색상(color)은 색상이 가지는 이미지 혹은 연상을 통해 다양한 분야에서 활용되어지고 있다. 마케팅 분야에서는색상 자체만으로도 커뮤니케이션 역할을 하기 때문에 광고, 패키지, 점포환경 등에 이용되어 소비자의 태도 혹은 구매행동에 영향을 미치거나 주의를 끌고 제품 이미지 혹은 속성에 대한 이해를 돕는데 이용되고 있다.
색상 효과에 관한 연구에 따르면, 대부분 warm color(e.g., 빨강)보다 cool color(e.g., 파랑)가 더 긍정적인효과를 나타낸다. 하지만 본 연구에서는 이러한 색상 효과가 메시지 유형에 따라 달라지는지 살펴보았다.
실험1에서는 색상(파랑 vs. 빨강)을 배경으로 하여 메시지 유형의 조절효과에 대해 살펴보았다. 그 결과, 파란색을 배경으로 한 집단에서는 바람직함과 관련된 메시지가 주어졌을 때 더 긍정적인 제품태도를 보였으며 빨간색을배경으로 한 집단에서는 실행가능성과 관련된 메시지가 주어졌을 때 더 긍정적인 제품태도를 보였다. 실험2에서는인지적 자원고갈 임무를 통해 색상에 대한 메시지의 조절효과에 대해 검증하였는데, 색상의 효과는 나타났지만 메시지의 조절효과는 나타나지 않았다.
이와 같이 본 연구에서는 색상의 효과는 메시지 유형에 따라 달라질 수 있고 기존 연구와 달리 빨간색 역시 긍정적인 효과를 유도할 수 있다는 사실을 보여주었다.
Color, in various fields, has been utilized in an association with symbolic meaning. In marketing,since color itself has been recognized as a valuable information provider, it could serve as a communication tool in advertising, package design, and store environment.
Most of prior researches on color(Babin et al. 2003; Bellizzi and Hite 1992; Bellizzi et al.
1983; Gone et al. 1997; Middlestadt 1990) have shown that cool color (e.g., blue) was more likely to generate positivity than warm color (e.g., red). However, the current research examined that the influence of color could be moderated by message type.
For message type, desirability refers to the valence of an action's end state, and feasibility refers to the ease or difficulty of reaching the end state. According to recent research(Liberman and Trope 1998; Trope and Liberman 2003; Trope et al. 2007), desirability-related messages exert significant impact on the evaluations of products in conditions of broad process(i.e.,high-level construal), whereas feasibility-related messages exert significant impact on product evaluations in conditions of narrow process(i.e., low-level construal).
Meanwhile, recent research in the literature of color indicates that color influences on consumers' mind-sets. Specifically, blue is linked with broadness, openness and thus, is more likely to induce global process, whereas red is linked with detail, narrowness and thus, is more likely to induce local process. Accordingly, the current research predicts that blue is more likely to generate positive effect than red in conditions of exposure to desirability-related messages. By contrast, red is more likely to generate positive effect than blue in conditions of exposure to feasibility-related messages.
First, a pretest was conducted to determine whether or not blue vs. red generate different mind-sets by using Behavior Identification Form. The result of the pretest showed that blue background generated broader mind-set than red background.
Based on the pretest, experiment 1 examined the moderating role of message type in the influence of color on product attitudes. Ninety undergraduates participated in this study. All participants were randomly assigned to the conditions of a 2(Color: blue vs. red) x 2(message:desirability-related vs. feasibility-related) between-subjects design. Participants were given ads for an electronic tooth blush with desirability-related messages vs. feasibility-related messages on blue vs. red background. They were then asked to evaluated the product.
As a result, participants in the blue background condition evaluated the product more favorably than those in the red background condition. More importantly, participants in the blue background condition evaluated the product more favorably when they were presented with desirabilityrelated messages than when they were presented with feasibility-related messages, whereas participants in the red background condition evaluated the product more favorably when they were presented with feasibility-related messages than when they were presented with desirabilityrelated messages.
Cognitive resource is considered as an important factor in consumer information processing and thus, Experiment 2 was conducted to further demonstrate the moderating role of message type. Specifically, by using resource depletion technique, Experiment 2 suggested a boundary condition in the moderating role of message type in the influence of color on product attitudes.
The result revealed that participants in the blue background condition evaluated the product more favorably than those in the red background condition. However, the moderating effect of message type disappeared.
In sum, the current research demonstrated that the influence of color on product attitudes was moderated by message type. That is, participants in the ad with the blue background evaluated the product more favorably when they were exposed to desirability-related messages than when they were exposed to feasibility-related messages. By contrast, participants in the ad with red background evaluated the product more favorably when they were exposed to feasibility-related messages than when they were exposed to desirability-related messages.
Furthermore, this effect cannot be carried out in conditions of cognitive resource depletion.