Numerous studies confirm the influence of colors on our mood and behavior. Color enhances our daily life, nourishes our senses, gives us joy, or causes us sadness. It’s a language that has symbolism, a meaning, and delivers us messages with well-defined codes.
Color is much more than an optical phenomenon. All have their own meaning. All of them create a definite impact on our brains, and that is why color psychology is a basic and essential tool for neuromarketing today. Understanding how the consumer reacts to certain chromatic stimuli can cause the shopping index to increase.
In eCommerce, the application of color psychology is as important as the other efforts to get traffic and conversions. To be exact:
- The impression left by color is 65% responsible for deciding whether or not to buy a product.
- Color enables 80% brand recognition.
- 52% of consumers do not return to the site because of the look
- 42% of consumers form an opinion of a site by observing the design
- For 85% of consumers, color is the main factor that determines the purchase of a product.
- 2/3 of consumers do not buy household appliances if the model does not exist in the desired color.
- 93% of consumers find the visual aspect to be the first factor influencing their purchasing decision.
In general, using color psychology can definitely impact the success of your brand/product.
2021 Color Trends and Their Impact on Consumer Behavior
Every year, the Pantone Color Institute sets a global standard of color trends for designers to achieve consistency on various materials for graphics, fashion, and product design. They also advise brands by recommending palettes to help establish their identity and integrate the colors as a strategic asset. The Pantone Color Institute leverages the power of emotion of color and psychology in its design strategies.
This year, the Illuminating Yellow (Pantone 13-0647) and Ultimate Gray (Pantone 17-5104) were set as the colors of the year. These colors were inspired by last year’s struggles where social distancing became the norm and where racial violence has never been so topical. These colors aspire to bring hope and give us energy and clarity while we overcome the continuing struggles and uncertainty.
Illuminating Yellow
Illuminating Yellow is the color of cheerfulness and energy; it imbues optimism, happiness, and positivity. This year, we hope to achieve enthusiasm from consumers by using yellow that attracts a positive outlook and energy.
The yellow color can be very effective when used on food brands. Using a hint of yellow color can give your consumers a spur of positiveness and appetite. Familiar brands that use it are McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Subway, and Lay’s.
It is also good to use in advertising goods for children as it reminds them of holidays, the sun, freedom, and comfort which they wholeheartedly enjoy. However, too much yellow can be overwhelming which may cause strain in the eyes, anxiety, and fatigue.
Ultimate Gray
While yellow evokes energy and enthusiasm, Ultimate Gray on the other hand gives out the feeling of stability and grounding. It is a quiet reassurance that inspires resilience, professionalism, conservatism, and formality.
Using the gray color can increase the consumer’s trust in your brand. Famous brands like Apple, Amazon, Swarovski, and Mercedes-Benz use gray to represent their brand. It is neutral and timeless and has the ability to adapt the character of colors combined with it.
It is perfectly possible to use and apply these Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray independently however, their combination will give out what we currently need at the present times: an illuminating hope and stability.
How to Use Illuminating Yellow and Ultimate Gray in ECommerce?
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In Web Design
To express energy and professionalism. One good website design example that applies yellow and gray colors or shades is Lordz.ch . It uses gray as a base and background to highlight the yellow elements while preventing it to not be as overwhelming. You can use animations and hover transitions to add more creativity and fun while still maintaining a professional look to your website.
You can get more inspiration from these websites that utilizes the color of the year 2021.
2. In Product Designs
Image Source: OfficeDeskMat.Com
To create eye-catching products and maintain balance. Gray color when combined with yellow is unique and gives out a huge contrast in images creating a mystery of some sort. Because the yellow color is bright, grey can soften and balance it without disrupting the overall look of the product design.
3. In Social Media Banners and Posts
To make simple yet inviting posts. Not all social media posts must be loaded with colors and illustrations. Many times, a simple image/illustration can work. The grey color has the ability to adapt the character of the color used with it and although it is a neutral color, it can still bring out the fun and energy in your social media posts.
4. Email Marketing Campaigns
To create fun yet formal invitations and call-to-actions. It is important to not be too informal when it comes to email marketing. As a marketer, being too informal too soon can be quite uncomfortable for prospective customers. Using fun illustrations and yellow colors can light up and bring out inviting emotions to readers and applying gray can make it more neutral and formal at the same time.
Wrapping Things Up…
Succeeding in eCommerce is more than creating your products and building a website to place them. You must first have a clear image in mind of your target customers and what kind of feeling you would want them to feel once they visit your eCommerce website/shop.
Colors will do a lot of good when used correctly and for the right purpose. Aside from a good product and service, a memorable and recognizable brand will surely attract more customers and develop trust within you and your clientele.
Author’s Bio:
Yen Pedrajas is an eCommerce and digital marketing enthusiast who loves to review and write informative content about the latest tech trends, business planning, marketing strategies and ideas. You can read her work at Medium.
She is currently managing public relations and customer operations for Removal.AI. An AI technology that operates as a background remover SaaS tool to offer professional photo editing and removing the background of images for eCommerce and all other web and app development purposes.