Does color matter?

Color is everywhere and it subconsciously affects all of us. Magazines, billboards, and TV commercials used great methods to make you feel the way the marketers want you to feel.  Leslie Harrington, executive director of The Color Association of The United States explains, “We react on multiple levels of association with colors — there are social or culture levels as well as personal relationships with particular colors,” A social and cultural example is when you see the color red your heart races a little bit and you feel anxious. This is due to fire trucks, ambulances, and sirens to all produces that red association into your mind.

But other then social and cultural explanations there is a great deal of science behind it. Going back to the red example it scientifically stimulates us because red is the longest wavelength. It isn’t the most visible color in the spectrum but it has the property of appearing to be nearer than it is and therefore it grabs our attention first. This is why we use red in traffic lights. Red is a more physical reaction. On the other hand blue reds arch rival is less dominant when introduced with other colors unlike red. It soothes us and calms us. It resembles intelligence and sometime sadness. A surprise to me is how yellow makes us feel. Yellow is sense of confidence and optimism. This is due to the long wavelength and just as red does it stimulates us. But in this case the stimulus is emotional. White and black also interest me. They are very bland but powerful colors.  Black is  an absence of light. No wavelengths are reflected off it. This causes back to be feared and is a large reason why people are scared of the dark. With that being said white is the opposite. It brings a sense of reflection and clarity to people. It resembles cleanliness which is why white issued in most beauty products.

All colors subconsciously control how we feel and act. Next time you watch an advertisement look for any color queues; you may find more then you would think.  

4 thoughts on “Does color matter?

  1. Chane Jeter-Smith

    I’ve heard this before and it has always caught my interest. If I really think about it, the colors do have an affect on mood and emotion. Advertisers use these colors to not only catch your attention but to affect emotions. A lot of food related brands use RED, stores and social media use blue because the color makes you feel comfortable without even giving it the slightest thought. here is a video explaining the methods of colors in advertising. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qO9UPy04WMs

  2. Jessica Nicole Greenhut

    Interesting post; what I found most intriguing was the science behind different colors, such as red used for sirens and stop lights, because it catches your attention earlier. What would have been a great addition to your blog is if you incorporated places that they use certain colors, such as in mental institutions. In mental institutions they paint all the walls green in the bedrooms to calm the patients down; I never understood why they did this but it makes sense now. Color therapy is an important part of aiding mental health, and it is truly a large part of our everyday happiness and well-being.

    here’s more about how mental health professionals are using color therapy to help patients: http://www.prweb.com/releases/mental_health/color_therapy/prweb2777914.htm

  3. lmm6078

    I liked reading this post because it peaked my interest regarding the affects of color on mood. I think color has a indirect causation on mood during advertisements and such because the colors itself isn’t what were suppose to pick up when looking at an advertisement. I think in this case the dependent variable would be the emotion you feel when seeing the colors and the independent variable would be the color being presented. I found a pretty cool experiment that’s along the same lines of your blog post. It talks about how certain colors make you feel when seeing them, and essentially all were the same with your post. I believe that yellow is more of an energetic and cheerful feel. https://prezi.com/vit7jcztgsnq/ap-psychology-experiment-does-color-effect-mood/

  4. Alicja Justyna Bartnikiewicz

    That’s a great post! I guess I never really thought about how colors affect us, however it makes a lot of sense. I remember learning about wavelenghts in physics and I absolutely hated it so I never thought of it again. I agree with personal relationship with colors – for me the color that makes my heart race a little bit is blue since it’s my favorite color and I just get very excited whenever I see it. Green, on the other hand, tends to calm me down.I found a short film about how colors can affect your mood. Check it out here!

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