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 pre-purchase 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.

中文翻译：

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EXPRESS：Color Me Effective：色彩饱和度对效力和产品功效感知的影响


消费者使用可观察的线索（如颜色）来帮助他们评估产品。这项研究确定，消费者在七项实验室实验 （n = 2,745）、一项网络抓取研究和一项现场实验中，从更高的色彩饱和度推断出更高的产品功效。这些研究提供了证据表明，这种信念源于色彩饱和度和效力之间的习得关联，并适用于消耗品和耐用品。此外，消费者将这种直觉过度概括到产品的实际颜色之外，还延伸到产品的包装颜色和广告中使用的背景颜色。两项研究通过适度的证据支持拟议的过程，而另一项研究将消费目标确定为边界条件，因此当消费者搜索温和（相对于强效）产品时，高饱和度会降低感知功效和购买意愿。这种影响不仅限于购买前的感知，还会影响实际产品使用后的感知。该效果在保持颜色亮度不变的情况下，在六种色调中建立，并具有多个下游后果，包括购买意向和消费量。这些发现对做出产品设计选择的营销人员具有影响，例如产品、包装和广告的颜色选择，以及消费者可能因使用不足或过度使用而受到伤害的情况。