Colour psychology matters not only for recognising personality, setting a mood or evoking feelings. Psychology itself can be a powerful tool, and those who work in marketing know this well. Because colours can, among other things, affect our state of mind, colour psychology is an important part of visual work.
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Colour psychology and marketing
Colour can be viewed in different ways. In physics, we talk about the visible part of electromagnetic radiation; in psychology, about visual perception. For some it means painting or a coat of paint, for others expression or meaning. Colours are all around us and are part of our everyday lives. So it was only a matter of time before people who need to influence us realised what a brilliant tool they have in their hands.
Colour psychology is a subject that many notable people have studied (for example, Carl Jung). This is because colours can fundamentally influence a great deal. They act on our subconscious without us realising it. As a result, in the hands of a skilled marketer they can become an effective tool for their marketing activities. They can act on exactly the part of our subconscious they need to reach.
Each colour has its own characteristics and triggers different feelings, cravings, thoughts, emotions and so on. There are actually two ways colours affect us. One is subjective and the other is objective. This means colours can affect us individually, in other words differently for each person, or more or less the same way for everyone. This objective effect (the same for everyone) can be put to excellent use in advertising.
Brand and logo colour
Companies typically choose a colour to present themselves in, which is used for their logo, promotional items, sometimes also billboards and so on. The colour a company chooses is not random. This choice is a deliberate attempt to create a certain subconscious link in our minds with the company or product. When you see red with yellow arches, you see…? Yes, a popular fast food chain (at least most people do). And what do you get with it? If your answer is “a craving for chips”, you are right.
And this is exactly how companies work with colour. They choose each colour for each product and each package very deliberately, with a precise goal. Colours are chosen according to the sector a company works in. For example, travel agencies often use blue (perhaps the clear sky of a summer holiday?), restaurants and food businesses choose red, which stimulates appetite, and cosmetics have recently often been green, so that we associate them with nature (no chemicals), and so on.
We could go on like this for a long time. Companies know well which colours to use and for what purpose. They need to evoke exactly the feelings in us that lead to the desired action. That means buying a product, using a service or even forming a positive impression of the brand. So it is not only about prompting a physical action, but also about how we think of the company as “suitable”. Whether we have “pigeonholed” it, for example, as the eco-friendly one or the bad one we would never buy anything from.
Colours and shapes also trigger different emotions when shopping online and on websites. Online shops test what colours their buttons and layout should be so that customers buy more. The target audience matters too. Introverts will have different colour preferences from emotional extroverts.
Colour psychology, what colours mean
Every colour means something and affects us in some way. In advertising, each has its set place and they are usually used in combination with another colour. In general:
White
White is the colour of purity, innocence, but also luxury. It creates a sense of emptiness and a need to expand space. It is used for luxury products, dairy products and household electronics.
Yellow
The colour of the sun, it symbolises dynamism and movement. It makes us feel relaxed and happy and helps us develop ourselves. In colour psychology, it serves to attract attention, as a warning colour, and it also stimulates hunger (hence the yellow arches of the fast food chain mentioned above). It is also used for toys, as it is a playful colour.
Blue
It is one of the most popular colours. We often see it at banks, governments (colours are also used in elections) and in medicine. It has a calming effect and comes across as safe and successful. It depends on the shade of blue. Lighter shades are more refreshing and relaxing, while darker ones are solid, even conservative. As mentioned above, it is often used by travel agencies, as well as universities and schools.
Dark blue, or royal blue, is seen as luxurious or premium. Luxury and expensive products often use this colour. Investment companies that advise people on what to invest in and how with large sums of money also tend to use dark blue. Blue is the colour of trust, which people need in order to start investing and hand over their money.
Green
The colour of nature and ecology. It is used by the tourism sector (travel in nature) and the cosmetics industry (ecology). It is the colour of so-called green marketing (environmental or green marketing: promoting products with environmental qualities).
Gold
The colour of money. Naturally, it is associated with luxury. But it is also the colour of insight and knowledge. Everything golden is valuable. It symbolises life and divine light.
Red
A passionate, lively, energetic, intense and strong colour. It is often associated with aggression (blood) and danger. This colour raises blood pressure and stimulates appetite. It is often used to promote energy drinks and in the food industry.
Grey
A neutral, dull, even lifeless colour. It is chosen by people who keep to themselves and do not want to reveal anything about themselves. In product promotion, it is not usually used to prompt a specific action.
Black
The colour of defiance and protest, also known as the colour red. In our culture, it is also the colour of mourning and death. However, because of its coffee-like qualities, it is often used in connection with caffeinated drinks.
Brown
This colour is associated with physical pleasures. It is the colour of comfort, home and tradition. In marketing, it can be used for wooden products or chocolate.
Purple
Also known as violet, it is created by combining red and blue. It is a combination of opposites, a cold and a warm colour. In marketing, it symbolises success, femininity and gentleness (for example, Milka, which wants to convince us how smooth its chocolate is).
Colour psychology, tests
Well-known colour tests include the Lüscher Colour Test (LBT). Swiss professor Max Lüscher carried out psychosomatic diagnostics based on a colour test. It uses a set of 8 colours, which you rank in order of preference, in other words how much you like each colour right now. You rank the colours according to your current mood, which then gives a deeper insight into the state you are in.
This is a test you can take online as part of colour psychology. Deeper and more personal tests can be done directly with a psychologist who specialises in them. They will assess the test for you individually and you will receive a conclusion tailored to your personality.
Another well-known test is the Rorschach colour test. Surely everyone has seen, at least in a film, the 10 cards with various coloured “blots”. On one side sits a doctor asking the patient what they see, and opposite them the patient, who answers in desperation: “Er, a small blot and a big blot?”. The test claims that rational people tend to notice the shape of the blots, while emotional people notice their colours.
You can try the Colour Pyramid Test, also known as the Pfister Colour Test. The person being tested builds 6 pyramids using 14 shades. 3 should be made from colours they like and 3 from colours they dislike. The arrangement of colours is meant to reveal something about personality, especially emotional responsiveness.
The colours you like and dislike reveal various general patterns about you. For example, a phlegmatic person is a green type, a melancholic a blue one. A choleric person likes yellow and a sanguine person likes red. We can also distinguish between warm and cool shades. There are many ways to influence a potential customer when we can know so much about them. Nothing is easier, then, than choosing a logo colour depending on whether the consumer should feel hungry or feel like going out to buy a cream.
