Colour Preference

Colour
Colour is the visual perception of the electromagnetic spectrum. The colour of an object is the
appearance that it has as a result of the way it reflects light. The perception of colour involves three major
properties of the colour: Hue, Saturation and Brightness.
First, what we usually refer to as colour is a property more accurately termed hue. Hue varies with
the wavelength of light. Different wavelengths correspond to our subjective experience of different
colours. Wavelengths of about 400 nanometres are perceived as violet. Wavelengths of about 700
nanometres are perceived as red. In between are orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo.
Second, the saturation, or purity, of the colour corresponds to the purity of the light wave. Pure
red, for example, produced by a single wavelength, is more saturated than pink, which is produced by a
combination of wavelengths (red plus white light). In everyday language, saturation refers to the richness
of a colour. A highly saturated colour is vivid and rich; a less saturated colour is faded and washed out.
The third property of colour is brightness, or perceived intensity. Brightness corresponds to the
amplitude of the light wave: the higher the amplitude, the greater the degree of brightness. These three
properties of colour—hue, saturation, and brightness— are responsible for the amazing range of colours
we experience.
Colour Psychology
Colour psychology is the study of hues as a determinant of human behaviour. Colour influences
perceptions that are not obvious, such as the taste of food. Colours have qualities that can cause certain
emotions in people. How colour influences individuals may differ depending on age, gender, and culture.
Although colour associations can vary contextually between cultures, colour preference is thought to be
relatively uniform across gender and race.
Colour psychology is also widely used in marketing and branding. Marketers see colour as an
important factor, since colour can influence a consumers' emotions and perceptions about goods and
services. Logos for companies are important, since the logos can attract more customers.
Psychologist Andrew J. Elliot tested to see if the colour of a person's clothing could make them
appear more sexually appealing. He found heterosexual men and women dressed in red were significantly
more likely to attract romantic attention than women dressed in any other colour. The colour did not
affect heterosexual women's assessment of other women's attractiveness. Other studies have shown men
dressed in red appeal to heterosexual women.
Influence of Colour on Perception
Multiple researchers propose that one factor in the evolution of primate trichromatic color vision
is to allow for better perception of others' emotions or condition which can prove highly useful for
complex social interaction. For example, flushed or pale skin can non-verbally communicate whether they
are excited or sickly. Besides its use for social situations, colour has an impact in multiple facets of our
perceptions.
Taste
Colour affects how people perceive the edibility and flavour of foods and drinks. The packaging
of the food, its placement among other foods and objects, and the colour of the food itself, affect how
people perceive it. For example, in food stores, bread is usually sold in packaging that is tinted with
golden or brown hues to promote the idea of ‘home-baked’ and ‘oven-freshness’. Similarly, people tend
to associate green-coloured drinks with lime or lemon flavour, while dark purple-coloured drinks are
assumed to be cherry- or plum-flavoured.
 The colour of a food item may also increase the intensity of its flavour. For instance, people can
rate a brown M&M as more chocolate flavoured than a green M&M, based on its colour. This interaction
can be mediated by our perceptions as well, especially depending on cultural expectation. People in the
UK receiving a brown drink would probably expect it to taste like a Cola) , whereas someone from
Taiwan may expect a grape-flavoured drink, because popular brown coloured drinks in their culture are
typically grape-flavoured.
Time
A recent study showed that the perceived duration of a red screen was longer than that of a blue
screen. (Shibasaki and Masataka, 2014). The results reflected sex differences; on average, men tended to
overestimate the duration of the red screen, more than women. The study also found that the reaction
times to a red screen were faster than those to a blue screen. Participants who reacted quickly to a red
screen were more likely to overestimate its duration. However, another study regarding perceived
duration contradicted the results of the above-mentioned study. It showed that blue stimuli were perceived
to be longer in duration than red stimuli (Thönes et al., 2018).
Light
If light or the colour of the object masks its outlines, the object can appear to be shaped differently
than it actually is. Objects under a uniform light-source allows for a better and more accurate depth
perception of its three-dimensional shape. The colour of an object may also affect whether or not it is
perceived to be in motion. In particular, the trajectories of objects under a light source whose intensity
varies with space are more difficult to track than identical objects under a uniform light source.
Some studies show that blue light causes people to feel relaxed. This finding led some countries to
add blue lights in public places, in order to create a sense of peace and reduce suicide rates. In 2000, the
city of Glasgow installed blue street lighting in certain neighbourhoods to improve the landscape.
Subsequently, those areas reported a noticeable decline in crime levels, with anecdotal evidence.
The colour of lighting can also influence our perceived experience in stores and other situations.
For example, time seems to pass more slowly under red light, while it is perceived to pass more quickly
under blue light. Casinos exploit this phenomenon by using red lights, in order to make customers spend
more time in their casino, and thus, provide more income.
Medicine
The colour of placebo pills is reported to be a factor in their effectiveness, with "hot-coloured"
(red, yellow, etc.) pills working better as stimulants and "cool-coloured" (blue, purple, etc.) pills working
better as depressants. This relationship, however, is not directly caused by the colour itself, but results due
to the patient’s expectations. This effect, therefore, is also influenced by culture.
Colour Preference
In psychology, colour preference refers to the tendency for an individual or a group to prefer some
colours over others, such as having a favourite colour or a traditional colour.
An Ecological Valence Theory (EVT) has been proposed to explain why individuals have
different preferences for different colours- the idea that an individual’s preference for a particular colour
is determined by the average affective response to everything the individual associates with the particular
colour. Hence, positive emotional experiences with a particular colour are likely to increase the
propensity to develop a preference for that colour and vice versa. Social and cultural factors also factor
into this affective response. For example, in a study conducted on the effects of “school spirit” and colour
preference it was found that members of Berkeley were more likely to favour the school's official colours
than rival university Stanford. This was also associated with the self-reported level of school spirit the
individual felt. The researchers conducting the experiment concluded that this was evidence for the
Ecological Valence Theory.
 It has been found that children also develop colour preferences, Infants as young as 12 weeks old
exhibit colour preferences. Generally, children prefer the colours red/pink and blue, and cool colours are
preferred over warm colours. Colour perception of children 3–5 years of age is an indicator of their
developmental stage. Colour preferences tend to change as people age.
Colour preferences are used in a variety of domains including psychology, one instance is the
Lüscher colour test which is a psychological test invented by Max Lüscher in Switzerland. Lüscher
believed that sensory perception of colour is objective and universally shared by all, but that colour
preferences are subjective, and that this distinction allows subjective states to be objectively measured by
using test colours. Lüscher believed that because the colour selections are guided in an unconscious
manner, they reveal the person as they really are, not as they perceive themselves or would like to be
perceived.
Factors affecting Colour Preference
Preferences for colours changes according to the society an individual comes from as well,
Favouritism of colours varies widely. Often societal influences will have a direct impact on what colours
are favoured and disdained. In the West, the colour black symbolises mourning and sadness, red
symbolises anger and violence, white symbolises purity and peace, and yellow symbolises joy and luck
(other colours lack a consistent meaning). From a recent study, it was discussed that associative learning
is the process where an individual develops colour preferences. In different countries, colour preferences
vary. In China, red indicates luck, while in Nigeria and Germany it means the exact opposite.
Colour preference can also be influenced by ambient temperature. People who are cold often
prefer warmer colours such as red or yellow, while people who are hot tend to lean towards cool colours,
like blue and green. Research shows that introverts may be more attracted to cool colours, while
extroverts prefer warmer colours.

References
Hockenbury, D.H., & Hockenbury, S.E. (2008). Psychology (5th ed.) [PDF]. Worth Publishers.
Shibasaki, M., Masataka, N. The color red distorts time perception for men, but not for women. Sci Rep 4,
5899 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep05899
Thönes, S., von Castell, C., Iflinger, J. et al. Color and time perception: Evidence for temporal
overestimation of blue stimuli. Sci Rep 8, 1688 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-19892-z
Wikipedia contributors. (2023). Color psychology. Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_psychology