Trustworthy Blue or Untrustworthy Red: The Influence of Colors on Trust

Abstract

In marketing practice, blue, followed by red, is the most used color in brand logo designs. Academic studies have shown that blue is related more to trust than red, but extant empirical results are somewhat inconclusive. This article further explores this notion using both implicit and explicit methods to test the influence of blue and red on trust. The results across three studies consistently show that blue increases trust more than red, contributing to the current literature by providing solid empirical evidence of the relationship between colors and trust and insight for brand managers into brand logo design and redesign.

Full text

TRUSTWORTHY BLUE OR UNTRUSTWORTHY RED: THE INFLUENCE OF
COLORS ON TRUST
Lixun Su, Annie Peng Cui, and Michael F. Walsh
In marketing practice, blue, followed by red, is the most used color in brand logo designs.
Academic studies have shown that blue is related more to trust than red, but extant empirical
results are somewhat inconclusive. This article further explores this notion using both implicit and
explicit methods to test the influence of blue and red on trust. The results across three studies
consistently show that blue increases trust more than red, contributing to the current literature by
providing solid empirical evidence of the relationship between colors and trust and insight for
brand managers into brand logo design and redesign.
Blue is a predominant color in brand logos across differ-
ent countries and product types. We conducted a pre-
study of the top-500 global brands in 2016 and found
that approximately one-half of brand logos include the
color blue in their design aesthetics and one-third use
blue as the theme color. The motivation behind the
wide use of blue logos is an intriguing question for
both academia and practitioners. The current study
explores the role of color in consumer–brand relation-
ship, particularly the impact of the color blue on trust,
brand attitude, and perceived product quality.
In color research, the notion that blue is related more to
trust while red is related more to distrust is widespread
(Mehta & Zhu, 2008). Although empirical studies have
provided some evidence for this argument (Labrecque &
Milne, 2012), at least three research gaps exist. First, the
primary influence of colors on trust, excluding all other
contextual factors, remains underexplored. Previous stu-
dies have found that consumers perceive blue websites as
more trustworthy than red website, but this effect is
absent in the context of advertisements (Alberts & van
der Geest, 2011; Puzakova, Kwak, Ramanathan, &
Rocereto, 2016). The impetus for the current work comes
from the question: Do consumers perceive the color blue
as more trustworthy than other colors regardless of the
context? To answer this question, Study 1 disentangles the
main influence of color on trust using an implicit research
method, eliminating all contextual variables.
Second, prior studies (e.g., Bottomley & Doyle,
2006; Labrecque & Milne, 2012) have primarily used
hypothetical brands to test the influence of colors on
trust, whereas the current study focuses on how colors
change consumers’trust perceptions of existing
brands, especially in the context of logo redesign.
Study 2 examines how color influences consumers’
trust perceptions of logo redesigns among established
brands such as Amazon.com and Sony.
Third, the current branding practice of using blue as
the theme color for brand logos begs further scrutiny.
Do blue logos indeed convey a high level of trust-
worthiness to consumers? Study 3 examines whether
consumers have higher trust, more favorable attitudes,
and higher perceived product quality when brand
logos’theme color is blue rather than red.
This research addresses these gaps of logo color
choice, experimental stimuli and trust, and in doing
so, this research makes the three following contribu-
tions. First, we provide empirical evidence of the rela-
tionship between color (blue/red) and trust/distrust
after controlling for contextual variables via an impli-
cit test. Second, the implicit method adopted in the
study provides an alternative way to measure trust
while overcoming the limitations and potential biases
of survey research. This research method allows us to
examine the direct relationship between colors and
Lixun Su (Ph.D. candidate, West Virginia University), Ph.D.
candidate of Marketing, West Virginia University,
Morgantown, West Virginia, lisu@mix.wvu.edu
Annie Peng Cui (Ph.D., Kent State University), Kmart Chair
of Marketing, Associate professor of Marketing, West
Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, Annie.
Cui@mail.wvu.edu
Michael F. Walsh (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh), Chair
and Associate professor of Marketing, West Virginia
University, Morgantown, West Virginia, Michael.
Walsh@mail.wvu.edu
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can
be found online at www.tandfonline.com/mmtp.
Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, vol. 27, no. 3 (Summer 2019), pp. 269–281.
Copyright ÓTaylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1069–6679 (print) / ISSN 1944–7175 (online)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2019.1616560

trust that may not be uncovered by survey research.
Third, we show that the use of blue as the theme color
of a brand logo increases consumers’brand trust,
which in turn increases their brand attitudes and per-
ceived product quality. We contribute to marketing
practice by providing managers with practical advice
on the use of colors in brand aesthetic decisions. In
many cases, aesthetic designs and brand building are
an expensive marketing undertaking, usually costing
companies millions of dollars (Stampler, 2013; Walsh,
Winterich, & Mittal, 2011). The findings of this
research should help managers optimize the brand
aesthetic investment.
This article is organized as follows: We first review
the literature on color theory and propose hypotheses
on the influence of colors on trust and the influence of
brand logo colors on brand evaluation. We test the
hypotheses across three studies. Study 1 examines the
influence of the colors blue and red on trust and dis-
trust using an implicit test. Study 2 applies the findings
of Study 1 to the marketing area and focuses specifically
on the implicit influence of brand logo theme colors on
consumers’trust perceptions. Study 3 uses an explicit
methodology to test the influences of brand logo theme
colors on consumers’trust, brand attitudes, and per-
ceived product quality of newly introduced brands.
Finally, we discuss implications and limitations and
offer directions for future research.
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND
HYPOTHESES
The impact of colors
Previous studies indicate that human behavior and emo-
tions are influenced by the hue (e.g., red vs. blue), light-
ness (the degree of lightness or darkness), and saturation
(e.g., dull vs. rich green) of colors in environments natu-
rally and/or socially (e.g., Bitner, 1992;Carole,1996;De
Bock, Pandelaere, & Van Kenhove, 2013; Elliot & Niesta,
2008; Hagtvedt & Brasel, 2017; Kareklas, Brunel, &
Coulter, 2014; Lee, Fujita, Deng, & Unnava, 2016).
Natural influence refers to the brain’s spontaneous and
biological responses to colors without learning; thus, nat-
ural influence should be consistent across cultures and
species(Wang,Shu,&Lei,2014). According to evolution-
ary theory, creatures favor things that increase their survi-
val rates rather than those that cause danger. For example,
just as daytime provides better chances of survival than
nighttime, people tend to prefer light colors (i.e., white) to
dark colors (i.e., black) (Kareklas et al., 2014). In addition,
because red can increase blood pressure and respiratory
rate, it can evoke more aggressive behaviors than blue
among both humans and animals (Bagchi & Cheema,
2013;Pryke,Lawes,&Anderson,2001).
By contrast, social influences of colors on cognitions
and emotions are caused by social learning (Wang et al.,
2014), which could be explained by associative learning
theory. This theory suggests that the association between
two objects is formed by frequent combinations
(Labrecque & Milne, 2012;Mehta&Zhu,2008). For
example, in the United States, Caucasian Americans are
usually described as “white”and African Americans as
“black.”Researchers have found that, owing to the long
history of discrimination against African Americans, both
Caucasian Americans and African Americans favor the
color white over black (Hill, 2002; Kareklas et al., 2014).
As red and blue lie on opposite sides of the color
spectrum, their different influences on humans’emo-
tions, cognition, and performance have attracted much
research attention (e.g., Bagchi & Cheema, 2013;Hill&
Barton, 2005; Labrecque & Milne, 2012). Prior studies
show that red can increase humans’power, compe-
tence, arousal, and excitement more than blue
(Healey, Uller, & Olsson, 2007; Moller, Elliot, & Maier,
2009). Red also leads to decreases in price offers in
negotiations but elicits higher bid jumps than blue
(Bagchi & Cheema, 2013). In addition, research has
found that consumers undertake more purchases and
fewer purchase postponements in retail stores with blue
rather than red background color (Bellizzi & Hite, 1992).
Other research has shown that blue is related more to
trust than red (e.g., Mehta & Zhu, 2008), though empiri-
cal evidence is limited. Therefore, the current study aims
to empirically examine the influences of blue and red on
trust. We adopted two distinctive methodologies (i.e.,
implicit and explicit measures) to extend internal valid-
ity. We also examine whether changing brand logo
colors to blue can increase consumer trust in brands
and its downstream consequences (i.e., brand attitude
and perceived product quality).
The influence of colors on trust
Trust is important in relationship marketing (Grönroos,
1994;Mouzas,2016) because it reduces exchange parties’
perceived risks embedded in a relationship and thus
270 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

functions as a key driver in building relationships with
consumers, buyers, and other stakeholders (Morgan &
Hunt, 1994). For a brand, gaining consumer trust is
important in building a long-term consumer–brand rela-
tionship and in enhancing brand equity (Chaudhuri &
Holbrook, 2001; Delgado-Ballester & José Luis, 2005).
This notion of building trust with consumers extends
to the realm of brand aesthetics, including logo design.
Refiningbrandlogodesignsuchaschoosinganappro-
priate color might increase consumers’trust in the brand
(Lowry, Wilson, & Haig, 2014).
Previous studies indicate that blue is a more favor-
able color than red for most people (Hurlbert & Ling,
2007), because blue is a color of natural space (i.e., sky)
and people favor natural environments as a result of
evolution (Nutsford, Pearson, Kingham, & Reitsma,
2016). In addition, people have better moods, higher
self-esteem, and lower blood pressure in a natural envir-
onment (Pretty, Peacock, Sellens, & Griffin, 2005).
Therefore, blue can promote relaxation, reduce psycho-
logical distress, and increase mental health (Barton &
Pretty, 2010; Nutsford et al., 2016; Pretty et al., 2005).
As a result, people have lower risk aversion when
exposed to a blue environment and, in turn, have
higher levels of trust when the color blue is present.
We draw on associative learning theory to examine
the relationship between colors and trust. People fre-
quently associate red with something dangerous (e.g.,
blood, fire), and red can signal stop, danger, or failure,
which people try to avoid (Elliot, Maier, Binser,
Friedman, & Pekrun, 2009). As such, the color red
can prompt people’s avoidance motivation (Elliot
et al., 2009). Elliot et al. (2009)find that people
knock on a red door less frequently than doors of
other colors and stay away from a red test cover.
Conversely, people often associate blue with peaceful
and tranquil objects (e.g., sky, ocean), which they are
prone to approach. Therefore, blue prompts an
approach motivation (Genschow, Reutner, & Wänke,
2012; Mehta & Zhu, 2008). When approach (vs. avoid-
ance) motivation is activated, people become less (vs.
more) risk averse (Friedman & Forster, 2002).
Therefore, blue might be able to reduce consumers’
perceived risks of a trustee (Mehta & Zhu, 2008),
which can increase their trust in the trustee (Mayer,
Davis, & Schoorman, 1995). Thus:
H1: Blue is more positively associated with trust than
red.
The influence of brand logo theme colors on
brand trust
A brand logo, as a core brand identity, can influence
consumers’emotions and behaviors (Fajardo, Zhang,
& Tsiros, 2016; Phillips, McQuarrie, & Griffin, 2014).
As an important element of a brand’s logo, the theme
color can heavily influence consumers’evaluations of
the brand logo (Bottomley & Doyle, 2006; Henderson
& Cote, 1998) and their attitudes toward the brand
(Jun, Cho, & Kwon, 2008). This phenomenon is best
explained by associate network theory (Labrecque &
Milne, 2012), which posits that people’s memories are
stored in an associative network of nodes and links
(Bower, 1981). Each color and emotion can be consid-
ered a node. Links are the association of two or more
nodes (e.g., a certain color is related to a particular
emotion) (Bower, 1981). When consumers are exposed
to a brand logo color (e.g., blue), the link between the
color and its meanings should become activated (e.g.,
blue is trustworthy) (Baxter, Ilicic, & Kulczynski,
2018). Consequently, consumers are more likely to
perceive blue-logo brands as more trustworthy than
brands with other logo colors (Baxter et al., 2018).
Therefore, we argue that colors designed as part of
a brand aesthetic influence consumers’evaluations of
brands.
Among all colors used in brand logo designs, the
theme color should exert the strongest influence. The
theme color of a brand logo is the color predominately
used in brand logo design (e.g., the theme color of
Walmart’s logo is blue, Netflix’s theme color is red).
This study argues that if blue increases people’s trust
more than red, they should perceive a brand with
a blue theme color as more trustworthy than a brand
with a red theme color. Thus:
H2: Consumers’trust in a brand is higher when the
theme color of a brand logo is blue than when it is
red.
The influence of brand logo theme colors on
brand attitude and perceived product quality
One objective of many marketing efforts is to
increase brand attitude, or consumers’overall evalua-
tion of a brand (Olsen, Slotegraaf, & Chandukala,
2014) in terms of brand credibility, competence,
trustworthiness, and so on (Keller, 2003).
Summer 2019 271

Relationship marketing theory suggests that trust is
a key mediator between communication and rela-
tional outcomes such as purchase intention and
cooperation (Harris & Goode, 2010;Morgan&
Hunt, 1994). We argue that trust should mediate
the relationship between brand logo colors and
brand attitude. Specifically, brand logo colors should
influence consumers’trust in a brand, and thus the
color blue should evoke more brand trust than red.
When consumers trust a brand, they are more com-
mitted to the brand and have higher attitudinal loy-
alty (Chaudhuri & Holbrook, 2001). Finally,
consumers should have more favorable attitudes
toward a trusted brand than its competitors
(Delgado-Ballester & José Luis, 2005). Thus:
H3: Brand trust mediates the relationship between
brand logo colors and brand attitude.
Using the same logic, we argue that trust mediates
the relationship between brand logo colors and per-
ceived product quality. Previous studies have demon-
strated the positive influence of brand trust on
consumers’perceived product quality (Reast, 2005).
For example, when consumers already trust an estab-
lished brand, they perceive new products introduced by
the brand as of higher quality (Keller & Aaker, 1992).
Consumers rely on a brand’s trustworthiness in evalu-
ating product quality, particularly when they lack pro-
duct knowledge (Hem, Grønhaug, & Lines, 2000).
Likewise, when consumers perceive brands with blue-
colored logos as trustworthy, this trustworthiness is
transferred to product quality evaluations. Thus, we
posit that consumers will perceive higher product qual-
ity for blue-logo brands than red-logo brands.
H4: Brand trust mediates the relationship between
brand logo colors and perceived product quality.
STUDY 1: THE EFFECTS OF COLOR ON TRUST
Experimental process
We designed Study 1 to test H1 via an implicit methodol-
ogy. In particular, we used an implicit association test
(IAT) to assess the relationship between trust and color
with all other possible contextual variables removed. The
IAT is a widely used method in psychology and marketing
domains to implicitly gauge the strength of an association
between different concepts by measuring participants’
reaction times when exposed to experimental stimuli
(Bar-Anan, Liberman, & Trope, 2006; Lee, Deng,
Unnava, & Fujita, 2014).
In an IAT, a participant is asked to categorize words
on the basis of their meanings. The participant is
exposed to one word at a time, given two options,
and asked to assign the word to one of the options.
From the results of a pretest, we used six stimulus words
related to color (“indigo,”“azure,”“scarlet,”“crimson,”
“fire,”and “cerulean”) and 12 stimulus words related to
trust (“doubt,”“dependence,”“skepticism,”“faith,”
“suspicion,”“credence,”“hope,”“betray,”“corrup-
tion,”“conviction,”“reliance,”and “disbelief”).
The experiment employed four blocks. The first two
blocks of the IAT were practice blocks. Specifically, in the
first block, the participants were required to categorize
the color-related words into a “blue”group or a “red”
group, and the second block required them to categorize
the trust-related words into a “trust”group or a “distrust”
group. The third block was a compatible block, in which
we paired “trust”with a “blue”background and “dis-
trust”with a “red”background (see Figure 1, Panel A).
Participants were randomly exposed to six trust-related
words (“disbelief,”“reliance,”“conviction,”“corrup-
tion,”“betray,”and “hope”)andaskedtoassignthe
words to either a “trust”or “distrust”category. In addi-
tion, three color-related words (“cerulean,”“crimson,”
and “fire”)were included as distractors. The fourth
block was an incompatible block, in which we reversed
the trust/distrust blue/red background combination,
pairing “trust”with a “red”background and “distrust”
with a “blue”background (see Figure 1, Panel B). In the
fourth block, we showed the participants the remaining
six trust-related words (“doubt,”“dependence,”“skepti-
cism,”“faith,”“suspicion,”and “credence”)andthree
color-related words (“indigo,”“azure,”and “scarlet”)
and asked them to categorize the words into either the
“trust”or “distrust”category. We evaluated participants’
choices by assessing whether they correctly completed
the task of categorizing the synonyms of trust into the
“trust”group and the synonyms of distrust into the
“distrust”group. To avoid order effects, we randomized
all words in the third and fourth blocks and the appear-
ance of groups for each stimuli word.
272 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

We recruited 154 native-English-speaking workers on
Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to participate in this
study. During the course of the experiment, we
recorded the participants’response times for each word.
Results and discussion
Greenwald, Nosek, and Banaji (2003) suggest the use
of the D-score algorithm to analyze IAT data.
Accordingly, we implemented a 600-millisecond
penalty for incorrect answers (Greenwald et al.,
2003). Then, we deleted 25 outliers with five stan-
dard deviations greater than the mean response
time. To test the difference in average response
times, we conducted a paired t-test on the mean
time of trust-related words in compatible and incom-
patibleblocks.Themeanresponsetimewassignifi-
cantly shorter in the compatible block pairing “blue”
and “trust”(M= 2203 milliseconds, SD = 769 milli-
seconds) than in the incompatible block paring
“blue”and “distrust”(M= 2358 milliseconds,
SD = 740 milliseconds; t(128) = 3.004, p< .05; see
Figure 2). The results show that the participants were
able to categorize words significantly faster when
blue rather than red accompanied trust; this suggests
that blue is related more to trust than red, in support
of H1.
STUDY 2: THE EFFECTS OF BRAND LOGO
THEME COLORS ON BRAND TRUST
The objective of Study 2 is to extend the findings of
Study 1 to brand aesthetics. Study 2 also used an
implicit methodology to test the effect of brand logo
theme colors on brand trust (H2). Here, it was neces-
sary to adapt the prime-target methodology used in
Payne’s(2001) study, which tests the implicit influ-
ence of racial prejudice on judgments. Payne (2001)
first exposed participants to a prime picture (a
Caucasian vs. African American) followed by a target
picture (a handgun vs. a hand tool picture) and then
asked them to classify the target picture as either
a handgun or a hand tool. His results show that parti-
cipants were more likely to misclassify the hand tool
picture as a handgun when the prime picture showed
an African American than when it showed a Caucasian
American, revealing that participants’judgments are
biased by implicit racial prejudice.
Using the same logic as in Keith’s(2001) experi-
ment, we first showed participants a prime picture (a
blue vs. a red brand logo) accompanied by a pair of
target pictures (a trustworthy- and an untrustworthy-
looking human face) and then asked them to match
the brand logo to one of the two target pictures.
A positive relationship between blue and trust would
be demonstrated if consumers associated blue brand
logos with the trustworthy-looking faces and red
brand logos with the untrustworthy-looking faces.
Figure 1
Experimental Stimuli
Trust Distrust Distrust Trust
A: Compatible block B: Incompatible block
Figure 2
IAT Results
2100
2150
2200
2250
2300
2350
2400
Blue Red
Response time
Summer 2019 273

Experimental material
For the prime pictures, we morphed the logos of two
existing brands, Amazon.com and Sony. We chose
these brands for three reasons. First, their logos do
not contain either blue or red. The brand logo of
Amazon.com is black and yellow, and the Sony
brand logo is black and white. Second, Amazon.com
and Sony represent different industries, which helps
overcome the industry selection bias to some extent.
Third, both are well-known brands with which con-
sumers are familiar. We created two brand logos for
each brand, one blue and one red.
Again, the target pictures were two pairs of human
faces tested to look trustworthy and untrustworthy.
We adopted one pair (left-hand side of Figure 3)
from Libine (2015) and the other (right-hand side
of Figure 3) from Tanner and Maeng (2012). The
two faces on the top of Figure 3 are trustworthy-
looking faces and the bottom two are untrustworthy-
looking faces.
Experimental process
At the beginning of the experiment, participants
reported their trust in Amazon.com and Sony on
a well-established scale (Chaudhuri & Holbrook,
2001). Then, they undertook a distracter task. Next,
participants were directed to the main task, in which
they were informed that two existing brands
(Amazon.com and Sony) were considering changing
their current brand logos and were exposed to a new
Amazon.com logo (blue or red) and a new Sony logo
(blue or red) in a randomized sequence. For each
logo, they were asked to match the logo to one of
the two human faces (trustworthy- vs. untrust-
worthy-looking) as target pictures. Depending on
participants’selection of the trustworthy- or untrust-
worthy-looking face, we labeled them as being impli-
citly trusting of the brand or not. To ensure that the
four morphed brand logos orthogonally matched the
two pairs of human faces, we designed eight cells
during the course of data collection (4 logos [blue
Amazon.com, red Amazon.com, blue Sony, red Sony]
×2pairsofhumanfaces[Pair1vs.Pair2]).We
randomly assigned participants to one of these
eight conditions. In addition, we included six dis-
tracter categorization tasks, such as categorizing the
logo change as “necessary”or “unnecessary.”Finally,
we measured control variables, including color pre-
ference(blue,red,warmcolor,andcoldcolor),with
well-established scales.
One-hundred-sixty workers from MTurk partici-
pated in this study. After we deleted unfinished
questionnaires, responses with failed attention
checks, and response times greater than 30 seconds
on any categorization task, the final data set con-
tained 135 completed responses to the Amazon.
com brand and 144 completed responses to the
Sony brand.
Results and discussion
We pooled the responses from both Amazon.com and
Sony logos (279 responses). The results show that
when the revised brand logos were blue, 102 partici-
pants classified the brands as trustworthy, and 35 par-
ticipants classified the brands as untrustworthy. When
brand logos were red, 69 participants classified the
brands as trustworthy, and 73 participants classified
the brands as untrustworthy. A chi-square analysis on
the frequency count showed that the nominal distri-
bution of trustworthiness/untrustworthiness differed
under the two conditions (χ
2
= 15.84, p< .01).
Specifically, according to the results, consumers were
more likely to pair the blue-logo brands with
Figure 3
Human Faces as Target Pictures
More trustworthy faces
Less trustworthy faces
Pair 1 Pair 2
(Source: Libine, 2015; Tanner & Maeng, 2012)
274 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

a trustworthy-looking face than the red-logo brands
(see Figure 4), Therefore, H2 is supported.
To rule out other possible explanations for the
results, we conducted hierarchical linear modeling
(HLM) analysis using the “nlme”package in
R program to examine the influence of brand logo
theme colors on brand trust. In the HLM regression
model, which specified brands as random effect, the
dependent variable was brand trust (1 = trust, 0 = dis-
trust), the independent variable was brand logo theme
color (1 = blue, 0 = red), and the control variable was
preference for colors. Consistent with the chi-square
test results, the HLM analysis showed that consumers
had higher brand trust when the brand logo was blue
than when it was red (β= 0.21, t= 3.62, p< .01). In
addition, preference for blue (β=–0.01, t=–0.13,
p> .10), preference for red (β= 0.05, t= 1.02,
p> .10), preference for warm color (β= 0.03, t= 1.02,
p> .10), and preference for cold color (β= 0.01,
t= 0.35, p> .10) did not significantly influence con-
sumers’brand trust.
In summary, the results of the chi-square test and
the HLM analysis jointly provide solid support for
H2, indicating that the color blue increases consu-
mers’brand trust more than the color red. This study
used an implicit method to demonstrate the influ-
ence of brand logo theme color on brand trust. To
further generalize the findings of Study 2, Study 3
used an experiment to test whether the relationship
between blue brands and brand trust and its down-
stream consequences occurs for newly introduced
brands as well.
STUDY 3: THE EFFECTS OF BRAND LOGO
THEME COLORS ON BRAND ATTITUDE AND
PERCEIVED PRODUCT QUALITY
Experimental process and stimuli
To further validate the influence of brand logo theme
colors on brand trust (H2), Study 3 uses an explicit
method to measure consumer trust. In addition, the
study tests H3 and H4, which hypothesize the mediat-
ing role of brand trust between brand logo colors and
brand attitude and perceived product quality, respec-
tively. To overcome the possible influences of hedonic
and utilitarian values of products, we created hedonic
product (i.e., beer) and utilitarian product (i.e., glue
stick) brand logos on the basis of two foreign brands
not sold in the United States. The colors of the brand
logos were morphed into blue and red. Therefore,
there were four scenarios: blue beer logo, red beer
logo, blue glue stick logo, and red blue stick logo.
Pretest results show that realism and believability of
the logo designs were acceptable (M
blue glue stick
= 5.26, M
blue beer
= 4.69, M
red glue stick
= 5.06,
and M
red beer
= 5.25 on a 7-point scale).
We recruited 149 workers on MTurk to participate
in this study for compensation of $1. They were ran-
domly exposed to a scenario (i.e., 34 in blue beer, 36 in
red beer, 37 in blue glue stick, and 42 in red glue stick).
At this stage, the participants read:
Please imagine the scenario as follows: You go to
Walmart to buy a glue stick (beer), and you spot
anewU.S.brand,“M&G(Harbin).”The picture on
the right screen shows the logo of the new brand, and the
picture on the left shows what the glue stick (beer) is like.
Please indicate your opinions about the glue stick (beer)
brand, the product, and the logo based on pictures.
After the participants saw the logos, we measured brand
trust, brand attitudes, perceived product quality, and
control variables (i.e., color preference, logo attitude,
extraversion, and propensity to trust; see Appendix A).
Data, results, and discussion
Table 1 reports the means, standard deviations, and
correlations. In addition, the results show that the
reliabilities for all variables are acceptable (see
Appendix A).
Figure 4
Study 2 Results
Summer 2019 275

Brand Trust, Brand Attitude, and Perceived Product
Quality
As the independent t-test results show, the partici-
pants had higher levels of brand trust in a blue brand
logo than a red brand logo (M
trust, blue group
= 4.25, M
trust, red group
= 3.87; t= 2.64, p< .01), again
in support of H2. Participants had more positive atti-
tudes toward the brand when the brand logo was blue
than when it was red (M
attitude, blue group
= 3.60, M
attitude, red group
= 3.34; t= 1.84, p< .07).
Likewise, perceived product quality was higher when
the brand logo was blue than when it was red
(M
perceived product quality, blue group
= 2.38, M
perceived product
quality, red group
= 2.23; t= 1.84,p< .07).
Mediation
To test the mediating effect of brand trust between brand
logo color and brand attitude, we conducted bootstrap
estimation with 10,000 resamples through model 4 in
SPSS PROCESS (Hayes, 2013), with brand logo color as
the independent variable; brand attitude as the depen-
dent variable; brand trust as the mediator; and attitude
towardcolors(i.e.,blue,red,warm,andcold),logoatti-
tude, extraversion, and propensity to trust as covariates.
The indirect effect was significant (B= 0.07, SE = 0.03,
95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.02, 0.15), indicating the
mediation. The results are consistent with H3. Using the
same procedure, we examined the meditating effect of
brand trust on the relationship between brand logo color
and perceived product quality. The indirect effect was
significant (B= 0.07, SE = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.02, 0.13),
indicating the medication. These results provide support
for H4.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
Across three studies using both implicit and explicit
methodology and real-world and fictitious brands, we
find support for our hypotheses. That is, the color blue
is related more to trust, favorable attitudes, and per-
ceived product quality than the color red.
Theoretical implications
Although academic literature suggests that blue is
related to trust and red is related to distrust, little
empirical research has tested the primary influence of
these colors on trust. In this research, which uses three
experiments and multiple methodologies, we address
three gaps in the literature. Specifically, we explore the
choice of color in logo design, using a variety of
experimental stimuli and methodologies, and identify
a mediator to consumer response to logo color. The
collective results indicate that blue generates higher
trust than red both implicitly and explicitly.
Specifically, the IAT results show that blue is more
positively related to trust than red, and the prime-
Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Correlations, and Reliabilities (Study 3)
12345678910
1. Attitude toward blue
2. Attitude toward red .16
3. Attitude toward warm colors .24** .45**
4. Attitude toward cold colors .45** .24** 0.08
5. Attitude toward logo design .23** .18* 0.16 .17*
6. Extroversion .15 0.06 .20* .03 .25**
7. Propensity to trust 0.14 0.13 0.08 .09 .30** 0.13
8. Brand trust 0.14 −.05 0.01 .13 .48** 0.13 .26**
9. Brand attitude .23** .17* 0.14 .16 .76** .27** .28** .57**
10. Perceived product quality 0.09 0.03 0.02 .15 .62** .16* .14 .62** .64**
Mean 4.52 3.43 3.89 4.12 3.35 3.15 3.28 4.05 3.48 2.30
Standard deviation 0.65 1.13 0.96 0.90 0.89 1.03 0.42 0.89 0.82 0.50
*p< 0.05.
**p< 0.01.
276 Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice

target experiment results show that the influence is
applicable to existing brands.
In addition, the prime-target experiment results
show that colors of brand logos implicitly influence
consumers’trust in existing brands. A post hoc analy-
sis showed that this effect did not emerge with explicit
survey measures. The findings indicate that survey
research might be limited in completely capturing
consumer trust. Therefore, when investigating consu-
mer trust in existing powerful brands, implicit tests
may provide additional insights.
Finally, the results show that for new brands, con-
sumers have a higher level of brand trust in a blue-logo
brand than a red-logo brand. Consumers also have
more favorable attitudes toward a brand with a blue-
logo brand than a red-logo brand, regardless of their
attitudes toward the logo design itself, indicating that
favorable attitudes are not caused by consumers’atti-
tudes toward logo designs. Previous research suggests
that consumers form more positive attitudes toward
a brand if they like the brand logo (Whan, Eisingerich,
Pol, & Park, 2013). We provide empirical support for
this conclusion by showing that brand logo colors have
adirectinfluence on consumers’attitudes toward the
brand and perceived product quality. Color, an impor-
tant part of brand logo aesthetics, indeed plays a vital
role in building consumer–brand relationships.
Managerial implications
Brand logo design serves as an important tool of brand-
ing, reflecting firms’values and culture and connecting
customers with firms. Logo design and redesigns are an
expensive proposition (Walsh, Winterich, & Mittal,
2010), and thus firms should be cautious when design-
ing a new logo or redesigning an existing logo.
Our results provide new insights for brand managers
into choice of theme color, which is a bedrock to logo
design/redesign. As a prominent visual cue, color plays
an important role in the design of appropriate, attrac-
tive, and effective brand logos. The proper utilization
of colors can create a pleasant-looking brand logo,
express firms’aesthetic values, and evoke consumers’
positive responses. Colors also convey rich meanings.
For example, the results show that consumers associate
the color blue with trust. Therefore, brand managers
could consider using blue as the theme color when
designing or redesigning brand logos.
Note, however, that our findings do not suggest that
blue is always the best option as the theme color for
brand logos. The process of selecting a theme color for
a logo is complex and involves multiple factors such as
other brand aesthetics, the match between colors and
brand image, target markets’preference for colors, and
so on. Brand managers should consider the color–trust
relationship in addition to these factors when select-
ing a brand logo theme color.
For brand managers of existing brands, a common
assumption is that consumers’long-term brand trust or
distrust in the brands is difficult to change. However,
our results show that consumers’trust in existing
brands is still malleable and could be increased by add-
ing the color blue. As colors influence trust in an impli-
cit way, this influence can be generalized to other
marketing contexts beyond brand logo theme colors.
As such, brand managers of existing brands can take full
advantage of other marketing contexts, such as blue
packaging and blue suits worn by salespeople, to
increase consumers’trust perceptions.
Limitations and future research
A few limitations of this study may limit the general-
izability of the findings. First, this research focused
on attitudinal measures such as trust and brand atti-
tude and did not consider actual behavior (e.g.,
actual product purchase). Previous research indicates
that consumers tend to buy more and make quicker
decisions when the store background color is blue
rather than red (Bellizzi & Hite, 1992). Future
research could test whether the likelihood of consu-
mers to buy a product with a blue brand logo or
package is higher than that of buying a product
with a red logo or package.
Second, we used only one product for each product
category, limiting the external validity of the findings.
Third, compared with a real-world field study,
a laboratory setting limits the generalizability of the
findings. Trust formation occurs slowly over time and
is influenced by many inputs in the real world (Mayer
et al., 1995). Our results cannot explain the process of
trust formation, in which colors might interact with
other factors such as scents.
Finally, we collected data from native English
speakers in the United States, which decreases exter-
nal validity of the results. Red and blue have different
Summer 2019 277

meanings in different cultures (Madden, Hewett, &
Roth, 2000). For example, red means luck, happiness,
auspice, and so on in China. Therefore, future
research should examine the role of culture in the
color–trust relationship.
FUNDING
This work was supported by the West Virginia
University [John Chambers College of Business and
Economics Survey Research].
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APPENDIX A
CONSTRUCT MEASUREMENTS
Construct Source Items
Reliability
(Cronbach’sα)
Color preference Madden et al. (2000) Bad/good Study 2:
Blue: 0.93 Red: 0.94
Warm color: 0.97
Cold color: 0.93
Study 3:
Blue: 0.90 Red: 0.90
Warm color: 0.95
Cold color: 0.93
Unpleasant/pleasant
Ugly/beautiful
Brand familiarity I am familiar with X.
Brand attitude Walsh et al. (2011) X is a good brand. Study 3: 0.91
X is a favorable brand.
X is a desirable brand.
X is a likable brand.
Logo attitude Walsh et al. (2010) Dislike/like 0.89
Bad/good
Not distinctive/distinctive
Not interesting/interesting
Not interesting/interesting
Low quality/high quality
Perceived product
quality
Olsen et al. (2014) Unacceptable/acceptable 0.80
Poor/Extraordinary
Bad/good
Brand trust Chaudhuri and Holbrook
(2001)
X is trustworthy. Study 2: 0.95
Study 3: 0.88
X is safe.
X is reliable.
X is dependable.
Extraversion John and Srivastava
(1999)
I see myself as someone who is outgoing, sociable. Study 3: 0.74
I see myself as someone who is talkative.
I see myself as someone who has an assertive personality.
I see myself as someone who generates a lot of enthusiasm.
I see myself as someone who if full of energy.
Propensity to trust Mayer and Davis (1999) One should be very cautious with strangers. Study 3: 0.75
Most experts tell the truth about the limits of their knowledge.
Most people can be counted on to do what they say they will do.
These days, you must be alert or someone is likely to take advantage
of you.
Most salespeople are honest in describing their products.
Most repair people will not overcharge people who are ignorant of
their specialty.
Most people answer public opinion polls honestly.
Most adults are competent at their jobs.
Summer 2019 281

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