What is the Most Persuasive Color?
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Photo Credit: Red-Black Poison Arrow Frog
I have mixed feelings about Kevin Hogan’s persuasion strategies, but I gotta give the man credit he does a ton of research! Many of his strategies he backs up with studies done by professors at Universities. I was at Kevin’s blog to day and I read his article about what color is the most persuasive:
The color red can affect how people function. Red means danger and commands us to stop in traffic. Researchers at the University of Rochester have now found that red also can keep us from performing our best on tests. -from article: What Color is Most Persuasive?
Read the whole article, it’s a fascinating study.
I wonder if the reason red affects us so mush is because it taps into the primal parts of our brain, the part that still reacts the way our ancestors reacted. In the wild red plants are usually poisonous, blood is red, and some dangerous animals like poisonous arrow frogs.
It blows me away at how things we don’t really think about can persuade us so effectively. In the article where he talks about the students who did worse on their exams simply because the color red was flashed at them moments before taking the test; it brings to mind so much of what persuasion is all about- influencing a persons unconcsious mind.
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2 Responses to “What is the Most Persuasive Color?”
By The Infotainer on Aug 11, 2008 | Reply
Yes, interesting about Red. Let me pose this:
Was Red chosen by humans to be a signal for danger and stop knowingly? Consciously or subconsciously?
It’s probably a color (in the average environment) that ’stands out’ the most … and has that ’simple’ fact any bearing?
Is it because it’s the color of fire .. and blues and greens, for example more static peaceful associations?
Verrrry interesting ……
John
The Infotainer
By HowardStern on Aug 19, 2008 | Reply
Id have to say green
you can persuade anyone with some green
its also associated with luck