Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Consumer Preferences For Color Combinations: An Empirical Analysis of Similarity-Based Color Relationships
Consumer Preferences For Color Combinations: An Empirical Analysis of Similarity-Based Color Relationships
com
Journal of
CONSUMER
PSYCHOLOGY
Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
b
Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, NY, USA
c
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Received 3 November 2009; revised 14 July 2010; accepted 14 July 2010
Available online 14 August 2010
Abstract
In this paper, we examine aesthetic color combinations in a realistic product self-design task using the NIKEiD online configurator. We
develop a similarity-based model of color relationships and empirically model the choice likelihoods of color pairs as a function of the distances
between colors in the CIELAB color space. Our empirical analysis reveals three key findings. First, people de-emphasize lightness and focus on
hue and saturation. Second, given this shift in emphasis, people generally like to combine colors that are relatively close or exactly match, with the
exception that some people highlight one signature product component by using contrastive color. This result is more consistent with the visual
coherence perspective than the optimal arousal perspective on aesthetic preference. Third, a small palette principle is supported such that the total
number of colors used in the average design was smaller than would be expected under statistical independence.
2010 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Aesthetic self-design; Mass customization; Color combinations; Color relationship
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: deng_84@fisher.osu.edu (X. Deng).
1057-7408/$ - see front matter 2010 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2010.07.005
477
478
Fig. 1. The seven shoe components and corresponding color palettes used in the NIKEiD configurator for the shox model of shoe.
Fig. 2. The NIKEiD colors plotted in the opponent-process color plane (i.e.,
CIELAB coordinates a and b).
479
480
greater than zero (see Fig. 3a). If closely related color pairs are
preferred, then a downward sloping function should be
observed (see Fig. 3b). The visual coherence perspective is
consistent with these two functions. The optimal arousal
perspective, however, predicts an inverted-U shape (see
Fig. 3c), which is consistent with a preference for distinct
colors. An upward sloping function (see Fig. 3d) is consistent
with a preference for contrastive colors and, as noted earlier,
inconsistent with either theoretical perspective. A U-shaped
function (see Fig. 3e) reflects heterogeneity in preferences:
some people prefer relatedness, while others prefer contrast.
Finally, it could be that color distance is not predictive of
preference (see Fig. 3f).
Empirical analyses
Method
In our experiment we asked 142 participants to go to the
NIKEiD Web site and create a Nike shox model shoe for
themselves. Participants first picked a style from the five
starter styles: four gender-specific inspirations (existing
professional designs offered by Nike) and a nearly all-white
design. They then chose a color for each of seven shoe
components (i.e., base, secondary, swoosh, accent, lace, lining,
and shox; see Fig. 1). Each component had a palette of 6 to 12
colors (in total there were 16 unique colors used in the NIKEiD
configurator). The configurator was interactive such that
whenever a color in the palette was clicked, it was automatically
applied to the corresponding area of the shoe. Upon finishing the
self-design task, they recorded the colors of their self-designed
shoe and saved it in the NIKEiD myLOCKER.
Shoe area
Color
(1) Light steel grey
(2) Canteen
(3) Light sand
(4) Twilight blue
(5) Red raspberry
(6) Shy pink
(7) Varsity red
(8) Light chocolate
(9) Linen
(10) Treeline
(10) Lymon
(12) Ice blue
(13) Shock orange
(14) Neutral grey
(15) Black
(16) White
36
10
10
5
23
5
15
14
13
23
16
5
10
23
12
7
20
21
21
7
18
13
8
11
11
5
6
15
11
3
15
7
1
5
12
6
18
20
16
25
19
23
19
12
18
12
14
21
21
20
42
24
23
12
15
12
30
26
Note. An empty cell represents color choices that are unavailable for the
corresponding area.
481
Table 2
Parameter estimates from the distance-only model, w = .084.
Area 1
Area 2
1 (dist)
2 (dist2)
3 (match)
base
base
base
base
base
base
secondary
secondary
secondary
secondary
secondary
swoosh
swoosh
swoosh
swoosh
accent
accent
accent
lace
lace
lining
secondary
swoosh
accent
lace
lining
shox
swoosh
accent
lace
lining
shox
accent
lace
lining
shox
lace
lining
shox
lining
shox
shox
0.0132*
0.0048
0.0137*
0.0086*
0.0132*
0.0134*
0.0039
0.0092
0.0096*
0.0146*
0.0149*
0.0067
0.0063
0.0076*
0.0074*
0.0151*
0.0162*
0.0223*
0.0064
0.0181*
0.0187*
0.0000
0.0001
0.0001
0.0001
0.0002*
0.0002*
0.0003*
0.0003
0.0003*
0.0001
0.0008*
0.0001
0.0000
0.0001
0.0002
0.0002
0.0001
0.0003*
0.0000
0.0004*
0.0003*
0.1838
0.3556
0.3047
0.6128*
0.7466*
0.7339*
0.4579
0.5261
1.0736*
0.3450
0.5059
0.7071*
1.5348*
1.0082*
0.9758*
1.1232*
0.6050*
0.1410
1.9463*
0.9244*
0.9595*
482
Fig. 4. Plots of log(ij)versus dij for each model (for dij 0). Note. *Linear term 1 significant at .05 level; #quadratic term 2 significant at .05 level.
General discussion
Summary of results
In this paper, we examined aesthetic color combinations in a
realistic product self-design task using the NIKEiD online
configurator. We developed a similarity-based model of color
relationships and empirically modeled the choice likelihoods of
color pairs as a function of the distances between colors in the
CIELAB color space. Our empirical analysis revealed three key
findings. First, we found that people greatly reduce the lightness
dimension, essentially squashing the traditional color sphere
into a pizza shape. Second, in this squashed space people
generally like to combine colors that are relatively close or
exactly match. Thus, shades of the same color that differ greatly
in lightness are often combined, but colors of the same lightness
that differ greatly in hue or saturation (i.e., large distances in the
opponent-colors plane) are seldom combined. These results are
clearly more consistent with the visual coherence perspective on
aesthetic preference than the optimal arousal perspective and are
consistent with other empirical results in visual aesthetics (e.g.,
Hekkert & Wieringen, 1990; Martindale et al., 1990; Veryzer &
Hutchinson, 1998).
The main exception to the visual coherence perspective was
that a large minority of people chose to highlight one
component by choosing a contrastive color far from the
neighborhood used for the other components. The signature
shox component of the shoe was especially likely to be
highlighted in this way. This suggests some higher order
principles are at work. Perhaps visual coherence determines the
looks of the whole shoe, but it is desirable to create a separate
visual figure within the shoe and use the rest of the shoe as the
background for this figure. Such higher order principles are an
interesting topic for future research.
Finally, the total number of colors used in the average shoe
design (4.0) was smaller than would be expected under
statistical independence (5.5). Using a small palette simplifies
the final design and reduces the cognitive effort required during
the self-design process. Additionally, we computed a color
combination index for the four professionally designed
inspiration shoes shown to each participant and found that
this index was positively correlated with preference ratings for
those shoes, providing some support for the predictive validity
of our model.
Limitations and future research
This research represents an important first step in our
understanding of aesthetic color combination for consumer
products. However, it has several limitations that highlight
directions for future research. First, we have examined a single
product, self-designed athletic shoes. Color combination (or
more generally, feature combination) is important in many other
consumer products (e.g., cars, computers, phone-pillows
(Gibbert & Mazursky, 2009)) and, probably more important, in
the combination of separate products into coordinated ensembles when they are used (e.g., dressing for different occasions,
483
References
Abramov, I., & Gordon, J. (1994). Color appearance: On seeing redOr
yellow, or green, or blue. Annual Review of Psychology, 45, 451485.
Abramov, I., Gorden, J., & Chan, H. (2009). Color appearance: Properties of the
uniform appearance diagram derived from hue and saturation scaling.
Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 71, 632643.
Agresti, A. (2002). Categorical data analysis, 2nd Edition. Wiley.
Bellizzi, J., & Hite, R. E. (1992). Environmental color, consumer feelings, and
purchase likelihood. Psychology and Marketing, 9(5), 347363.
Berlyne, D. E. (1974). Studies in the new experimental aesthetics. New York:
Wiley.
Bettman, J. R., Luce, M. F., & Payne, J. W. (2008). Preference construction and
preference stability: Putting the pillow to rest. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 18(3), 170174.
Bloch, P. H. (1995). Seeking the ideal form: Product design and consumer
response.Journal of Marketing, 59, 1630 July.
Chuang, M. C., & Ou, L. C. (2001). Influence of a holistic color interval on color
harmony. Color Research & Application, 26(1), 2939.
Garner, W. R. (1976). Interaction of stimulus dimensions in concept and choice
processes. Cognitive Psychology, 8(1), 98123.
Gibbert, M., & Mazursky, D. (2009). How successful would a phone-pillow
be: Using dual process theory to predict the success of hybrids
involving dissimilar products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19(4),
652660.
Gorn, G., Chattopadhyay, A., Yi, T., & Dahl, D. (1997). Effects of color as an
executional cue in advertising: They're in the shade. Management Science,
43(10), 13871400.
Hekkert, P., & Wieringen, P. C. (1990). Complexity and prototypicality and
determinants of the appraisal of cubist paintings. British Journal of
Psychology, 81, 483495.
Hurvich, L. M., & Jameson, D. (1957). An opponent process theory of color
vision. Psychological Review, 64, 384404.
Koffka, K. (1935). Principles of Gestalt psychology. New York: Harcourt,
Brace.
Krantz, D. H. (1975a). Color measurement and color theory: I. Representation
theorem for Grassmann structures. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 12,
283303.
Krantz, D. H. (1975b). Color measurement and color theory: II. Opponentcolors theory. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 12, 304327.
Kumar, M., & Garg, N. (2010). Aesthetic principles and cognitive emotion
appraisals: How much of the beauty lies in the eye of the beholder? Journal
of Consumer Psychology, 20(4), 485494.
Lauer, D. A. (1979). Design basics. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
484
Leder, H., Belke, B., Oeberst, A., & Augustin, D. (2004). A model of aesthetic
appreciation and aesthetic judgment. British Journal of Psychology, 95,
489508.
Logvinenko, A. D., & Maloney, L. T. (2006). The proximity structure of
achromatic surface colors and the impossibility of asymmetric lightness
matching. Attention, Perception and Psychophysics, 68, 7683.
Martindale, C., Moore, K., & Borkum, J. (1990). Aesthetic preference:
Anomalous findings for Berlyne's psychobiological theory. The American
Journal of Psychology, 103, 5380.
Medin, D. L., Golstone, R. L., & Gentner, D. (1993). Respects for similarity.
Psychological Review, 100, 254278.
Mollon, J. D. (1982). Color vision. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 4185.
Moon, P., & Spencer, D. (1944). Geometric formulation of classical color
harmony. Journal of the Optical Society of America, 34(1), 4659.
Munsell, A. H. (1969). A Grammar of Color. New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold (From the original version of 1921).
Ou, L. C., & Luo, M. R. (2006). A colour harmony model for two-colour
combinations. Color Research & Application, 31(3), 191204.
Polzella, D. J., & Montgomery, D. A. (1993). Dimensions of color harmony.
Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 31(5), 423425.
Shevell, S. K., & Kingdom, F. A. (2008). Color in complex scenes. Annual
Review of Psychology, 59, 143166.
Simonson, I. (2008). Will i like a medium pillow? Another look at constructed
and inherent preferences. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 18(3),
155169.
Tversky, A. (1977). Features of similarity. Psychological Review, 84, 327352.
Venkatesh, A., Joy, A., Sherry, J. F., Jr., & Deschenes, J. (2010). The aesthetics
of luxury fashion, body and identify formation. Journal of Consumer
Psychology, 20(4), 459470.
Veryzer, R. W., & Hutchinson, J. W. (1998). The influence of unity and
prototypicality on aesthetic responses to new product design. Journal of
Consumer Research, 24(4), 374385.