How Does Colour Affect Visual Merchandising?
When a consumer walks down a street lined with shops, each business on the block is competing for the consumer's attention. Appealing storefront displays and in-store product displays are examples of visual merchandising that can make the difference between attracting a new customer and losing that customer to a competitor. Color is a key component of visual merchandising that can influence consumer choices.
Attracting Attention
One of the most important roles of color in visual merchandising is attracting attention to a business or product. Bright colors such as red and orange tend to stand out and draw the eye, while cool colors such as blue and green do not. If a business is concerned primarily with attracting initial attention from customers, the use of bright colors in merchandising displays can help it achieve its goal. For instance, a candy store could use a red window display with product samples set around waist level to attract the attention of children. In areas saturated with certain colors, the use of contrasting colors can draw attention. For example, if many of the stores in one part of a mall have brightly colored displays, a store with dark displays and could be more effective at attracting attention by creating a stark contrast that gives consumers a break from the bright colors.
Emotional Impact
Beyond their ability to command attention, colors can have an emotional affect on customers and portray meaning about the goods a business offers. Different colors tend to evoke different feelings in people, which can affect how they perceive products. For instance, green and blue tend to call to mind feelings of calm, while bright colors such as red and yellow can evoke feelings of excitement. If a business wants customer to associate its products with relaxation, using soothing colors such as blue or green in product displays can be more effective than using bright colors.
Color Associations
Certain colors carry strong connections to specific ideas and industries, which businesses can use to enhance their visual merchandising. For example, green is strongly associated with environmental friendliness, so a company that is marketing to the environmentally conscious crowd might benefit from liberal use of green in its product displays.
Background Colors
The color of the background in product displays can have a powerful affect on visual merchandising. If a background color is too strong, it can clash with main colors on the display or the product itself. Unobtrusive colors such as beige, white and light shades of cool colors can help keep consumer attention focused on the main color and products used in a display.
Source: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/color-affect-visual-merchandising-40771.html
