Colour associations across cultures

Colours have special meaning across cultures. Both colour and appearance are very important marketing and communication elements in the food industry. People have developed specific associations and symbolism around colours, which drive them to adopt or reject a product.  These associations are very important when comes to establish new food products in a new market.  Some examples of this cultural diversity on colours are illustrated in the table below.  

 

COUNTRY	SYMBOL	MEANING OR ASSOCIATION
Iran	Blue	Funeral colour, mourning
Egupt, Syria	Green	Nationalist colour
Gold Coast	Pairs of items	Disapproved
Japan	White	Colour of mourning
Nicaragua	Brown, Grey	Disapproved
Latin America	Purple	Death
Thailand	Feet	Regard as despicable

 Examples of cultural taboos of marketing significance involving colour and appearance

 

The diversity of colour associations depicts the different communication approach which is required. That implies a totally different marketing mix, from culture to culture. Especially on food communication we must be very aware of these symbolisms in order to get the right message across.  This can be a reason why global brands adopt not only their image but also their products to the local markets, in order to be competitive. 

In the table below we illustrate some common examples of colour associations.

Colour	Strong association	Little association
Red	Protective, powerful	Peacful, soothing
Orange	Ecxiting	Peaceful, soothing, Dignified
Yellow	Exciting, cheerful, pleasant	Dignified, strong, despondent, protective
Green		Dignified, strong, Melancholy, protective
Blue	Pleasant, secure, soothing	Disturbed, unhappy, hostile
Puple	Dignified, stately	Stimulating, cheerful
Brown	Secure	Gheerfulm histile, exciting, strong, pleasant
White	Tender	Exciting, despondent, hostile, upset, strong
Grey, Back	Unhappy, Disturbed, Hostile, Dejected, stately, strong	Exciting, secure, tender, joyful, pleasant, calm

 Associations and non-associations between colours and mood-tones (adapted from Scaie 1961 American Journal of Psychology, University of Illinois Press)

Researches have shown that there are a psychophysical relationships  between colour and flavour.


These included:

• Addition of red, increased perceived Sweetness by 5-10%
• Addition of blue to cherry or to strawberry, decreased Tartness and fruit Flavour by up to 20%
• Addition of blue to raspberry, decreased Tartness by 1%
• Addition of yellow to cherry and strawberry, could decrease Sweetness by 20%, and fruit flavour by 3-5%

Colour strongly affects the shelf image of a product which leads directly to the buy or not to buy decision.  To make people adopt a food product in their diet, we have to make it familiar with the local culture.  One part of this process is definitely the appearance.  Consequently, through different associations on colour, we can understand the cultural diversity along markets.

George Gkekas | International Business Developer 

Source: FOOD COLOUR AND APPEARANCE | J.B. Hutchings

Photography 1 by:  Ben Heine
Photography 2 by: fooditerranean

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