Colors May Affect Your Sales

It is a well known fact that colors tend to evoke emotion, mood or sometimes a specific reaction in people. Therefore, consider that what colors you select in your product design or display may affect your customer, and consequently, your sales.

• RED: is know Internationally as the ultimate buying color. The color of lust, passion, anger... the attention getter. Used in small amounts it is the best color to stimulate sales. However, if overused it can be a turn off to more subtle customers. The best use for red is using it as an attention getter. Use it to draw a customer's attention to a specific message or display area you want them to focus on.
• ORANGE: is know as the most irritating color to the eye and is proven to be the least favorite color in the world. Direct mail marketeers love to use it on direct mail pieces because it will be noticed when it arrives within any stack of mail. Orange is also known as the color of creativity, sexuality and is associated with affordability. This is another good color to use to attract attention, but use it sparingly or as an accent color.
• PURPLES and VIOLETS: These colors like orange, are very subjective. People either love them or hate them. Purple is associated with royalty, or with spirituality and healing.
• BLUE: Blue is the all time best seller and is the most favorite color in the world regardless of culture. Blue is considered the color of communication, with light blue leading to fantasy and dark blue the color of authority and power. Blue is the water color that congers up visions of peacefulness and flights of fantasy.
• GREEN: is relaxing. A color of tranquility and healing. It is the earth color bringing us thoughts of the outdoors, the forest, grass and dreamy meadows. It is a passive not a stimulating color.
• YELLOW: is the first color seen by the retina. Yellow works as a good focus or attention getting color. A good accent color when used in moderation. Yellow is a "stop and ponder" color.
• BROWN: is the color of earth, wood and nature. It denotes natural or traditional values. Light wood shades are associated with affordability, dark shades with richness and opulence. Brown offers a relaxed, casual feeling.
• NEUTRALS: Black or White are always a safe and effective accent. They enhance the primary colors when used as a backdrop to create contrast. Alone, the can give off a sterile or institutional feeling.
• PASTELS: here I will mention pastels as a group only because they are an important decorating or fashion accent. What makes them so popular is that they blend so well with the going trend colors of the season. Pastels afford you the opportunity to use them in designs and products that will blend or mix and match with what ever color theme you are working with. The softer shades allow you to blend in with other primary colors, and often makes the buying decision easier for the consumer.

A few additional things about color, light colors make an area seem larger. When black is used, extra lighting is required to illuminate it properly. Primary colors are not interesting enough for today with the exception of children's items. A good rule of thumb is to use one main color with two accent colors.

Colors can send a very powerful message.
Use color to evoke the response you want from your customer.

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