of-color-infographic/

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175428

https://www.helpscout.net/blog/psychology-of-color

 

 

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