Color Perception and Consumer Behavior
Summary
The way individuals perceive and interpret colour exerts a profound influence on emotions, cognition and decision making in commercial contexts. At the perceptual level, attributes such as hue, saturation and luminance are processed by the visual system and shape early attentional responses. These sensory signals interact with memory, affective associations and cultural schemas to produce evaluative judgments that guide preferences and purchase intentions. In marketing and design, strategic deployment of colour can enhance brand identity, convey product attributes such as quality or healthfulness, and modulate spatial impressions within retail or virtual environments. Recent advances in eye-tracking, neuroimaging and immersive technologies have deepened our understanding of the temporal dynamics and neural correlates of colour-driven behaviour. This body of research has global significance, informing practices from packaging design in food and fashion industries to environmental colour schemes in hospitality and e-commerce. By integrating insights from psychology, neuroscience and behavioural economics, practitioners can craft more engaging and inclusive consumer experiences while advancing theoretical models of multisensory decision making.
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Color Perception and Consumer Behavior publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in color perception and consumer behavior across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Hue: The attribute of colour defined by its position on the visible spectrum, often described as red, blue, green, etc.
Saturation: The intensity or purity of a colour, reflecting its deviation from grey of the same luminance.
Perceived fluency: The subjective ease with which a stimulus is processed, influencing attitudes and choices.
Sentimental value: The emotional attachment or personal significance ascribed to an object or experience.
References
- Influence of food packaging color and foods type on consumer purchase intention: the mediating role of perceived fluency. Frontiers in Nutrition (2024).
- I want to remember: Preference for visual intensity in sentimental purchases. Psychology and Marketing (2023).
- A VR Experimental Study on the Influence of Chinese Hotel Interior Color Design on Customers’ Emotional Experience. Buildings (2022).
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