The Value of Color Research in Brand Strategy

To some consumers, color is merely a decorative trait. However, in marketing strategies, color is used by brands to reach consumers on a deeper level and stand out in the market amongst competitors. And to ensure color is most effective, brands wanting to optimize success, should seek color research that can best meet their objectives of appealing to consumers.

This paper discussed the science of color to consumer perception and the value of that color research to consumer-brand relationships. Specifically, it examined how color influenced consumers’ perception and how brands strategically utilized color to distinguish themselves amongst competitors, establish an identity, promote an image, and foster relationships with its consumers.

In this study, to test the significance of color to consumer perception and brand imagery, a nonrandom convenience sample of 20 North Jersey men and women between the ages of 18 and 37 years old participated in a focus group. Using color-centered advertisements and photos, partnered with a survey questionnaire, the consumer perception and behavior with color and corporate brand identity were examined.

The results of this study demonstrated the ability of color to provide visual information to consumers without words or lettered logs. This study also showed color was used as a primary tool in identification and had the ability to influence perception about price, quality and brand personality.

In conclusion, the results of the survey show that color is vital to the communication and relationship building process to both consumers and brands. Also, consumers don’t rely solely on color when recognizing a branding and more can be done to examine how integral color is to manufacturing brand-consumer relationships. Overall, the ability for color to alter purchase intent can be beneficial to in branding strategies around the world. Besides, additional research on organizations that don’t consult color research should also be further studied.

Article by Meagan K. Cunningham, from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ, USA.

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Image by princes anna, from Flickr-cc.