How Can Colors Affect Your Brand & Business?

Maya Payne      09 May, 2022      Category: Content Marketing      4 min read

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Before we get into what color works best for your brand, take a moment to consider understanding the effects colors have on emotions and the role of color psychology.

The Psychology of Color

This article will focus on the effects of color psychology on the day-to-day decision-making in correlation to making a purchase; and why choosing the right color is so essential in helping to ensure your branding is giving your desired effect.

The idea of colors invoking emotional responses has been well documented over the years. The fact is consumers are visual creatures. Not to put too fine a point on it, but 85% of consumers say color alone is their primary reason for purchasing a product. 90% say their impulse buys are based on color alone. Let\'s juxtapose for a second if consumers say colors alone were their main reason for purchasing a product, then color itself triggered an emotional impulse to commit the act of spending physical money to make a purchase. With that said, How important do you think choosing the right colors is for your brand and business?

The Color Red

The color red gives feelings of excitement, action, urgency, desire, passion, energy, and others.

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Red can trigger an action response. So, if your goal is to cause one to buy impulsivey, slap on a red \"everything must go\" clearance sale and watch what happens.

Red is energetic, but this hue stimulates many of the body\'s senses, increasing blood flow and appetite. Not yet convinced? Why do you suppose the color red dominates fast-food restaurant branding? Not to mention those that decide to add the color yellow also. Hello Money Pot! You will better understand why red and yellow work so well with the buy now emotional response when we discuss yellow.

The Color Blue

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The color blue gives feelings such as trust, honesty, authority, serenity, intelligence, peace, tranquility, water, and reliability.

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Blue is the go-to for tech and finance companies like At&t, Chase, and United because it strengthens trust and reliability. The color blue exudes you can relax you can depend on us we have you covered from here.

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The Color Purple

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Purple gives feelings of creativity, spirituality, individuality, quality, fantasy, royalty, wisdom, and respect. It\'s a standout color. This color typically works in combination with shades of yellow or green. However, these colors combined could be a bit unsettling if one would create their entire site based on these colors.

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Let\'s take a look at Hallmark\'s logo. Their logo is purple, and it has a crown representing royalty, but not only that, there is a ton of wisdom and creativity found in a hallmark card; to say the least, Hallmark embodies their brand color well.

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Syfy continuously publishes content full of fantasy and creativity.

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The Color Green

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The color green promotes feelings of hope, growth, refreshing, balance, reassurance, renewal, natural, organic, environmentally friendly, tranquility, health, and power. It is used in stores to relax customers and promote environmental issues. It stimulates harmony in your brain and encourages a balance leading to decisiveness.

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Green works great for companies like Whole Foods. Whole foods consider itself America\'s Healthiest Grocery store even its motto, \"Whole Food, Whole People, Whole Planet,\" coincides with the color.

The Color Yellow

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The color yellow gives feelings of happiness, enthusiasm, friendliness, confidence, and optimism, also related to summertime. Many companies combine yellow and red, consider companies like Lay\'s, McDonald\'s, and Denny\'s. Each gives you a feeling of happiness, excitement, optimism, and desire to act now and confidently satisfy your appetite.

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What is your first thought of clearance sales? The combination of red and yellow, \"items are marked heavily discounted, and your last chance to get these items before they are gone forever you should act now.\"

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The Color Orange

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The color orange gives feelings of optimism, uplifting, rejuvenating, friendliness, fun, cheerfulness, adventure, success, impulse, and balance. There is a certain degree of overlap in emotions between orange and yellow. Orange and yellow would be great if your wanted something to stand out, such as a CTA. Companies that utilize this color and can invoke emotional responses are companies like Nickelodeon, Bitly, and Mastercard.

The Color Black

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Black symbolizes mystery, power, elegance, sophistication, durability, rebellious, upscale fashion, strength, inspiring confidence, exclusivity, and boldness. Unlike other colors you may be considering for your branding, there are no shades or tints of black. Black is always 100% solid, making it feel strong, bold, and firm. \r\n

Black is original. Black is perceived as top of the line. Brands that utilize black as their logo color are Prada, Gucci, Bentley, jaguar, Versace, Puma, Timex, Adidas, Vans, Nike, and Coach, to name a few. Even companies that go for color in their logos consider the color black as top of the line. Some companies don\'t use black as part of their logo but still perceive black as an exclusive color. One example of this is some major credit card companies recognize black credit cards as the crème de la crème of the credit card industry. These credit cards have high entry requirements, high fees, and a well-earned reputation for exclusivity.

Companies use the color black throughout their website. Many retailers use black as a nice contrasting color for fonts and CTAs when the primary color is white.

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When it is all said and done, determining the right color for your logo and brand will impact your business, one way or another. Understanding what works best for your business is essential to the success of your business. Contact MSM Managing Solutions to discuss your branding and color options today.