E-Commerce for All

I thought I would write a little color psychology post today. This may be terminology many of you are not familiar with, but it is in fact an increasingly strong marketing tool. I have had a small bit of training here, as it was relevant in my past life. =-) I have been known to make frequent references to colors and prime page real estate… These are in my estimation areas of huge behavior marketing advantage. So today we will investigate some color psychology and some quaint cultural differences to help you design your pages and stores to perform better.

What is color psychology? Very simply, certain colors invoke certain emotional and physical responses with shoppers due to culture and environment. For example, it is very effective to use bright green in your checkout buttons as it naturally says “Go” to the majority of the Western world.

In my former life I was a restaurant manager for many, many years. It’s no accident that food menus and brochures are generally styled in warm shades, while beverage menus cools shades and blues. They simply market better that way by creating the proper physical and emotional responses. Cooler shades make us think of those cool drinks and cooling ourselves off, while warmer shades lend to hot food and warm bellies. We will cover the emotional and physical responses for the normal American culture… This is a generalization of American’s common responses to different colors.

1. Grey - Can signify neutrality, humility, and respect, but be careful if your market includes older adults as this can bring thoughts and feelings of death, depression, and old age. I think personally that grey is best as a secondary or ancillary color and not a main color part in your design.
2. White - Is a clean color invoking feelings of pureness, spiritually and security. White is a very good non-color to use for an American audience. White has a deep association with mourning in some eastern parts of the world..
3. Black - Is your power color, it will send the message of elegance and prowess very loudly. Be very cautious not to overdo the “blackness” and appear to be sporting your arrogance. Black is also best used as a secondary color in your site design.
4. Blue - Blue is a very steadfast and dependable color to use, it brings about emotions like harmony, tranquility and has an overall calming effect on Americans. This is a great main color scheme base for your design. However, I found is that in Iran, blue is the color of mourning.
5. Red - Can actually make a person’s respirations and blood pressure rise according to some studies. It floods us with very strong emotions related to love, sex, passion and ambition. Depending on your store’s theme this can be a powerful effect.
6. Pink - Has by far the best overall calming response and is thought to be the truest color of love, relationships and femininity.