Last week we celebrated HOLI, the festival of colors. Colors are very
important in life or else the life will be like a Black & White TV of 80s.
Colors impact all part of life and they have lot of psychological impact on
human’s brain. Our various decisions are impacted based the colors. At the mall,
we can spot nearly every shade of the rainbow on signs, labels, doors, shopping
bags—you name it and its there. They are not just put for the hack of it but
those colors have been strategically placed to influence our spending. Various
studies shows that people subconsciously associate specific colors with
specific social or cultural messages. Knowing this, retailers carefully select
the colors they use in an effort to get us to loosen our purse strings. Let’s
understand how different shades affect your purchasing habits.
Black
Black is
associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and
mystery. Black is a mysterious color associated with fear
and the unknown (black holes). It usually has a negative connotation
(blacklist, black humor, 'black death'). However Black is also the
signature color of sophistication or royalty (the black party-wear), it
dominates high-end makeup packaging and can even make inexpensive blushes and
lipsticks seem more upscale.
White
White is associated
with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity. It is considered to be
the color of perfection. White means safety, purity, and cleanliness. As
opposed to black, white usually has a positive connotation. In branding, white
suggests simplicity and purity. (Seventy-five percent of top skin-care brands
are packaged in white.) It also stands for modernity and honesty, which may be
why Apple swears by it.
Red
Red
is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger,
strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a
very emotionally intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases
respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. Although plenty of shops embrace
this color (and still find financial success), market experts warn that, just
like a stop sign, a red placard can make consumers hit the brakes. It serves as
an alarm, triggering a more careful consideration of our outlays.
Pink
Pink,
a delicate color that means sweet, nice, playful, cute, romantic, charming,
feminine, and tenderness, is associated with bubble gum, flowers, babies,
little girls, cotton candy, and sweetness. The color pink is the color of
universal love of oneself and of others. This is the favorite color of ladies
especially the young girls. It has
calming effects, according to research published in the Journal of
Orthomolecular Psychiatry. Scientists found that seeing pink slows people’s
endocrine systems and tranquilizes tense muscles. How that might influence your
wallet: Feeling relaxed may make it less painful to part with cash.
Orange
It is associated with joy, sunshine,
and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness,
creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.
To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of
heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. The color is associated
with equality and affordability, which is why you’ll find it at stores offering
good value, like Big bazaar etc.
Green
Green, the color of life,
renewal, nature, and energy, is associated with meanings of growth,
harmony, freshness, safety, fertility, and environment. Green is also
traditionally associated with money, finances, banking, ambition, greed,
jealousy, and wall-street. This is the color of people who have eco-friendly
and environment preservation in mind. Shoppers keep this color to impress
eco-minded clients. However please keep this in mind that: Just because an item
is green doesn’t mean that it’s environmentally friendly.
Blue
Almost everyone (especially men) likes
blue. Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth
and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence,
faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body.
It slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. No wonder it signifies
trust and dependability and is a favorite logo color for financial institutions
to assure its customers for safety. Blue also improves customer loyalty:
Patrons are more likely to return to stores with blue color schemes than to
those with orange color schemes, according to a 2003 study published in
the Journal of Business Research.
Burgundy
Burgundy is a deep shade of red. It is
named after Burgundy wine. This wine is named after the Burgundy region of
France. This color reminds us of all things rich and refined (just like red
wine), so don’t be surprised if a dress in this color costs more than a white
one in a similar style. Its prismatic cousin, brown, has similar connotations
of luxury.
Violet
Purple combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red.
The color purple is often associated with royalty, nobility, luxury, power, and
ambition. Purple also represents meanings of wealth, extravagance, creativity,
wisdom, dignity, grandeur, devotion, peace, pride, mystery, independence, and
magic. Purple reigns in the beauty industry, especially in the category of
anti-aging products. When people see it, they think of royalty. Consequently, a
purple box may help persuade us that the product has special properties and is
worth a princely sum.
Yellow
It's associated
with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Yellow produces a warming effect,
arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy.
Yellow is often associated with food. Bright, pure yellow is an attention
getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color. A mainstay at
fast-food restaurants, yellow evokes energy and increases appetite, perhaps
explaining why your stomach may start to growl when you pass those golden
arches.
