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Kathleen Rice

Mr. Michael Henriksen

ENGL 1010

13 December 2018

How Color Affects Our Mood

This coffee franchise is among one of the top retailers in the United States. Their green,

two-tailed mermaid logo is so widely recognized that there is no longer a need to brand the

Starbucks name across their coffee cups. In 2013, the total revenue of this corporation exceeded

$14 billion, (Starbucks Corporation). So, what has made this coffee giant so successful? A big

contender is color. By using color psychology, companies manipulate people to buy from their

brand by incorporating particular colors into their marketing strategies and increasing the

vulnerability people have when making purchases.

Colors play an important role in people’s lives. Colors, other than emotionally affecting

people, also have physical effects. But, how do colors really affect the personality, mood, and the

stress level of the people? Emotional and physical stress is connected with colors because people

are quickly carried out by their perceptions. People tend to be affected in everything they see,

and these effects involve their perceptions and their performance for a certain period of time due

to their perceptions. Although many people are unaware how color can impact one’s life, I will

demonstrate how color can reflect one’s past experiences, how it can influence the purchases we

make, and how colors differ from one another.

Color can have many different meanings and can be reflected on one’s past experiences.

In other words, colors are one of the many things that play a part in our daily lives, whether we
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know it or not. But what most people don’t realize is just how big of a role color plays on our

lives on a more personal level. When you look at an object, the “color” of that object that you see

is actually the wavelength of the light reflecting off the object itself. But why do people associate

certain colors with certain things? Research throughout the ages have shown that when people

see certain colors they feel different emotions. As everyone grows from a young age where they

are able to differentiate and understand the things they see, he or she is able to know what color

different objects are and even which color represents certain feelings.

According to Allison Gremillion, “It is important to note that colors can be subjective -

what might make one person feel cheerful can make another person feel irritated depending on

the viewers’ past experiences or cultural difference.” Based on experiences, some people may

react to certain colors differently. Let’s say someone grew up always associating the color red

with positive emotions such as love, affection, and power. Whereas, for someone else, they

associate that color with a complete opposite emotion, such as anger and aggression. Although

complete different emotions, it really comes down to what happened previously to the individual

that has been associated to this color.

On top of that, culture can also influence your choice of colors and the meanings that

come from those. As reported by Regina Bailey, “Factors that influence color perception include

age, gender, and culture. In some cultures, for example, white is associated with happiness and

purity. In a situation where a woman is wearing a white wedding dress, is she happy because she

is influenced by the color white or because she is getting married? To someone from a different

culture, wearing white may signify sadness. This is because in those cultures, white is associated

with grief and death. These, and similar factors, must be considered when investigating the

influence of colors on human emotions and behavior.” From a sense of moral standing and
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importance, every culture has its own colors to depict certain aspects of religion. From a

cognitive perspective, colors from a more personal view will influence someone's life without

them knowing because it is a color they grew up knowing was important to their family and

moral life. They process these certain symbols as good or bad or important by their color.

Many manufacturers and retail companies nowadays use color as a factor to attract

consumers. In fact, a great deal of our purchasing decisions we make are based off of color.

Because of this, I believe that it does have a great influence on our choices. To start with, color is

one of the main reasons to attract purchasers when buying goods. According to a survey about

it’s psychology, 93% of the buyers who bought a particular product looked at it’s visual

appearance, (French). This can be explained by the meaning which is contained by each color.

For instance, green always evokes fresh, nutritious vegetables as connotes eco-friendliness and

health. Another could be brown, which is used often in food packaging on account of its early,

natural look.

On the other hand, color can play an important role in marketing. For product designers,

they must research what colors make people feel a certain way in order to catch a consumer’s

attention. In her article, “How Color Impacts Emotions and Behaviors,” author Allison S.

Gremillion outlines how color plays an important role in product design:

Color plays an important role in brand identity -- it draws consumers to products, stirs

emotions, and has a huge impact on brand recognition. Colors can make us feel happy or

sad… they can make us feel hungry or relaxed. As a designer, it’s important to

understand the psychological effects colors might have on an average person, or your

client’s target audience. Think about fast food restaurants like McDonald’s or KFC --
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most of these places incorporate the color yellow and red. Why? Because they want

people to get hungry and then eat quickly, (Gremillion).

The article mentions that color evokes feelings of trust, security, urgency, relaxation, and much

more, it is important that brands and their designers are fully aware of the impact color can have

on one’s emotions. There are over ten million colors used throughout the world, however, there

are only ten basic colors. The huge number comes from starting with one of the ten basic colors

and adding lighter or darker tones, or even mixing colors together. The basic colors include: red,

orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, white, and black. Although there are many

colors worldwide, I will focus on the two most used colors here in America: red and blue.

Red is not only one of the primary colors, it is also one of the first colors used by artists --

dating back to prehistory. Ranging from orange tinges to deep wine hues, throughout history the

color red has held special significance for cultures around the world. This warm color is most

commonly associated with love in Western culture and remains as an attractive, vibrant color

that immediately brings attention to itself. In many cultures, red symbolizes joy and good

fortune. In fact, in many Asian countries brides wear red as a symbol of fertility and luck. In

Europe, red became equated with aristocrats and the clergy. It’s association with the blood of

Christ made it especially important for the Catholic church, so much that the cardinal was named

after the color that Roman Catholic cardinals traditionally wore, (Stewart).

From looking at the visible light spectrum, the color red is the color located at the end of

the spectrum, is next to orange, and is opposite from violet. Many people associate the color red

with either love or danger. For instance, when walking through the grocery store around

Valentine’s day, almost everything you see is either red or pink. This is because most people

associate love and romantic feelings with those two colors. Conversely, notice how almost all
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fire alarms and sirens are always portrayed as red. This is to promote danger. According to Color

Wheel Pro, the author wrote:

Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength,

power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love. Red is a very emotionally

intense color. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raised blood

pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs, stoplights, and fire

equipment are usually painted red. In heraldry, red is used to indicate courage. It is a

color found in many national flags...It is used as an accent color to stimulate people to

make quick decisions. It is a perfect way color for ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Click Here’ buttons on

internet banners and websites. In advertising, red is used to evoke erotic feelings.

There are many different shades to the color red. For example, light red represents joy, sexuality,

passion, sensitivity, and love. Pink signifies romance, love, and friendship. It denotes feminine

qualities and passiveness. Dark red is associated with vigor, willpower, rage, anger, leadership,

courage, longing, malice, and wrath. Brown suggests stability and denotes masculine qualities.

Reddish-brown is associated with harvest and fall.

In contrast, the color blue is associated with two of Earth’s natural features: the sky and

the ocean. But that wasn’t always the case. Some scientists believe that the earliest humans were

actually colorblind and could only recognized black, white, red, and only later yellow and green.

As a result, early humans with no concept of the color blue simply had no words to describe it.

This is even reflected in ancient literature, such as Homer’s Odyssey, that describes the ocean as

a ‘wine-red sea.’ Blue was first produced by the ancient Egyptians who figured out how to create

a permanent pigment that they used for decorative arts. The color blue continued to evolve for

the next 6,000 years, and certain pigments were even used by the world’s master artists to create
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some of the most famous works of art. Today it continues to evolve, with the latest shade

discovered less than a decade ago, (Taggart).

The color blue is one of the three primary colors of pigments used in painting and

traditional color theory, as well as in the RGB color model. From looking at the visible light

spectrum, we can observe that it lies between violet and green. A majority of people today

associate this color with either trust or calmness. For example, if you take a look at insurance

company’s logos, you will notice that most of them include the color blue. This is to prove to

you that they believe they are trustworthy and will protect your security. On the other hand, if

you are to think about blue waters as in the oceans, lakes, or rivers, blue will then be associated

with calmness. Color Wheel Pro’s author states that:

Blue is the color of the sky and the sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It

symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, faith, truth, and heaven. Blue is considered

beneficial to the mind and body. It slows human metabolism and produces a calming

effect. Blue is strongly associated with tranquility and calmness. In heraldry, blue is used

to symbolize piety and sincerity. You can also use blue to promote products and services

related to cleanliness, air and sky, water and sea.

While there are also many shades that associate with the color blue, there are two main shades

that have the greatest effect on one’s emotions: light and dark. Light blue is associated with

health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness. Dark blue represents knowledge, power,

integrity, and seriousness.

Although each color may have many different meanings, it all comes down to what past

experiences you have associated with that specific color. In conclusion, many people are

unaware how color impacts our lives. I have explained how color can reflect one’s past
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experiences, or how past experiences can impact your emotions associated with that color. I have

mentioned how color has influenced the purchases we make and the importance color is to the

advertising and marketing industry. Lastly, I talked about all colors have many different

meanings, specifically about the two most noticed colors in America: red and blue. Overall,

unless you are a professional artist or art critic, it is fair to say that the color and psychology is

based primarily on instinct and emotion. How someone feels about a color or a design is entirely

up to the individual and there are no right or wrong answers. However, the way we feel about

color can often be attributed to our subconscious and history, as well as personal preference.

Works Cited

Bailey, Regina. “Color Psychology: How Colors Affect Human Behavior.” Thoughtco., Dotdash, 9 Jan.
2018, www.thoughtco.com/color-psychology-and-human-behavior
-4151666.

“Color Wheel Pro - See Color Theory in Action.” Color Wheel Pro: Color Meaning, 2014,
http://www.color-wheel-pro.com/color-meaning.html.

French, Katy. “Infographic: How Do Colors Affect Purchases?” Column Five, Wiley, 2012,
http://www.columnfivemedia.com/work-items/infographic-how-do-colors-affect-purchases.
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Gremillion, Allison S. “How Color Impacts Emotions and Behaviors.” 99designs, 99designs, 28 Aug.
2018, http://99designs.com/blog/tips/how-color-impacts-emotions-and-behaviors/.

Stewart, Jessica. “The History of the Color Red: From Ancient Paintings to Louboutin Shoes.” My
Modern Met, 26 Sept. 2018, http://mymodernmet.com/shades-of-red-color-history/.

Taggart, Emma. “The History of the Color Blue: From Ancient Egypt to the Latest Scientific
Discoveries.” My Modern Met, 12 Mar. 2018, http://mymodernmet.com/shades-of-blue
-color-history/.

"2019 Fiscal Report." Starbucks Corporation - Starbucks ceo Kevin Johnson Unveils Innovation Strategy
to Propel the Company's Next Decade of Growth at Starbucks 2018 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders. 2017. 15 Jan. 2019, https://investor.starbucks.com/ir-home/default
.aspx.