Don’t gray out your supporters! The effect of color tone in prosocial marketing communication
Yiping Li, Ann KronrodPurpose
Marketers often use images to increase the effectiveness of prosocial communication. Some images display dull tones (grayish color), whereas other prosocial advertisements portray images with pure tones (vivid colors with little-to-no gray). However, the effectiveness of color tone in enhancing prosocial behaviors has not been explored in the literature. Addressing this gap, the current research aims to explore what color tones are more effective in eliciting prosocial behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
One field experiment and four controlled experiments were conducted to test the prediction that pure color tones increase prosocial behaviors. The studies also tested the mediation of perceived powerfulness and ruled out two alternative explanations (optimism and attitude) and explored the potential moderator of framing (need vs hope). The studies incorporated various images and color hues and applied them in different prosocial behavior contexts.
Findings
Results revealed that pure color tones (pure colors with little-to-no gray) can increase the effectiveness of prosocial communications, because pure tones signal powerfulness, which in turn increases consumers’ self-efficacy and encourages prosocial behaviors.
Research limitations/implications
While our focus was primarily on the signaling of power and powerlessness, color tone might convey additional meanings, which may influence prosocial behaviors and consumption behaviors, such as dynamism and movement. In addition, while our exploratory study did not provide support for the moderating effect of framing, future research may delve deeper into exploring how framing may interact with image, and especially colors. Finally, future research may explore other variables, for example, text, which may be at play, modifying the effect of color tone on prosocial behaviors.
Practical implications
This research provides a low-cost, simple solution for organizations and policymakers looking to encourage prosocial behavior in a socially responsible manner through the use of pure color tones in prosocial communications.
Social implications
The findings from this research provide a pathway to encourage prosocial activities using color – an inherently harmonic and natural aspect of our lives. These results bear implications for society, especially in cases where words may not be as useful, for example, in intercultural, crosslinguistic communications or when communicating with very diverse populations such as tourists.
Originality/value
This research identifies color tone as an important but underexplored visual element. The findings open novel directions for future research on color tone and its signaling effect. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first to investigate the effect of color tone in prosocial marketing, and the effect of gray in marketing. In addition, prior research on color mainly focused on the consumption of commodity goods and services. In contrast, this paper examines the effect of color in prosocial contexts, which are characterized by motivations other than consumption behaviors.