Your Color

May 16th, 2009 admin Leave a comment Go to comments

Your Color

The Impact of Color and Its Different Associations in Multicultural Marketing

An earlier series of a Newsletter included articles on how to culturally customize your website. The first feature article focused on the choice of color and their different meanings in different cultures.

As this subject interests most readers, I have completed the list of colors here to keep as a reference in the Multicultural Marketing 101 Guide found on my site along with other useful Guides.

The use of color plays a role in cross cultural communication.

Some Cultures Have Richer Vocabularies For Colors

First let's look at the different numbers of words in different vocabularies.

Some languages have a wider choice of words to describe certain colors. These words may actually refer to very different shades or variations of a color.

Different cultures pay more attention to the variations of certain colors. Here are some examples:

Eskimos have many different words to describe snow and its color.

In India the different variations of the color brown are described with precision.

Color Associations

Colors can be used to express emotions in most cultures. And these colors change and are associated with different colors depending on the culture.

Here are some associations frequently made with colors in different countries.

Black

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents lack, evil, darkness, bad luck, crime, mystery, silence, concealment, execution, end, chaos, death, and secrecy

Germany - Death, grief, rebellion, cool, hopelessness and formality

Mexico - Mourning and respect

United States - Death, sophistication and formality

United Kingdom - Death, formality, doubt, ignorance, and uncertainty.

Japan - nobility, age, and experience

Blue

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents ice, water, sky, cold, calm, and sadness

Germany - Loyalty and formality

Greece - National pride

India - Heavens, love and truth

Israel - Holiness

Scandinavia - Cleanliness

United States - Justice and official business

Green

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents nature, growth, hope, youth, sickness, health, go, Islam, environmentalism and envy

Arab Middle East - Holiness

Africa - 20 of the 53 African countries have Green in their flags, which is one of the Pan African colors

Egypt - Fertility

Germany - Hope and Conservation

Ireland - Nationalism and Catholicism

Malaysia - Danger associated with forest and diseases.

United States - Safety and Money

Purple

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents royalty, funk, nobility, and upper class

Italy - Color of the church, authority

Latin America - Death

United States - Nobility, law and bravery

Red

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents aggression, courage, guilt, energy, passion, anger, fire, socialism, sacrifice, sin, violence, negative, and warning

Africa - Death and bloodshed - 24 of the 53 African countries have Red in their flags, which is one of the Pan African colors

China - Communism, celebration, good luck, joy, courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer

Greece - Love and good luck

India - Birth, fertility, traditional bridal dress color, wealth and beauty

Central Africa - life and health

Mexico - Religion and vibrancy

Scandinavia - Strength

United Kingdom Authority, government and power

United States - Warning, lust, passion, love, beauty, spicy, sin, courage and sacrifice

White

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents lack, snow, purity, ice, peace, nothing, frost, and air

Africa - Victory and purity

China - Death, mourning and purity

India - Death, rebirth, serenity, purity, sacredness, peace and mourning

Ireland - peace between Catholics and Protestants

United States - Virginity, peaceful intent

Western cultures - Purity

Yellow

According to Wikipedia it commonly represents age/aging, jealousy, cowardice, happiness, sunshine, the Orient

Germany - Envy and jealousy

India - Commerce

Israel - Saintliness

Scandinavia - Warmth

United States - Visibility, caution, faith, jaundice and cowardice

Color Combinations

Certain color combinations have meanings too. Here are a few examples:

Black on red - symbolizes happiness in China

Red on white - symbolizes celebration in Japan

Color Associations With Other Words

Colors can be associated with people and different things.

Red

In Japanese red is associated with being:

sincere of heart or "red heart"

a perfect stranger or "red stranger"

stark naked or "red naked"

Blue

In Japanese blue is associated with:

"a blue-eyed outsider" is a white Caucasian

"blue breath" is an anxious sigh

"a blue things shop" is a vegetable shop

"a blue tower" is a brothel

Black

In German black is associated with:

"to drive black" is to drive without a license

"a black seer" is someone who has a television but doesn't pay the TV license and it also refers to a pessimist.

the color of prestige: for example, limousines are usually in black.

"a black sender" refers to a private broadcasting station

Use This As A Basic Introduction To Color

Find out if there is a strong cultural association with certain colors in your target country.

The best way to verify the right use of colors is to have your website and cross cultural communication materials reviewed by an appropriate person in your target country.

Most of the time you will not need any further help with color associations. When in doubt ask for professional cultural marketing advice.

Source For This Article

This article is largely inspired by the book The Culturally Customized Web Site by Nitish Singh & Arun Pereira, published in 2005, with some of my own personal knowledge and online resources.

I am a little weary as to the value of current associations with some of the colors as referenced in this book. Color associations can lose their power, become out-dated and new cultural associations can be created.

Some of the color associations are not all-encompassing - you can still use these colors in other circumstances without an automatic association. But you should give particular consideration if you refer to a topic directly associated with a color. Look at the associations for yellow in the United States.

This book is the best reference source I have come across on the meanings of colors. I highly recommend reading it if you are interested in customizing your any of your communication to different cultures, online or offline.

Get Current Color Interpretations

Society evolves and so do color associations in most countries. Use this list of color associations as a very broad guideline.

If you are creating a localized website or culturally customized content for a specific country, it is always best to get appropriate professional feedback on your choice of colors.

There is more than the simple choice of colors. Different cultures have different tastes. What works well in one country may have disastrous results in another country - even if the colors are "right".

Hold your Colour