Choosing the Right Colors for Your Web Site - Nations and Colors...
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Nations and Colors
If your website addresses an audience larger than your country of origin, or it is meant to attract prospects from a specific country, invest some time in researching the specific meanings of colors. For example, while white is a symbol of purity in Western cultures, it stands for bad luck and unhappiness in China, Japan, and India. While very appreciated in Japan, pink is frowned upon in India and East-European countries, where it is regarded as a "non-manly color".
Purple is associated in certain Arabic cultures with prostitution (the same as red in the European and North-American cultures), and globally, it is generally associated with mysticism and beliefs that are not in keeping with the precepts of Islamism, Judaism and Christianity. Green, if used for the web site of a financial institution from the USA, will support the implication that the institution deals with the "almighty green dollar", but it may bear no such significance in a country where bills (paper money) are multiple-colored.
On the other hand, there is a globally accepted "safe" color: blue. It can be used for almost any kind of site, no matter its audience, location or goal. It would be therefore safe to say that blue is an international color. In order to avoid embarrassing (and even costly) issues, you have the option of mixing colors.
This can lead to a complete change of meanings, significances will be changed and negative implications will be at the very least diminished, if not eliminated altogether (e.g. red becomes more powerful when combined with white). It is up to you to obtain creative colors that will be internationally accepted, but you have to do your homework quite well.
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