The Effect of Appropriate Colours on Branding
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Many studies talk about how colours affect human behaviour. The problem with most of them is that they cite too much anecdotal evidence for them to be accurate. Whenever a study uses anecdotal evidence, it runs the risk of including qualitative factors such as preference, upbringing, culture, and context. Anything that isn't quantifiable in a study only muddles the data, rendering the result inconclusive.
Accurate Colours A more accurate observation of colour psychology would be how colours would influence a person’s actions. These are observable reactions that researchers can compare with other subjects to form a reliable methodology that future tests can attempt to replicate. There have been several studies of that kind that have tried to establish the colour of certain brands with the effectiveness of their marketing strategy. The points of such studies aren’t concerned with what the subjects feel, but what they do. Does the branding of a product make people want to buy it, and does its colour have anything to do with it? According to their findings, there are several ways which colours can influence how people perceive a brand. One of the most important of these influences is the appropriateness of a colour to a brand, which many marketers understand but can’t explain.
What is ‘Appropriate’? When creating an identity for a brand, it’s important to be able to communicate what they’re trying to sell right away. The more appropriate the colour to the products and services of a company, the more effective its branding becomes. For example, no one’s going to take a beer company seriously if their logo is a glittery pink explosion; it just doesn’t fit the image of beer – most of the time. This is where the study loses people; there’s no rule that says a pink and glittery beer logo can’t work, it’s just that it’s up to the company to make it work. Appropriateness isn’t about how people perceive an industry, but how a company presents its personality. If a pink and glittery beer is a product that targets women in their twenties, and markets itself as a fun alternative to traditional brews, there’s no reason to think it wouldn’t work. Colour communicates a lot about what a product is, and using it effectively can mean the difference between success and failure. SOURCES: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11747010-0245-y http://www.globaldecorating.com.au/ http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN )1520-6378