Hello my nerdy friends,
I found an interesting study on colors for “indulgent” vs “healthy“ products. Turns out, the same color can perform very differently depending on the type of product.
The study:
Researchers ran two experiments comparing packaging color for food products.
They tested four setups: whole wheat cereal in orange packaging versus green packaging, chocolate cereal in red versus green, chocolate dessert in red versus green, and vegetable salad in orange versus green.
Each person saw one version and rated purchase intent from 1 to 7 (Su & Wang, 2024).
🧪What they found:
Warm colors worked for indulgent foods.
Cold colors worked for healthy foods.
Using the wrong color lowered purchase intent.
Why?
Our brains link warm colors with foods that are sweet, rich, and high in calories. Ripe fruit, baked goods, and cooked foods tend to be warm in color, so warm packaging fits what our brains already associate with indulgence and taste.
Our brains link cold colors with freshness, plants, and health. Green and similar colors signal vegetables, low processing, and restraint. Cold packaging fits foods people see as responsible choices.
When the color matches these expectations, the product is easier to recognize and categorize.
When it does not match, the brain has to work harder, which lowers purchase intent.
This happens, because our brains are lazy, so when you make it work harder, your brain mixes the feeling of “something being difficult” with “unpleasant“ and makes you think the product is unpleasant and you don’t want it.
Caveat
This research tested food products only, using orange/red and green. It did not test non-food products, luxury brands, or cases where brands might benefit from breaking category expectations. The effect depends on people already having a clear idea of what the product represents.
💡Takeaway
If you sell fast food or snacks, definitely try warm colors in ads.
The study didn’t test other niches, but I suspect it might work across other niches that match with the idea of “indulgent“ or “healthy“. You can test warm colors for indulgent or pleasure-based products across other niches or cooler colors for health-focused or self-control products.
Match the color to what people already expect from the product, because easier processing leads to higher purchase intent.
That’s it for today folks,
Ksenia (the biggest nerd)
P.S. on a personal note, I don’t love labelling foods as “healthy“ vs. “unhealthy“👀. I think it attaches unnecessary morality to food that makes it ironically mentally harder to achieve health goals.
And, thank you to today’s awesome sponsor, Hubspot!
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