Page 10 - PR Communication Age January-June2020

ecdotal insights from advertisement campaigns on social emerges in the study of colours is the lack of universality in
media (Facebook) have also been included in this paper to terms of responses elicited by the colours from the target
provide a better understanding on the topic. The primary market. While some studies suggest that colour has a uni-
data used for the study was collected through 198 sets of versal meaning which is based on evolutionary connotations
questionnaires which were distributed to participants via such as our reaction to red, which evokes blood and thus,
online and physical channels. The research was conducted danger. Another school of thought - Associated Learning,
with specific focus on two age groups 18-22 and 43-55 in an important concept realm of modern psychology, states
select metropolitan cities of India. Data obtained in the that the emotional cues generated by colour are developed
survey was analyzed using IBM SPSS & MS Excel. This study over time as individuals associate particular stimuli/experi-
took within its scope only three colours; Red, Blue & Yel- ences with the colour in its presence and that colour thus
low as a means to keep datasets within an acceptable de- carries different meanings for different individuals based on
gree. This study tells us that color is perceived to have sig- their unique worldview. Thus, a question arises, whether
nificant importance in eyes of the consumers. Furthermore, colour holds a universal connotation or varies because of
the feelings evoked by of colours changes greatly with the context?
context, while the existence of universal meanings from
colours also seems to hold. Major findings of this research Significance of the study
are the determinants that influence the effectiveness of ad-
Colour constitutes an integral aspect of the packaging, logo,
vertisements and thus, hold great value for marketers.
website and other agents of the brand and thus, is inter-
twined deeply with its perception. A question arises
Introduction to the study: whether, brands should use colour as a cogent communi-

The importance of visual advertising can be attributed to a cation tool, maintaining a consistent narrative by utilizing
number of practical factors such as the evolution of media, colours along with their associated meanings across mul-
cost-effectiveness & reach along with various psychologi- tiple campaigns or focus more on layout, copy and other
cal factors that primarily conclude the fact that we intake factors. Designers have always placed great value on
visual stimuli better. Research suggests that the process- colours; knowledge of colour synergies, harmonies, triads,
ing of colour data in our brains occurs before shapes, words combinations and complimentary colours are often put to
and even faces. Thus, underlying their importance in visual great use in creating advertisement campaigns.
advertising.
Heinz, the notable ketchup brand spent years creating an
The perception of all things visual originates from our retina, association with Red and then changed the colour of their
comprised of two photoreceptors; cones and rods. The rods signature ketchup from red to green to bring attention to
containing only one light-sensitive pigment, help in the the message, the change resulted in 10 million bottles be-
detection of light while the cones are responsible for the ing sold in the first 7 months, a significant increase from
detection of colour. There are about 6 million cones in an the companies’ natural sales trajectory. While this should
average human retina, broadly distributed into three types, not hold much importance for academic analysis, this does
each type aiding in the perception of one of the three pri- underscore the importance of colours. The effectiveness of
mary colours; red, blue & yellow. The colour itself is formu- advertisements is difficult to judge as the two main results
lated out of various wavelengths of light, red being the from advertisements; sales and recall can have a variety of
shortest and purple being the longest. factors affecting them. However, the importance of adver-
tisements is universally accepted. This predicament is also
While the detection of colours is fairly congruent in humans shared with the factors of an advertisement. A deeper
who have the ability (according to data provided by the understanding into colour use and colour psychology helps
government around 3-6% of the population suffers from brands develop cogent marketing strategies while also help-
partial or complete colour blindness), the challenge that ing them create a brand personality.

"Love never needs working on, it's relationships that do."

10 PR COMMUNICATION AGE January - June 2020