Colors are used for more than enhancing the aesthetics of a brand. We at Webtribunal have collected the most interesting color psychology facts that we could find, so you can make an idea of how valuable some basic insight on this topic could be.
We often express feelings and subjective states of mind through colors: being sad is associated with the color blue, for example. But the psychology behind colors is more complex than that, and their meanings can be very different in marketing.
Using the right colors, you can actually transmit powerful messages to people without being explicit about your intentions. Let’s see how:
Fascinating Facts
- A 2025 systematic review of 132 peer-reviewed articles, 42,266 participants and 64 countries found recurring color-emotion associations, but most studies did not establish that a color causes the emotion.
- A 2020 study across 30 nations and 22 languages found shared color-emotion patterns alongside differences tied to language and geography.
- In Joe Hallock’s survey, blue was the favorite of about 57% of male and 35% of female respondents.
- In the same survey, 29% named orange and 23% named brown as their least favorite color.
- Red-green color-vision deficiency affects about 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females of Northern European ancestry, so color alone should never carry meaning.
- Colorcom’s account of a 2004 survey says 84.7% of respondents considered color responsible for more than half the factors important in choosing products.
Color Preferences and Associations
The purpose of colors goes well beyond mere aesthetics. They are instrumental for artists and writers when it comes to expressing various emotions, but marketers can also use them successfully.
One thing to keep in mind as you read. Color psychology is unusually prone to statistics that travel further than their evidence. Several of the most-quoted numbers in marketing come from secondary accounts of surveys whose original methods were never published, and several describe associations that have been retold as effects. Where that is the case, this page says so beside the figure.
1. A 2004 survey asked about color’s importance.
(Colorcom)
Colorcom’s account of the 2004 Seoul International Color Expo survey says 84.7% of respondents considered color responsible for more than half the factors important in choosing products. That is a different claim from the one usually made from it. The survey asked respondents to weigh factors, so it does not establish that 85% of purchases are decided by color, and it does not make color a make-or-break business variable. Colorcom is a secondary account and the original survey methods were not recovered.
2. Historical claims about first impressions.
(Colorcom, and Singh’s marketing review)
An older marketing review reported judgments within 90 seconds, with 62 to 90% of the assessment attributed to color. These are historical reported claims, not a verified 2026 consumer benchmark. The 90 seconds is not a fixed duration, and the underlying experiments behind both figures are unverified.
3. Research finds color-emotion associations.
(Jonauskaite and Mohr, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2025)
A 2025 systematic review covered 132 peer-reviewed articles, 42,266 participants, and 64 countries. It found recurring color-emotion associations, but most studies did not establish that seeing a color causes the corresponding emotion.
That distinction is the single most useful thing on this page. People consistently associate blue with calm and red with intensity across a great deal of research spanning 1895 to 2022. What the research does not show is that exposing someone to a color reliably produces the matching mood, stress level or behavior. Claims that a color will make customers feel a certain way, or act a certain way, go beyond what the evidence supports.
4. Color preferences in Hallock’s sample.
(Joe Hallock)
Hallock’s survey found different preference patterns among its male and female respondents. The sample was self-selected, so these results should not be treated as rules for all men and women. Among his respondents, the top three favorites were blue, green and black for men, and blue, purple and green for women.
5. Visual factors ranked highest in the 2004 survey.
(Colorcom)
According to Colorcom’s account of the 2004 survey, 92.6% of respondents gave visual factors the greatest importance when purchasing products. Visual factors are not the same as color alone, and the survey concerned products rather than online conversions. The original survey methods are unverified.
6. Blue led preferences in Hallock’s survey.
(Joe Hallock)
In Hallock’s survey, blue was the favorite of about 57% of male respondents and 35% of female respondents, from 50 of 88 men and 50 of 144 women. Those are the numbers. They do not explain why brands choose blue, and they do not show that blue creates trust in customers.
7. Color associations vary across cultures and languages.
(Jonauskaite et al., Psychological Science, 2020)
A 2020 study of 4,598 participants across 30 nations and 22 languages found shared color-emotion patterns alongside differences related to language and geography. That is a finding about variation in association, not a purchasing statistic, and it is a better basis for designing across markets than any single national rule of thumb.
8. Orange and brown were the least favorite colors in Hallock’s sample.
(Joe Hallock)
In Hallock’s sample, 29% selected orange and 23% selected brown as their least favorite color, from raw counts of 67 and 54 out of 232 respondents. Least favorite is not the same as disliked: naming a color last in a ranking does not mean a person dislikes it.
Facts about Colors in Marketing
Color clearly matters to brand identity. What follows separates the figures that have a traceable source from the design conventions that are worth knowing as possibilities rather than rules.
9. A historical claim about color print ads.
(Colorcom)
Colorcom cites a 1997 source reporting that colored phone-directory ads were read up to 42% more often. Note that this is frequency, not viewing time, which is how the claim is usually retold. The underlying 1997 source was not inspected, and nothing about phone-directory advertising generalizes cleanly to digital ads.
10. Buyers associate certain colors with low prices.
(Joe Hallock)
In Hallock’s published data, 61 of 232 respondents associated orange with cheap or inexpensive, versus 4 for black, about 26% and 1.7% respectively. These are recalculated from his raw responses rather than a new survey. They describe an association, not what people will pay, and they do not show that using black increases sales.
11. Secondary colors can be used strategically.
(Design convention)
These are possible design associations, not universal psychological effects. Green is often used to suggest stability, health and nature-related causes. Purple, rarely found in nature, is commonly used to signal luxury. Whether either reads that way to a particular audience is a question about that audience, not a fact about the color.
12. Brown and the non-colors have their uses too.
(Design convention)
Again, possibilities rather than effects. Brown is often used to make a product feel comfortable and grounded. White is conventionally associated with simplicity and space. Black can read as elegance and sophistication in one context and as something darker in another, and gray is frequently used to suggest neutrality and competence. Context and execution do most of the work here.
13. Respondents linked color with appearing successful.
(Xerox/ICR, 2003, reported by Colorcom)
A 2003 Xerox/ICR survey, reported by Colorcom, found 83% believed color made them appear more successful. That is a finding about perceived appearance, not about actual business success, and the original survey methods are unverified.
Fun Facts About Colors
Three closing items: a famous case, an accessibility fact that matters more than most of the numbers above, and the reason none of this works as a formula.
14. Heinz’s green-ketchup sales case.
(Colorcom)
Colorcom reports $23 million in green-ketchup sales. That is a sales figure for the green product, not incremental growth over what Heinz would otherwise have sold, and not profit. Heinz did not change the color of its ketchup generally, it launched a green variant alongside the original, and the original records behind the figure were not recovered.
15. Red-green color-vision deficiency varies by population.
(MedlinePlus)
MedlinePlus reports red-green color-vision deficiency in about 1 in 12 males and 1 in 200 females of Northern European ancestry. Prevalence differs across populations, so those rates are not universal. Blue-yellow deficiencies also occur, so blue is not universally distinguishable either, which is worth knowing given how often blue is recommended as the safe choice.
The practical consequence is simple: do not use color alone to carry meaning. Pair it with text, shape, position or contrast, so that a chart, a form error or a status indicator still works for someone who does not see the distinction you intended.
16. Color preferences need context.
(Jonauskaite and Mohr, 2025; Hallock)
Color preferences and associations are not fixed instructions for every audience. Use research as context, then evaluate the actual design and audience.
The Wrap-Up
Color does real work in branding and design. What it does not do is operate as a set of levers with predictable outputs, which is how most color psychology statistics end up being used. The strongest evidence here, a 2025 review spanning 128 years of research, finds consistent associations between colors and emotions and stops short of showing that a color produces the feeling on sight.
So treat the numbers on this page as context rather than instructions. Color preferences and associations are not fixed instructions for every audience. Use research as context, then evaluate the actual design and audience. And whatever the palette, make sure the meaning survives without it, because a meaningful share of your audience will not see the distinction you are relying on.
