Logo Colour Appropriateness

What it is

The concept treats a colour's suitability as a judgement made against two things: what kind of product the logo stands for, and what the brand is trying to be. The first experiment tested whether a colour is more appropriate when it fits the product's type, distinguishing functional products from sensory-social ones. The second looked at red and blue across brands classified as functional, sensory-social or both, and at whether the colours helped enhance the brand's desired image.

In effect

Colours that were congruent with the product type were judged more appropriate for its logo. When people knew how a brand was trying to position itself, they judged colours that suited that position as more appropriate. The authors argued that an appropriately chosen colour can add inherent value to a brand name or logo even without prior conditioning.

For a team weighing a category's usual colour, appropriateness is a different question from resemblance. One asks whether the colour suits this brand's job, the other whether it looks like the rivals. The two can have the same answer.

What it does not say

Appropriateness is a rating of fit, not a measure of trust, liking or purchase. The experiments do not say which colours suit which product types in general, and they do not test whether a fitting colour raises sales.

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