Zhao Dan, Guan Fengwei
College of Humanities, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.
Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Changchun, China.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 16;13:1028425. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1028425. eCollection 2022.
Many international firms hold a common stereotype about Chinese consumers' color preference: culturally, red is their favorite color. However, many international firms (e.g., P&G, Ford, and Wal-Mart) do not use red as their theme colors when they run business in the Chinese market. To explain this interesting phenomenon, this study conducted three which include one IAT experiment and two scenari-based experiments to reveal less culture-laden influences of colors on people by examining the mediating effects of perceived spaciousness between colors and purchase intention. The results show that blue walls of a room make the room look more spacious than red ones and eventually increase consumers' purchase intention. The perceived spaciousness is caused by the fact blue objects are perceived more distant than red ones. The findings indicate that culturally favorable color may not always be the most effective tool to increase consumers' purchase intention. Hence, international firms should be extremely cautious when selecting a theme color in foreign markets.
在文化层面上，红色是他们最喜欢的颜色。然而，许多国际公司（如宝洁、福特和沃尔玛）在中国市场开展业务时，并不将红色作为其主题颜色。为了解释这一有趣的现象，本研究进行了三项实验，包括一项内隐联想测验实验和两项基于情景的实验，通过考察颜色与购买意愿之间感知空间的中介作用，揭示颜色对人们较少受文化影响的作用。结果表明，房间的蓝色墙壁比红色墙壁看起来更宽敞，最终会增加消费者的购买意愿。感知空间的产生是因为蓝色物体比红色物体看起来更远。研究结果表明，在文化上受欢迎的颜色不一定总是增加消费者购买意愿的最有效工具。因此，国际公司在国外市场选择主题颜色时应极其谨慎。
