Color psychology – what is it and what significance does it have in advertising?

The Significance of Colors in Psychology

Color psychology is a field that studies the impact of colors on emotions and human behaviors. Our brain reacts to colors in a fraction of a second, triggering specific feelings and associations. It is colors that determine how you feel in a given room or about a brand.

Colors have always been linked to human emotions. We can be “green with envy” or “downcast like on a rainy, blue day.” Some see the world “through rose-colored glasses,” while others may “burn with purple rage.”

Why do colors matter so much?

The first thing we notice when looking at a brand is the color. The one in the logo and throughout the company’s branding. Colors evoke one of the first impressions we register when looking at a product, object, environment, website, or advertising materials. And as you probably know, first impressions are the most important.

What Does Color Psychology Mean in Marketing and Advertising?

In the world of marketing and advertising, the significance of colors is a powerful tool for visual communication. The colors you choose for your brand can greatly influence its success or failure. Color psychology helps to understand how different shades affect customers’ emotions, build company identity, and translate into purchasing decisions. It is the art of consciously selecting colors to enhance the message and effectively impact customers. This is especially true for mediums such as event tents, flags, and all other materials. Here, colors serve as a tool for visual communication.

How Does Color Psychology Influence Perception of Companies?

Colors are one of the most important elements in building a company’s image. They affect audiences subconsciously, evoking emotions, associations, and reactions that influence how a brand is perceived and ultimately purchasing decisions. A well-chosen color scheme can instill trust, highlight quality and professionalism, or associate the company with modernity, creativity, or technology. Conversely, poorly chosen colors can create chaos and confusion, lower credibility, or make the brand’s message harder to understand.

How Does Color Saturation Affect Brand Perception?

We found interesting research conducted by Lauren I. Labrecque, Stefanie Sohn, Barbara Seegebarth, and Christy Ashley, published in the Journal of Marketing in 2025 titled “Color Me Effective: The Impact of Color Saturation on Perceptions of Potency and Product Efficacy.”

The researchers demonstrated that not only the color itself but also its saturation (intensity) affects how audiences evaluate a product and brand. Consumers perceive products in more saturated colors as stronger, more effective, and more appealing, meaning they perform better.

In one of their experiments, participants evaluated detergents. Although all had the same composition, the detergent with a more intense color was perceived as more effective. Moreover, participants were more likely to choose it, even knowing that the products were identical.

This phenomenon was termed “saturation intuition.” The more saturated the color, the stronger the impression of power and effectiveness. This effect applies not only to the products themselves but also to advertisements, packaging, and graphic backgrounds.

Color Saturation and Advertisement Reception – Conclusion from the Study

Consciously manipulating color saturation can significantly influence advertisement reception. Highly saturated colors attract attention, creating an impression of energy, strength, and effectiveness, making them suitable for campaigns aimed at stimulating and engaging the audience. In contrast, colors with lower intensity better communicate calmness, gentleness, and trust. The key is to maintain a balance so that the color enhances the message rather than overwhelms it.

How Does Color Psychology Help Differentiate a Brand in the Market?

Color Psychology and Building Brand Recognition

Brand recognition can increase by as much as 80% if a company consistently uses a specific color scheme in its advertising and marketing materials. This is where color psychology in marketing shows that colors have a significant impact on the emotions of the audience and how they perceive the brand.

As you may notice, there is a reason why our website and all elements related to MITKO are maintained in consistent, repetitive colors. This is a conscious use of the significance of colors in advertising, which strengthens the company’s visual identity and builds trust in the brand.

We stick to our brand colors, but other well-known brands do the same, using color symbolism to convey specific emotions and values.

• Coca-Cola and its intense red, which is associated with energy, joy, and passion.
• Facebook, which uses blue to enhance feelings of trust and calmness, perfectly fitting its role as a global social platform.

Differentiating a Brand Through Colors Against Competitors

Colors help distinguish a brand from other companies in the same industry.

• Pepsi – its blue color scheme sets the brand apart from Coca-Cola’s dominant red, creating a unique visual identity.

Color Psychology and Emotions

As mentioned earlier, color psychology shows that colors directly affect customers’ emotions, influencing brand perception and how audiences react to visual communication. Appropriately chosen colors in advertising can instill trust in the brand, build positive associations, and encourage interaction with your products or services.

For example, warm colors like yellow and orange are associated with energy, enthusiasm, and joy in color psychology for marketing. Therefore, they work well in entertainment, food, and advertising industries, where the goal is to attract attention and evoke positive emotions.

On the other hand, cool colors like blue and green carry meanings associated with professionalism, calmness, and stability. They are often used in the financial, technological, or medical sectors, where building credibility and a sense of security is essential.

Thus, color selection is not just an aesthetic issue but a strategic element that helps effectively utilize color psychology in building brand recognition and strengthening its visual identity.

Examples of Well-Known Brands, Their Color Choices, and Explanations

McDonald’s:

• Yellow – symbolizes joy, optimism, and energy, which aims to attract attention and evoke positive emotions.
• Red – has a stimulating effect and increases appetite, which is why it is often used in the food industry.

McDonald’s uses these colors to build positive associations with fast, accessible, and joyful food.

Starbucks:

• Green – associated with harmony, nature, and ecology, supporting the brand’s philosophy related to development and environmental care.

Starbucks’ green logo also emphasizes the relaxing atmosphere the brand aims to provide in its cafes.

IKEA:

• Blue – builds trust and stability.
• Yellow – evokes positive emotions and optimism.

IKEA uses these colors to highlight the accessibility of its products and a friendly approach to customers.

Nike:

• Black – symbolizes strength, professionalism, and luxury.
• White – represents simplicity, clarity, and elegance.

Nike employs a minimalist color scheme to convey elegance and durability.

The Significance of Colors and Examples of Companies That Use Them

The Significance of Yellow

The color yellow symbolizes joy, happiness, optimism, and warmth. In color psychology, it is considered a stimulating color. It attracts attention, stimulates the mind, and fosters creativity.

Benefits and effects of using yellow:

• Yellow can enhance concentration and memory, promoting reflection and intellectual activity.
• High visibility: due to its long wavelength, yellow attracts the eye and acts as a signaling element (e.g., warning signs).
• In excess, it can provoke emotional agitation, anxiety, or irritability.
• Yellow can also be associated with warning, fear, or cowardice if used ineffectively.

Examples of companies using the color yellow:

• McDonald’s (yellow arches)

• Snapchat (yellow background of the app icon)

• Subway (yellow-green accents in the logo)

 

The Significance of Red

Red is the color of energy, passion, action, excitement, but also power, anger, and intensity. In branding, it is often used where immediate attention is desired and a reaction is to be provoked.

Benefits and effects of using red:

• Red accelerates reactions, increases heart rate and blood pressure, creating a sense of urgency and excitement.
• It encourages impulsive decision-making, which is why it is often used in CTAs (calls to action) and promotions.
• Red stimulates appetite, hence its popularity in the food industry.
• On the other hand, it can evoke associations with aggression, danger, stubbornness, or warning.

Examples of companies using the color red:

• Coca-Cola

• KFC

• YouTube

 

The Significance of Blue

Blue is associated with trust, calmness, stability, professionalism, and purity. It is one of the most commonly chosen colors in branding, especially in the technology and finance sectors.

Benefits and effects of using blue:

• Builds credibility and safety – effective in banking, medical, and service applications.
• Enhances a sense of order, calmness, clarity, and rationality.
• May be less stimulating than warm colors and has a calming effect.

Examples of companies using the color blue:

• Facebook

• Samsung

• LinkedIn

 

The Significance of Purple

Purple (violet) is the color of luxury, mystery, creativity, and sophistication. It is often used in branding to emphasize exclusivity, innovation, or the artistic nature of a brand.

Benefits and effects of using purple:

• Influences a sense of belonging to a premium world and the uniqueness of the brand.
• Associated with spirituality, imagination, and magic, used by creative and cosmetic brands.
• Excessive purple may be perceived as gloomy or too eccentric, especially in dark shades.
• Note: Purple can have different cultural interpretations, e.g., as a color of mourning in some cultures.

Examples of companies using the color purple:

• Milka

• FedEx

• BENQ

 

The Significance of Orange

Orange is the color of energy, enthusiasm, friendliness, and creativity. It combines the intensity of red with the optimism of yellow.

Benefits and effects of using orange:

• Acts as an attention-grabbing color, but is less aggressive than red.
• Encourages communication, dynamism, and action.
• Can build a brand image as friendly and open.

Examples of companies using the color orange:

• Fanta
• Nickelodeon
• Harley-Davidson

 

The Significance of Green

Green is the color of nature, health, harmony, growth, and freshness. In branding, it appears where a brand wants to highlight ecological, organic, or health aspects.

Benefits and effects of using green:

• Evokes calmness and balance, promoting mental regeneration.
• Associated with prosperity, abundance, and financial success.
• In strong shades, it can seem too dominant or economic.

Examples of companies:

• Starbucks
• Spotify
• Sprite

 

The Significance of Black

Black is the color of elegance, prestige, strength, mystery, and professionalism. In branding, it is often used as a base color in premium or luxury brands.

Benefits and effects of using black:

• Adds seriousness and class. Often used in fashion and luxury industries.
• Creates contrast, highlighting other colors and logo elements.
• Can be associated with mourning, darkness, heaviness, or negative aspects, depending on the context.
• In marketing, black enhances the impression of strength, authority, and exclusivity.

Examples of companies using the color black:

• Nike
• Gucci
• Chanel

 

The Significance of White

White is the color of purity, simplicity, minimalism, freshness, and innocence. In branding, it is often used as a background color, neutral and soothing.

Benefits and effects of using white:

• Creates a sense of clarity and transparency, promoting intuitive communication.
• In minimalism, white helps highlight other colors and key elements.
• In some cultures, white can be associated with mourning.

Examples of companies:

• Apple
• Tesla
• The North Face

 

The Significance of Pink / Magenta

The color pink (magenta) is associated with tenderness, delicacy, love, nurturing, and emotionality. In branding, it is often used in the cosmetics, fashion industries, and for communications aimed at women or children.

Benefits and effects of using pink / magenta:

• Creates an atmosphere of warmth, empathy, and softness.
• Can evoke romance, subtlety, and delicacy.
• In excess, there is a risk of being perceived as childish or overly sweet.

Examples of companies:

• Barbie
• T-Mobile
• Victoria’s Secret

Key Principles for Choosing Colors for Advertising Materials

The significance of colors plays a crucial role in designing advertising products. It is colors that attract the attention of the audience, evoke emotions, and influence how your brand is perceived. The right color scheme can highlight the key features of a product, service, and the entire brand, while also distinguishing it from the competition.Essential Rules for Color Selection in Advertising Materials
1. Match colors to your brand identity, or use those found in your brand book. The colors in advertising materials should always be consistent with the company’s visual identity. Using the same colors as in the logo, on the website, or in other forms of advertising strengthens brand recognition.

• Choose 3-4 main colors that will dominate your advertising materials.

2. Contrasting colors help highlight elements such as slogans or logos. White text on a dark background is an ideal combination and vice versa.

For products like advertising flags or event tents, the most important information should be visible from a distance, so the contrast between the background and the text is really very important.

3. When choosing colors, consider the preferences of your target audience. Young people will respond better to vibrant colors like orange, yellow, or green, while older individuals tend to prefer subdued shades like navy blue or green.

For business events, professional colors such as blue will work well, while cheerful shades of yellow or orange are suitable for family festivals.

4. Don’t forget about the psychological aspects of colors! Choose those that evoke desired emotions and align with your brand’s message. For example, green emphasizes ecological actions, while red conveys dynamism.

Remember: In different cultures, colors have different meanings. Check if the colors you choose for your campaign do not have negative associations in a given country, region, or target group.

5. Minimalism is key. Too many colors or overly bright shades can overwhelm and create significant chaos.

Color Psychology and Gender

We know that there are certain stereotypes, such as the idea that men do not like pink because it is too feminine. I believe this is untrue, as men’s products and brands that incorporate pink can look really great. However, we cannot deceive psychology. Although color preferences are largely shaped by cultural and social factors, there are also some differences. What does psychology tell us about color choices made by men and women?

Women Prefer Warm Colors

Women tend to choose pastel, muted, and subtle shades such as pink, lavender, mint, or light blue.

They enjoy warm and emotional colors like red, yellow, and pink, which are associated with love, joy, and warmth, but black, which is elegant, is also present.

Women are more sensitive to shades and can distinguish them better, which is due to biology—having a greater number of receptors in the retina that are responsible for color perception.

Women also pay attention to colors that reference nature, such as green and blue. These colors create a sense of calm and harmony.

Men Prefer Intense but Simple Colors

Men more frequently choose intense colors such as blue, red, and black. They also prefer primary colors, avoiding more complex shades. They appreciate pastel palettes less.

Colors like black, navy blue, or dark/bottle green are associated with strength, professionalism, and elegance, which particularly appeals to men.

Similarly, they attach less importance to the symbolism of colors and more often perceive them in a practical context, such as the idea that a stain will be less visible on a darker color.

How to Combine Colors?

The best way to choose the right color for your brand is to contact a graphic designer who can prepare a mood board or brand book. However, not all companies have the budget for such activities. In that case, free tools can be very useful. One of them is coolors.co. This is a free online application that allows you to create a color palette that is cohesive.

1. Click “start the generator”
2. By pressing the spacebar, you change the colors

It initially displays 5 colors, but you can remove a column and keep only 3, for example.Use the knowledge from this guide on color psychology and how you can apply it to your brand, and get ready for the event! Be better than the competing booths.