Forum Moderators: not2easy
That statement, from the Institute for Color Research, demonstrates the dominant role that color plays in influencing potential customers! Are you a business owner who uses the Internet for marketing? Ask yourself: What subconscious judgment will potential customers make when visiting your website? Will the colors attract and motivate, or repel the buyer, turning into a lost sale?
Is color really so important? Well, in a recent survey, almost 40% of American car buyers stated that they would change car brands if they cannot get the color of their choice! Yes, we can rightly conclude that color really matters.
We have long believed that color is the single greatest way to influence website viewers. You may have a very creative layout with cutting edge functionality. Yet, if the colors are not right, it may well cancel out any positive perceptions formed by viewers. Conversely, great color can often overcome other flaws in the website design.
When viewers and potential customers contact us, it is most often our use of color that is complimented. Even without the benefit of the research stated above, we knew that for better or for worse, color has an overwhelming impact on website viewers.
In conclusion, the best advice we can give any web designer is this: Choose your colors well! It is the single design element that most often determines the success of your web design.
[edited by: heini at 3:43 pm (utc) on July 18, 2003]
[edit reason] urls edited, please consult posting guidelines. Thanks! [/edit]
Excellent post - many thanks for sharing that info.
I've always been a fan of two complimentary colours and anything else shades of grey...
Many thanks,
TJ
[edited by: mivox at 7:50 pm (utc) on July 18, 2003]
[edit reason] removed link reference [/edit]
That's an interesting post...
[edited by: mivox at 7:49 pm (utc) on July 18, 2003]
[edit reason] removed link reference [/edit]
Findings suggested that yellow and black together are deterrent colours, barriers.
This made me think about using them in Credit Card Fraud warnings on e-commerce sites.
welcome to WebmasterWorld.
i think i read somewhere that pink calms people down, i wonder what color makes people click and ultimately buy?
[edited by: mivox at 7:49 pm (utc) on July 18, 2003]
[edit reason] removed link reference [/edit]
there has been some very interesting academic research (that is actually useful!) as well.
Most interesting things from memory.
Colors are culturally defined. What a color "means" for a US browser may be completely different (and dysfunctional) for say someone from Japan. Colors also have different meanings for other demographics too (life-stage, age, gender)
colors look different on different monitors
people tend to be made uncomfotable by high contrast. Best to avoid high contrast colors if you want people to stay on your site, or use them and take the risk for one-time-visit sites if you want them to make a quick decision (they will click to get away, hopefully to your affiliate link, not the back button!)
Whilst monitors do vary the colours, they don't change the solid ones too much, a shade here and there, so powder blues and dusky pinks might altered.
Colour blind people also vary and some see greens differently etc - so it is never going to be an exact science although I think there is some truth in the theory that we do take acton in reltion to colours without knowing we are doing it.
