Visual presentation and appeal, whether in your marketing materials or what you wear, can turn on or turn off what you want to attract. It does not matter if it’s on paper, the Internet or in a presentation.
It is a fact that companies with the budget spend billions on color market research. Solopreneurs don’t have that budget, so the need to use the results of that research.
Colors will tell someone if you are approachable the same way they will invite someone to continue clicking through your web site. Colors will determine if someone will start reading your article or how long they stay involved (it’s not just about the content). Colors also influences how they will respond and behave.
Let’s take a few minutes and play with this concept. The next time you go into a fast-food restaurant, look closely at the colors. They decorate with vivid reds and oranges because they encourage diners to eat and leave quickly. Exactly the response they want.
Different cultures have different attitudes and preferences thus; they will have another color reaction. In China, “white” symbolizes death and in Brazil, it is the color purple. People from warm countries respond favorably to warm colors; people from colder climates prefer the cooler colors.
In America, green is associated with jealousy or money. Here are some color references for America.
Red………….excitement, strength, sex, passion, speed, danger.
Blue…………(most popular) trust, reliability, belonging, coolness.
Yellow……..warmth, sunshine, cheer, happiness
Orange…….playfulness, warmth, vibrant
Green………nature, fresh, cool, growth, abundance
Purple…….. royal, spirituality, dignity
Pink…………soft, sweet, nurture, security
White……… pure, virginal, clean, youthful, mild.
Black.……… sophistication, elegant, seductive, mystery, sexual
Gold……….. prestige, expensive, elite
Silver ……… prestige, cold, scientific
This also means that color affect shopping habits. Red-orange, black and royal blue attracts impulse buyers. Pink, teal, light blue and navy attract smart budget Shopper. Pink, rose and sky blue attract conformists.
A great exercise to experience this – visit large company web sites that have spent the funds on this type of research. Try McDonalds (www.mcdonalds.com -- bright red) or Wendys (www.wendys.com -- brownish red). Jaguar (www.jaguar.com -- black for sophistication, green cool, and silver for prestige). It matches perfectly with their market -- high incomers with a view on sophisticated.
If you are a service professional, how might you put colors to use for you?
First, make sure you have the right target market. Young children materials contain large amounts of bright primary colors. These colors will attract the child yet the parents or grandparents open the wallet. This means that for the children you would use the primary colors and for the marketing material being read by the grand/parents you would use reds, blues, pinks and yellows for trust, reliability, security, and playful.
If you a web site and you choose the colors because they are your favorite, then you choose it could have chosen it for the wrong target market – unless, of course, you are the only one or people just like you are the only ones you want buying. Pick your colors for your market. This is anything you want to attract in America.
Written by Catherine Franz
© Copyright 2003, Catherine Franz. All right reserved.
