Thursday, May 24, 2007

The Emotion of Color, Buying and Sales Psychology of Colors

Color is at the heart beat of website design. It influences buying decision in the marketplace. That's why you must must factor-in color theory in your sales and marketing promotions of your products, goods and services. If you must have successful advertising campaigns, color psychology must be the nerve center.

If you wish to understand the psychology of color, you must study the role of human brain in color theory and color application. Color appreciation is a right brain function. This is the intuitive part of us that makes unconscious decisions. The subconscious mind is linked to the emotional brain or the limbic system. The emotional brain is also linked to the reticular activating system (subconscious mind) which is the center of the law of attraction in the human brain. This is why color evokes emotion. Color can attract or repel people and their offers.

Sales and marketing boils down to the psychology of color. Color psychology in turn is hinged to color theory. Yes, people have their own color preferences. Men generally prefer subdued colors while women are attracted flashy and bright colors. This is important because more than 80% of buying decisions in the home are made by women.

This brings us to warm and cool colors. Why do we use visual concepts to express feelings? "Warm and cool" are tactile concepts and not visual phenomena. Colors go beyond sensation of sight to emotions of feeling. Warm colors like red, yellow and orange remind us of heat, fire, warning, caution, action and emergencies. Cool colors like blue and green remind us of nature, life, ocean, ice, the sky and heaven.

Research has shown that red headlines pull more orders than other colors. This is because human nature acts faster with caution. The emotion of fear seems to act faster than comfort or greed.

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