Color Me Effective: The Impact of Color Saturation on Perceptions of Potency and Product Efficacy
通过七个实验室实验、网络爬虫研究和现场实验，发现消费者认为颜色饱和度越高，产品功效越强，这种直觉源于饱和度与效力的关联，并影响购买意愿和实际使用量。
Consumers use observable cues, like color, to help them evaluate products. This research establishes that consumers infer greater product efficacy from higher color saturation across seven lab experiments (n = 2,745), a web scraping study, and a field experiment. The studies provide evidence that this belief stems from learned associations between color saturation and potency and is applied to both consumable and durable products. Moreover, consumers overgeneralize this intuition beyond a product's actual color to a product's packaging color and the background color used in its advertisements. Two studies support the proposed process with evidence via moderation, while another study identifies consumption goal as a boundary condition, such that high saturation decreases perceived efficacy and purchase intent when consumers search for a gentle (vs. strong) product. The effect is not limited to prepurchase perceptions but also influences perceptions after actual product use. The effect is established across six hues while holding color lightness constant and has multiple downstream consequences, including purchase intent and consumption amount. The findings have implications for marketers who make product design choices like color choices for products, their packaging, and advertisements, and in instances where consumers may be harmed from underuse or overuse.