The Neuroscience and Psychology of Colors on Consumer Buying Behavior

Colors and feelings are intertwined for humans. There is a deep inherent connection between colors and the onset of different feelings that are embedded in our DNA. For example, the color red evokes feelings of excitement and rush. It elevates our heart rate and tends to increase the flow of blood in our body.

On the other hand, the color blue has the complete opposite effect, it tends to evoke feelings of calmness and soothes our heart rate. Colors are responsible for stimulating our brain, different colors stimulate our brain differently eliciting an emotional and psychological response.

This phenomenon affects our behavior in everything that we do, and shopping is no different. Visual cues hold great importance in deciding the actions of any customer and there is no stronger visual cue than color. Let’s take a deeper dive into how colors affect the buying behavior of consumers. Keep on reading to learn more.

Marketing

When you are selling a product, you are going to market your product in order to attract new consumers and increase the overall exposure to your brand. When consumers see a piece of marketing for your product, it is above all else a combination of visual cues and color.

Their brain evaluates that piece of marketing and the product in terms of appearance and colors. Here is a breakdown of how our brain processes everything…

If it is a physical thing then the opinion that we are going to form about the product on the first impression is going to depend nearly 6% of touch, about 1% on smell and sound, more than 93% is going to depend on the visual appearance. This is how important color is when it comes to consumer buying behavior.

According to research, more than 85% of consumers identify color as being a major factor when they are buying a product.

The Effects of Different Colors

Different colors create a different stimulation in our brain. Each color has a different emotion linked to it. There are 2 reasons for this response to color by our brain:

One is the inherent ability of our brain and second is the subconscious learning capability of our brain.

Throughout our lives, our brain creates a catalog of events that take place around us. It creates patterns and takes essential information to make connections between different things, color is no different.

 

Here is the most common response of our brain to some common colors:

  • Red – This is a color that is very popular, and it creates a sense of urgency in our brain. It can trigger excitement, a sense of danger mostly feelings that elevate our heart rate. You will see this color often used in clearance sales.
  • Yellow – This color is associated with optimism and youthfulness. It is a color that is often found in display windows to attract the attention of passersby and create a good impression about the brand in their mind.
  • Blue – This color is associated with security and trust in our minds. We tend to feel comfortable when we see the color blue. You will see this color used often by banks and corporate businesses.
  • Green – This a color that our eyes process quicker than any other color. Its association is with wealth for our brain.
  • Orange – This is a rather aggressive color. It is a color that creates a sense of urgency in our minds in the sense that we should do something. Buy something or sell something.
  • Pink – This is a color that our brain associates with femininity. It is used in products that are aimed at young women or teenage girls.
  • Black – This is a color that is associated with mystique in our brain. It is most commonly the go-to color for luxury products along with gold.

 

Now that we know what kind of response different colors produce in our brains, let’s take a look at how different colors can attract different types of consumers.

  • If you are looking to attract impulse shoppers then you would want to use orange, red, royal blue, and black. You can focus on any one of these colors or you can use them as a combination.
  • If you want to attract the people who are responsible shoppers and tend to focus heavily on their budget, then using teal and navy blue would be a great choice.
  • If your products are aimed at more conventional buyers then for men you would want to use blue and for women, you would want to use rose and pink.

 

So, there you have it. We often don’t notice the impact of colors on the buying behavior of customers. It is simply because this is a background process that our subconscious brain carries out without needing our active input. Choose your colors wisely!