The affect colour has on people
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Research Report
When red means go: Non-normative effects of red under sensation seeking
Ravi Mehta a,⁎, Joris Demmers b, Willemijn M. van Dolen b, Charles B. Weinberg c
a College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61820, United States b Amsterdam Business School, University of Amsterdam, Plantage Muidergracht 12,1012 TV Amsterdam, Netherlands
c Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, 2053 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
Received 5 February 2015; received in revised form 11 April 2016; accepted 30 April 2016 Available online 6 May 2016
Abstract
Although previous research has identified red as the color of compliance, the current work proposes that this effect of red may not hold under high sensation-seeking propensity conditions. It is argued that the color red has the capability to induce arousal, which in turn has been shown to enhance a person's default tendencies. Further, because high sensation seekers have a higher tendency to react, the exposure to the color red for these individuals will increase reactance and thereby non-compliant behavior. One field study and two lab experiments provide support for this theorizing. The first experiment, a field study, examines prank-chatting incidences at a child helpline and shows a positive effect of red on such non-compliant behavior. Experiment 2 confirms this finding in a controlled lab setting and shows that when one has a high sensation-seeking propensity, the color red positively affects one's attitude towards non-compliance. The final study illuminates the underlying process and explicates the role of arousal and reactance in the color–non-compliance relationship. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed. © 2016 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Color; Non-compliance; Arousal; Sensation seeking; Reactance
Introduction
Color plays a pervasive role in people's lives and their interactions with the external environment. Consumers are continuously exposed to a variety of colors that affect their perception and behavior. For example, the color red is associated with dangers and mistakes and has been shown to influence consumption behavior, such as inducing preference for prevention-oriented products (Mehta & Zhu, 2009), or avoidance of unhealthy foods (Rohr, Kamm, Koenigstorfer, Groeppel-Klein, & Wentura, 2015). More importantly, and relevant to the current research, it has been shown that the color red, as compared to other colors, also leads to the highest level of compliance and induces conformity not only with instructions and warnings (Braun & Silver, 1995; Williams & Noyes, 2007), but also with social norms (Elliot, Maier, Moller, Friedman, &
⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (R. Mehta).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2016.04.004 1057-7408/© 2016 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. A
Meinhardt, 2007; Mehta & Zhu, 2009). In this paper, we propose that this widely accepted link between the color red and compliance might not be as universally applicable as suggested by previous research. Specifically, we argue and demonstrate that exposure to the color red may in fact lead to higher non-compliant behavior under high sensation-seeking propensity conditions.
Theoretical development
Ample evidence suggests that the color red is associated with dangers and mistakes (Braun & Silver, 1995) and evokes a motivational tendency to avoid negative outcomes (Elliot et al., 2007; Mehta & Zhu, 2009). Such activation of avoidance motivation makes people more vigilant and risk-averse (Friedman & Förster, 2002; Koch, Holland, & van Knippenberg, 2008) and enhances the likelihood of compliance with, for example, requests (Nikitin & Freund, 2008). Color research has also shown that because red is associated with dangers and mistakes (Chapanis, 1994; Griffith & Leonard, 1997; Rodriguez, 1991), it enhances
ll rights reserved.
92 R. Mehta et al. / Journal of Consumer Psychology 27, 1 (2017) 91–97
compliance with warnings, signals (Braun & Silver, 1995; Williams & Noyes, 2007), and normative standards (Mehta & Zhu, 2009). Interestingly, besides having its association with dangers and mistakes, the color red also has the capability to induce arousal (Bagchi & Cheema, 2013; Bellizzi, Crowley, & Hasty, 1983; Schaie & Heiss, 1964). Exposure to the color red has been shown to increase blood pressure, respiratory rate, and eye blink frequency (Gerard, 1957). Research using skin conductance (Wilson, 1966) and electrical responses as a measure of brain function (Clynes & Kohn, 1968) has also shown positive relationship between red and arousal.
Recent research has also demonstrated the implications of such arousal arising from the color red, such as increased willingness to pay for auction (versus negotiation) purchases (Bagchi & Cheema, 2013) and enhanced human performance in contests (Hill & Barton, 2005). More relevant to the current work, it has also been argued that arousal amplifies people's default behavioral tendencies (Baumeister & Bushman, 2013; Gilovich, Keltner, & Nisbett, 2010). The seminal work in social facilitation theory (Zajonc, 1965) suggests that arousal increases people's tendencies to do what they are already predisposed to do. Findings from other work also support this argument (Cottrell & Wack, 1967; Criddle, 1971; Markovsky & Berger, 1983). For example, Platania and Moran (2001) found that during a stimulus identification task, participants reported significantly more pre- ferred response numbers (i.e., the responses with greatest habit strength) under high versus low arousal conditions. Similar effects of arousal have been found even when the habitual strength is externally manipulated. Cottrell and Wack (1967) demonstrate that under high-arousal conditions participants' responses to ambigu- ous stimuli, in a pseudorecognition task, are governed by stronger habits established during the training trials.
Building on the above argument, we propose that because the color red induces arousal, it would lead to higher non-compliant behavior for people who have high sensation-seeking propensity. Sensation seeking has been defined as “the seeking of varied, novel, complex, and intense sensations and experiences, and the willingness to take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experience” (Zuckerman, 1994). Importantly, it has been argued that high sensation seekers have a higher tendency of exhibiting reactance to the presented cautionary stimuli (Burgoon, Alvaro, Grandpre, & Voulodakis, 2002; Quick & Stephenson, 2008; Stephenson et al., 1999). For example, Quick and Stephenson (2008) show that high sensation seekers when presented with dogmatic persuasive messages (e.g., ones advocat- ing an exercise routine or encouraging sunscreen use) display higher reactance which in turn leads to higher non-compliant behavior. Thus, we argue that arousal induced on exposure to the color red should activate reactance for high sensation seekers and in turn lead to higher non-compliant behavior. Indeed, prior research has argued that sensation-seeking propensity interacts with the presented stimuli's arousal inducing capability (Zuckerman, 1988) to activate reactance, which in turn may enhance non-compliance with the presented stimuli. Findings in the neuroscience literature also support this argument. Joseph, Liu, Jiang, Lynam, and Kelly (2009) demonstrate that when exposed to high-arousal stimuli, low sensation seekers exhibit neural
responses that are consistent with a stronger inhibitory system. By contrast, high sensation seekers exhibit neural responses that are consistent with an overactive approach system, indicating higher propensity to react when exposed to high-arousal stimuli.
Summarizing the above arguments, we hypothesize that exposure to the color red will induce arousal, which in turn will activate high sensation seekers' default tendency to react, thereby leading to higher non-compliance with the presented stimuli. We test our hypothesis through a set of three studies as detailed next.
Experiment 1
The first experiment examined our basic proposition through a field study conducted in collaboration with a Dutch child helpline that offers free online counseling for children (ages 8 to 18 years) through a chat service. Although the helpline explicitly promotes the use of its online counseling services for genuine purposes only, around 20% of all chat conversations are non-genuine or prank chats. Such prank chats are an indication of non-compliant behavior and are a common problem for helplines worldwide (De Ruyter, Wetzels, & Feinberg, 2001; Emmison & Danby, 2007). Note that it is suggested that children engage in such behavior for thrill-seeking purposes (Emmison & Danby, 2007; Fukkink & Hermanns, 2009; Seilhamer, 2011).
As discussed earlier, previous research examining the effects of the color red on compliant behavior would suggest that using red as the background color on a chat request screen should reduce prank chats. However, if red increases non-compliance under high sensation-seeking conditions, then service abuse, which is driven by the thrill-seeking motivation, should increase if the chat request screen is red, as compared to when it is neutral (e.g., white) or another chromatic color (e.g., blue).
Method
For this experiment, we manipulated the color of the waiting screen on the childline's website (red vs. white vs. blue; see methodological detail (MD) Appendix A). This screen appears only if there is a time lag between a child's request for a chat and his/her being connected with the counselor. As the help- line's system records this waiting time in minutes, we only analyze the chats with a waiting time of more than one minute. That is because a recorded waiting time of more than one minute indicates that participants were indeed exposed to the focal color manipulation for at least one minute. After the chat is finished, the counselor codes the conversation as to whether it was a prank or not. The counselors were blind to the hypotheses, and the color of the waiting screen that might have appeared before the chat began.
Data
The waiting screen color was changed on an hourly basis for 30 days during which a total of 10,086 records of chat conversations were captured. Of these, 5387 visitors had a
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Fig. 1. Preference for statements that rejected compliance with social norms as a function of color and sensation seeking (Experiment 2).
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waiting time of more than one minute, that is, were exposed to the waiting screen and hence our color manipulation for at least one minute. Further, 4152 (3151 females) chat conversations were recorded as completed and hence were coded as either prank chats or not. Thus, we used these 4152 data points for our analysis. Of these, 1386, 1389, and 1377 chatters were exposed to the red, white, and blue waiting screens respectively.
Results
A binary logistic regression analysis indicated that a signifi- cantly higher percentage of prank chats was observed when the waiting screen was red (M = 21.57%), as compared to when it was white (M = 16.70%; B = .32, SE = .10, Wald = 10.54, p b .01) or blue (M = 16.05%; B = .36, SE = .10, Wald = 13.75, p b .001). No difference, however, was observed between the white and blue conditions. The observed results remained unchanged when controlling for waiting time and gender.
Discussion
The above results demonstrate higher prank-chatting inci- dence under red versus both white and blue conditions. Note, we do not suggest that a person will log onto the helpline's website with a genuine problem and then decides to prank chat based on the color s/he is exposed to. Rather, a person logs onto the website with an intention to prank chat (i.e., is in a high sensation-seeking state) and, while waiting for the chat to begin, makes a final decision to either dropout or continue and engage in the prank chat (i.e., not comply with the normative standard of using the counseling service for sincere purposes). Given that the chatters are randomly assigned to one of the color conditions, it is fair to assume that prank chatters are equally distributed across the three conditions. Hence, the higher prank-chat percentage under the red condition suggests that more people with prank intentions decided not to comply with the expected norms and continued with the chat as compared to the people who were exposed to another chromatic color (i.e., blue) or an achromatic white.
To test the robustness of our findings, we next conducted a controlled lab experiment and examined whether the color red leads to higher non-compliance disposition, when one has high sensation-seeking propensity. Because the observed results were similar for the two non-red conditions (i.e., white and blue) and our investigation primarily concerns the non-compliance effect for the color red, we dropped the blue color condition from the following studies and use an achromatic color (i.e., white) as the baseline condition. We leave for future research but speculate that neither blue nor white induce arousal, thus accounting for the similar results for these two conditions in experiment 1.
Experiment 2
Method
Ninety-six undergraduate students (42 females) at a large U.S. mid-western university completed this study on computers, in
exchange for a course credit. The study employed a between subjects design in which color was manipulated at two levels (red vs. white), while sensation seeking was measured and included in the model as a continuous variable. All participants began the study by answering Brief Sensation-Seeking Scale (BSSS; Hoyle, Stephenson, Palmgreen, Lorch, & Donohew, 2002; see MD Appendix B), with each item presented separately on a neutral (i.e., white) background screen. Next, all participants were presented with a few demographic questions on either a red or white color background screen depending on the condition they were assigned to. Finally, to assess participants' attitude towards compliant behavior, they were presented with five pairs of statements about social norms. In each pair, one statement favored while the other rejected compliance with social norms (see MD Appendix C). These statement pairs were presented one at a time on either a red or a white background screen, depending on the condition. The participants' task was to indicate their preference for one statement versus the other at that moment in time, on a 1–7 scale, such that a higher number indicated preference for the statement rejecting compliance with the social norms.
Results
First, participants' responses to the BSSS items were averaged to create a sensation-seeking index (α = .65). Similarly, their scores on five social-norm items were averaged to calculate their overall attitude towards norm compliance (α = .73). A regression analysis, conducted with color, the sensation-seeking index, and the corresponding interaction term as independent variables, and overall attitude score as the dependent variable in the model, revealed a significant two-way interaction between color and sensation seeking (β = 1.46, t(95) = 2.74, p b .01; see Fig. 1). As hypothesized, on exposure to the color red, individuals with a high sensation-seeking propensity (+1 SD) indicated higher preference for statements that rejected compliance with social norms (M = 4.19) as compared to low sensation seekers (−1 SD) (M = 2.82; t(95) = 5.48, p b .001). No such difference, however, was observed under the white color condition (MHigh = 3.66,
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Fig. 2. Inclination to not use sunscreen as a function of color and sensation seeking (Experiment 3).
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MLow = 3.28; t(95) = 1.44, p = .15). Analysis of the other two contrasts indicated a significantly higher preference for non-compliance statements under the red versus white condition when the sensation-seeking propensity was high (t(95) = 2.03, p b .05). By contrast, exposure to the color red versus white led to marginally higher preference for the statements favoring compli- ance with social norms when the sensation-seeking propensity was low (t(95) = 1.79, p = .08).
Discussion
The observed results obtained under controlled lab con- ditions provide additional support for our proposition. It was found that while exposure to the color red induces preference for compliance with social norms for people who have low sensation-seeking propensity, the effect is reversed for high sensation seekers, such that they indicate higher preference for non-compliance with social norms. In the next study, we examine the proposed underlying mechanism for the observed effect. Specifically, we test the proposition that the color red induces arousal, which activates the reactance tendency of high sensation seekers, thereby enhancing their non-compliant behavior.
Experiment 3
Method
This experiment was completed by 202 MTurk members (93 females) in exchange for a small monetary compensation. As in experiment 2, color was manipulated at two levels (red vs. white) and sensation seeking was measured using the BSSS (Hoyle et al., 2002). The participants began the study by responding to the BSSS items (α = .84) presented on a white background screen followed by a 5-min filler task. Next, participants were presented with demographic questions followed by a public service announcement (PSA) that recommended regular use of sunscreen. As in experiment 2, these were presented either on a red or a white background screen. The participants were asked to carefully read the PSA and indicate their inclination to use sunscreen on 4 items (α = .93; Quick & Stephenson, 2008), such that higher scores indicated lower inclination to use sunscreen (i.e., higher non-compliance). Next, participants' responded to 8 items (α = .90; Dillard & Shen, 2005) measuring their reactance to the presented message, followed by 16 items that captured their arousal level as induced by color (α = .76; Bagchi & Cheema, 2013). Finally, all participants reported their frequency of sunscreen use in everyday life. All measures described above utilized 7-point scales (see MD Appendix D for the stimuli and the measures used in this study).
Results
Data from one respondent who participated in the study four times (identified through IP address) were removed from the analysis, leaving a total of 198 observations. First, to reconfirm the results obtained in the previous experiments, we examined
the joint effect of color and sensation seeking on non- compliance behavior. We regressed participants' reported inclination to use sunscreen on color, sensation seeking, and their interaction term. To control for participants' use of sunscreen in daily life, we added typical sunscreen usage as a covariate in the model. The results revealed a significant two-way interaction (β = .37, t(194) = 2.73, p b .01; see Fig. 2) such that the color red led to higher non-compliance when sensation-seeking propensity was high (+1 SD; M = 3.11) versus low (−1 SD; M = 2.58; β = .21, t(194) = 2.17, p b .05). In the white color condition, this difference between high (M = 2.60) versus low (M = 3.00) sensation seeking was marginally significant (β = .15, t(194) = 1.68, p = .095). Further, high sensation seekers indicated significantly higher non-compliance under the color red as compared to white (β = .51, t(194) = 2.12, p b .05). However, low sensation seekers indicated only marginally lower non-compliance on exposure to the color red as compared to white (β = .42, t(194) = 1.75, p = .08).
Next, we assessed the underlying mechanism through which color and sensation seeking may jointly affect non-compliance. Note, we have theorized that the color red, as compared to white, induces arousal, which then interacts with sensation-seeking propensity to determine reactance, such that high (low) sensation-seeking propensity leads to high (low) reactance that in turn enhances (mitigates) non-compliance. To test this proposition, we conducted a moderated serial mediation analysis, following procedures described by Preacher, Rucker, and Hayes (2007) and Hayes (2015). Specifically, we modeled color as the predictor variable, arousal and reactance as the serial mediators, non-compliance as the dependent variable, and sensation seeking as a moderator on the path from arousal to reactance (see Fig. 3). The path analysis revealed three significant direct effects. First, color was significantly associated with arousal (β = .95, SE = .08, p b .001), such that as expected the color red (M = 4.70) as compared to white (M = 3.75) induced significantly higher arousal (t(196) = 11.59, p b .001). Second, we observed a significant interaction effect of arousal and sensation seeking on reactance (β = .19, SE = .09,
Fig. 3. Moderated serial mediation model used to test conditional (on sensation seeking) indirect effect of color on non-compliance relationship via arousal and reactance (Experiment 3).
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p b .05). Finally, there was a significant direct effect of reactance on non-compliance (β = .31, SE = .07, p b .001). All other direct effects in the model were found to be non-significant. Finally, we examined the hypothesized indirect effects using bootstrap analysis (5000 resamples). The overall moderated serial mediation effect was observed to be statistically different from zero (β = .06, SE = .03, 95% CI = [.01, .13]), thereby indicating that the color red induced higher arousal which then interacted with sensation seeking to jointly effect reactance that in turn lead to higher non-compliance. Further, analysis of the individual paths for high and low sensation-seeking propensity indicated that the indirect effect of color on non-compliance via arousal and reactance was significant only under high (+1 SD; β = .13, SE = .07, 95% CI = [.03, .30]) but not under low sensation-seeking propensity (−1 SD; β = −.01, SE = .06, 95% CI = [−.15, .10], ns).
Discussion
The above results provide further support for our theorizing and illustrate the process mechanism through which red leads to higher non-compliance for high sensation seekers. It was observed that the color red induces arousal, activating reactance for high sensation seekers, which then leads to higher non-compliance. However, for low sensation seekers, arousal as induced by the color red does not activate reactance resulting in lower non-compliance.
General discussion
In this paper, we test and provide support for the hypothesis that the color red, which is typically associated with compliance, leads to non-compliant behavior when sensation-seeking propensity is high. An investigation of the underlying process supports the idea that arousal, as induced by exposure to the color red, interacts with sensation seeking and activates high sensation seekers' default tendency of reactance, which then leads to higher non-compliance.
However, given the results of experiment 1, a competing argument could be made with respect to the source of arousal. One may argue that people in a high sensation seeking state may also experience higher arousal and therefore demonstrate higher non-compliance, thereby undermining the role of color in the present work. Experiments 2 and 3 were therefore operationalized to address this issue by measuring sensation
seeking, that is, individuals may not have been in the actual state of high sensation seeking or arousal. Supporting our argument, additional analysis conducted in experiment 3 returned a non-significant effect of sensation seeking on arousal (t(196) = 1.26, p N .20). Interestingly, however, a significant two-way interaction between color and sensation seeking emerged for arousal (β = .17, t(194) = 2.62, p b .01). Al- though the color red, as compared to white, led to higher arousal irrespective of whether sensation-seeking tendency was low (Mred = 4.53; Mwhite = 3.80; β = .73, t(194) = 6.40, p b .001) or high (Mred = 4.85; Mwhite = 3.70; β = 1.15, t(194) = 10.10, p b .001), a significant difference emerged between high versus low sensation seekers when they were exposed to the color red (β = .12, t(194) = 2.72, p b .01). However, under white, both high and low sensation seekers indicated equivalent and low level of arousal (t b 1). Thus, it appears that although sensation-seeking predisposition alone may not induce arousal, its combination with the color red may in fact exacerbate the effect.
Given the above results an interesting question arises with regards to the joint effect of color and sensation seeking on arousal. It is possible that such interaction of color and sensation seeking may affect two dimensions of arousal—energetic and tense (Bagchi & Cheema, 2013; Thayer, 1978, 1986) differently. Additional analysis conducted for the two types of arousal in experiment 3 indeed showed that the interaction between color and sensation seeking remained significant only for tense arousal (β = .35, t(194) = 3.37, p b .001). Such effects were not observed for energetic arousal (t b 1); that is, the color red always led to energetic arousal irrespective of sensation seeking. Thus, it appears that arousal plays an intriguing role in the joint effect of color and sensation seeking on non-compliance and further in-depth research will be of value to explicate these interesting findings.
In addition, future research may also examine other potential processes through which red may encourage non-compliance. For example, the color red invokes associations with dangers and mistakes and such associative links may lead to it being perceived as an instructional source directing individuals to refrain from engaging in a particular activity. Hence, under certain conditions (e.g., high sensation seeking), such semantic implications of the color red may induce higher reactance and hence non-compliance.
The current work primarily focused on understanding the effects of the color red on non-compliance behavior. However, further investigation of the results observed for the colors blue and white could also reveal interesting information. For example, white has been shown to be associated with moral behavior (Sherman & Clore, 2009). Hence, it may be of value to examine if and how exposure to white may affect individuals' compliance behavior. Also, for the color blue, it was found in experiment 1 that although the observed non- compliance under the color blue was lower than for the color red, it was equivalent to that observed under white. Again, it could be suggested that because the color blue induces feelings of peacefulness and calm (Kaya & Epps, 2004), it may deter people from engaging in non-compliant behavior. In sum, current work presents an interesting future research opportunity
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to disentangle the seemingly intriguing interplay between the three colors on non-compliance behavior.
The present work makes several important and interesting contributions. First, it advances color literature by demonstrat- ing that the well-accepted effect of red on compliant behavior may not always be true and identifies conditions in which red may lead to non-compliant behavior. It also adds to recent literature that has started to examine counterproductive effects of the color red. For example, De Bock, Pandelaere, and Van Kenhove (2013) show that people exposed to red are more accepting of an undesirable behavior by others, for example, not paying for a soft drink consumed within the store.
Finally, the notion that red may induce non-compliance under high sensation seeking circumstances has potentially important real life implications. Red is often used to signal danger, warn people, and prevent or stop people from engaging in unwanted behavior. Low sensation seekers, who are less inclined to engage in risky behavior, will typically respond to these signals in the intended direction, that is, avoid the dangerous situation, obey instructions, and refrain from engaging in the unwanted behavior (Zuckerman, 1994). High sensation seekers on exposure to red, however, are likely to react and demonstrate higher non-compliance. Hence, the widespread use of the color red to signal danger, warn people, or stop unwanted behavior may actually be counter-effective for high sensation seekers. Our field study, where those exposed to a red background color (as compared to white or blue) had higher rather than lower levels of prank chatting at a child helpline, exemplifies the counter-effective use of the color red due to limited understanding of its effects on behavior.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Gerald Gorn for valuable comments on an earlier version of this article and Lidan Xu for her extremely helpful research assistance. The authors also thank the editor, the AE, and the three anonymous reviewers for their very insightful comments and feedback during the review process. Financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada is gratefully acknowledged.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2016.04.004.
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