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Colors are the number one influencing factor in purchases for almost 93% of people. Colors convey different meanings to different people. It all depends on age, gender, and nationality. In the previous articles we discussed color combinations and color harmony, latest color tips and trends. This time we will look at how people perceive colors and how colors affect sales. You will find the most successful colors for your purposes and for your targeted audience with color statistics below:
Statistics & facts: colors affect sales
- According to kissmetrics, 92,6 % of people say the visual dimension is the #1 influencing factor affecting the purchase decision.
- Studies suggest that people make subconscious judgement about the product within 90 seconds of initial viewing, 90 % of this assessment is based on color alone.
- 93% of people who buy, look at visual appearance
- 80% of people think color enhances brand recognition
- Ads in color read up to 40% more often that same ads in black and white
- Color can improve readership by 40 percent, learning from 55 to 78 percent , and comprehension by 73 percent
- Tests indicate that a black and white image may sustain interest for less than two-thirds a second, whereas a colored image may hold the attention for two seconds or more.
- A Midwestern insurance company used color to highlight key information on their invoices. As a result, they began receiving customer payments an average of 14 days earlier.
- According to usertesting, women preferred the bright sites most strongly, giving them an average rating of 4.35. While men also liked bright sites best (giving them an average score of 4.18) and they ranked the dark sites as a close second (4.04, on average). But, women gave dark websites the lowest rating with a score of 3.38. Both genders don’t really like white simple websites, giving them an average rating of 3.6 (women) and 3.54 (men).
- Research shows that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.
- 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text
- 46.1% of people say a website’s design is the number one criterion for discerning the credibility of the company.
- Blue is the favored color by both men (57%) and women (35%),
- Women prefer tints while men prefer pure or shaded colors.
- A study from the University of Toronto based on Adobe Kuler usage, showed that most of the people preferred simple color combinations; 2 – 3 favorite colors
- Colors women love the most: blue, purple, green
- Colors women hate the most: orange, brown, grey
- Colors men love the most: blue, green, black
- Colors men hate the most: brown, orange, purple
- In a survey, people were asked to choose the color they associated with particular words, here you have the results:
Trust: Most chose the color blue (34%), followed by white (21%) and green (11%),
Security: Blue came out on top (28%), followed by black (16%) and green (12%),
Speed: Red was the favorite (76%),
Cheapness: Orange came first (26%), followed by yellow (22%) and brown (13%),
High Quality: Black was the winner (43%), followed by blue (20%),
High Tech: This was almost evenly split, with black the top choice (26%) and blue and gray second (both 23%),
Reliability: Blue was the top choice (43%), followed by black (24%),
Courage: Most chose purple (29%), then red (28%), and finally blue (22%),
Fun: Orange was the top choice (28%), followed closely by yellow (26%) and then purple (17%)
Case studies: learn from the best
CASE STUDY: HEINZ
Consider the phenomenal success Heinz EZ Squirt Blastin’ Green ketchup has had in the market. It became a hit, especially with kids. More than 10 million bottles were sold during first seven months. Heinz factories were working 24/7 to meet the demand. The result is shocking: $23 million in sales – the highest sales increase in the brand’s history. All this just because of a simple color change.
CASE STUDY: APPLE COMPUTER
Another brilliant example is apple, but the way it is my favourite brand and I think everyone can learn a lot of thing from this amazing company. They introduced color into their market where color had not been seen before. They launched colorful iMacs and that brought brand back to life brand that had suffered $1.8 billion of losses in two years. And now we have the colorful iPods.
Color is not just an artistic choice, but also an important business decision, affecting everything from consumers’ perceptions about a brand to product sales. So as you can see it is highly important to use the right color to achieve your goals and be perceived by your target the way you want.
