Color is an indispensable and irreplaceable element in people’s life. A large number of studies show that human being connects colors with emotion and they could influence human in certain aspects. However, due to the culture difference, colors tend to represent different meanings around countries. While we are making colors for advertisement, products, branding, etc., it is very important to use appropriate colors for not offending any cultures and also getting more effective. This essay will look firstly at the problems of using inappropriate colors, second, it will explain how do those problems influence people and offer solutions, followed by the conclusion.
Currently, most companies would use colors on their logo or advertisement to present their enterprise spirit, such as blue shows safe and trust, purple shows wise and rich. Using the right colors would influence the human’s feelings about objects. Sometimes it would likely be annoying and would be juggling if using inappropriate colors. Take McDonald’s for example, according to NBC NEWS (2009), McDonald’s used to use red backdrop to present passion and optimistic of their enterprise spirit, however, while more and more people especially people in European countries start to concern about environmental issues, McDonald’s has warmed to become more environmentally friendly. Finally, in European countries, they changed their traditional backdrop to a deep hunter green, for promoting a more eco-friendly image in Europe. This change not only improved their ‘greener’ image around European customers, also brought a remarkable growth in their income. This example shows that putting the proper colors in a proper place and a proper moment is the main point of using colors. Likewise, before making the colors, generally, doing some research and getting to know which aspect do people concern the most in different countries in order to approach their aesthetic also catch their eyes.
Furthermore, based on cultural differences and religion, people in different countries would have the dissimilar color preference. ‘In the United States and many western cultures, luck is often associated with green (four-leaf clovers), while red can be considered a color of danger. However, in China, luck is traditionally symbolized by the color red’. For instance, it likely is more appropriate to use red on New Year celebration in China instead of using white which presents death in Chinese culture. Studying various countries’ culture and understanding their culture aesthetic tend to help to address the differences across countries. Perhaps there are not only strict forms but some intermediate areas. Human’s minds change every day, most of the people in the younger generation seem to be more flexible to their traditional cultures and more stick to fashion, still, it could be argued that it is important to respect every culture and make sure that avoiding controversial color which could against the audience’s culture in certain particular areas.
It is clear that some feel that human response to color is stable. However, those feels could change due to the cultures, religions, generations, etc. To sum up, while people across countries hold different color preference, carefully using colors cross-countries appear to solve this problem. In order to achieve that, it is suggested that do more studying and research. By then, it would not displease in any country and probably gain more benefit through it.
