How Does the Psychology of Color Affects Marketing Success?

As humans we were all blessed with color vision. The way we live in 2015 has become ever more visual, so visual, in fact, research shows that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.

This explains why companies test the colors of advertisements, banner ads, and call-to-action (CTA) buttons. A recent study by HubSpot found that a red CTA button outperformed a green CTA button by no less than 21%! Thus meaning, a 21% increase in conversion rate without changing anything about the page but the color of one CTA button.

1) Food for thought

An additional study committed by Kiss metrics, found these next interesting factors & statistics for new product marketing success and adoption by the market place:

• 93% visual appearance & color above


• 6% Texture


• 3% Sound & smell

85% of shoppers place color as a primary reason for why they buy a particular product over another. In addition color was found to increase brand recognition by 80% that ultimately leads to consumer confidence.

2) Different Color Groups

A) Warm colors Group (Red, Pink, Yellow, Orange & Gold)

Colors within this group tend to have an exciting effect. However, when used separately they can over-stimulate emotions of anger and violence in one’s mind. Warm colors tend to encourage people to feel comfortable enough to relax when used in perfect balance & harmony.

If you goal is to encourage your clients to spend extra time in your store, restaurant or website, you’ll want to choose colors that have comforting layers of reds, oranges and yellows in them.

B) Cool Colors Group (Blue, Green, Purple, Turquoise, Silver)

These colors tend to have a calming effect on the viewer. However, when used separately these colors can have a cool or impersonal feel.

When choosing a color from the cool color group its worth considering adding warm colors to the campaign in order to avoid an impersonal feel for the brand, product, or service.

C) Neutral Color Group (Brown, Beige, Gray, Black, White)

Neutral colors are a great when mixed with colors from the cool or warm color groups. They are especially great for backgrounds in different designs. These colors tend to tone down the use of other bold colors. The color black as an example, can be added to crate a darker “shade” while white is added to create a lighter “tint”.

2 Questions you need to ask yourself before choosing the right color combination:

• Which customer segment is the campaign intended for?


• What is the customer experience you’d like to create sophisticated? Healthy? Affordable?

Lastly, by contrasting a light color font or graphic on a dark background or a dark font or graphic on a light background, viewers will be more drawn to your signage or banner ad. Fonts should be legible and uncomplicated and the background or graphic should never overpower or distract from the actual message of the sign.

How Does the Psychology of Color Affects Marketing Success?