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Color Effects in Green Advertising

DOI:10.1111/ijcs.12589
Authors:
Dongjae Jay Lim
Dongjae Jay Lim
Dongjae Jay Lim
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Tae Hyun Baek at University of Kentucky
Tae Hyun Baek
Sukki Yoon at Bryant University
Sukki Yoon
Yeonshin Kim at Myongji University
Yeonshin Kim
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Abstract and Figures

Marketers often use green in marketing communications to signal sustainability, despite the lack of supportive data. This article is a report of two experiments to observe consumer reactions to advertisements that use color to indicate environmental friendliness. The pretest and Study 1 confirm that consumers associate green with environmental friendliness and gray with environmental unfriendliness. Thus green (gray) is more (less) effective for producing positive ad attitudes and purchase intentions. Consumer perceptions regarding color appropriateness mediate the effects. Study 2 shows that persuasion knowledge moderates the effects: when consumers have high persuasive knowledge, green has a less positive effect; gray has a less negative effect; blue remains neutral. The study concludes that green functions as a peripheral cue signaling an eco‐friendly brand image, but the use of green may backfire when consumers are aware that green is used to bias responses.
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  wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ijcs Int J Consum Stud. 2020;44:552–562.
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© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
1 | INTRODUCTION
Marketing communications use colours to shape the consumer be-
havior (Bellizzi, Crowley, & Hasty, 1983; Singh, 2006). For example,
Starbucks and Whole Foods Market, known for eco-friendliness,
signal their sustainability using a green logo as a particularly strong
signal indicating socially desirable business practices (e.g., Mazar &
Zhong, 2010; Yoon & Oh, 2016). Ironically, however, BP, infamous for
the deadly and destructive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico, adopted a green label to counter the damage to the brand.
Does the use of green to advertise environmental friendliness
actually enhance advertising effectiveness? Do green strategies
work if they are perceived to inappropriate? In contrast, does the use
of grey—a colour that often symbolizes environmental destruction—
damage brand images? Might success or failure of colour strategies
depend on consumer scepticism about marketing persuasion? How
do colours and words jointly shape consumer thought and action in
response to sustainable marketing? Surprisingly, those questions
have been rarely studied empirically. This research aims to fill the
gap.
Many adver tising campaigns use visual elements as cues to en-
hance brand perceptions (Parguel, Benoit-Moreau, & Russell, 2015).
Green is the ubiquitous visual cue used to trigger implicit ecologi-
cal inferences in green advertising, but green can be abused through
greenwashing practices intended to mislead consumers (Schmuck,
Matthes, & Naderer, 2018). In response, the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office established guidelines to prevent environmentally
destructive companies from using the word green in their trade-
marks (Collen, 2012).
Theoretically, the current research proposes that marketing
communications may be persuasive when colours are appropri-
ate for the message, but inappropriate colour themes may cause
resistance (Seo & Scammon, 2017). Accordingly, the persuasion
knowledge model (Friestad & Wright, 1994) warns that if message
recipients are explicitly aware that companies are using colour inap-
propriately to manipulate them, the persuasive intent may backfire.
Received: 7 Novembe r 2019 
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  Revised: 6 Ap ril 2020 
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  Accepted: 8 April 2020
DOI : 10.1111 /ij cs.12589
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Colour effects in green advertising
Dongjae Lim1 | Tae Hyun Baek2 | Sukki Yoon3 | Yeonshin Kim4
Funding information This work was su pported by 2019 Re search Fu nd of Myongji
University
1Department of Advertising and Public
Relations, Grady College of Journalism and
Mass Communication, Universit y of Geor gia,
Athens, GA, USA
2Department of Integrated Strategic
Communication, College of Communication
and Information, University of Kentucky,
Lexing ton, K Y, USA
3Marketing Depar tment, College of
Business, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI,
USA
4Department of Business Administration,
College of B usiness, Myong ji University,
Seoul, South Korea
Correspondence
Yeonshin Kim, Depar tment of Business
Administration, College of Business, Myongji
University, Seoul, South Korea.
Email: yeonshin67@mju.ac.kr
Funding information
Myongji University
Abstract
Marketers often use green in marketing communications to signal sustainability,
despite the lack of supportive data. This article is a report of two experiments to
observe consumer reactions to advertisements that use colour to indicate the en-
vironmental friendliness. The pretest and Study 1 confirm that consumers associate
green with environmental friendliness and grey with environmental unfriendliness.
Thus green (grey) is more (less) effective for producing positive ad attitudes and pur-
chase intentions. Consumer perceptions regarding colour appropriateness mediate
the effects. Study 2 shows that persuasion knowledge moderates the effects: when
consumers have high persuasive knowledge, green has a less positive effect; grey has
a less negative effect; blue remains neutral. The study concludes that green functions
as a peripheral cue signalling an eco-friendly brand image, but the use of green may
backfire when consumers are aware that green is used to bias responses.
KEY WORDS
colour, green advertising, persuasion knowledge, sustainability
... Manufacturers commonly use colors to give products a sustainable image. The color green is used most often, given that this color is commonly associated with sustainability (Lim et al., 2020). One study previously found that green food packages gave the impression that a brand had a lower environmental impact (Seo & Scammon, 2017). ...
... More specifically, we observed that cool packaging colors made snacks seem healthier and more sustainable. This finding is in line with previous studies that suggest that green and blue are associated with sustainability (Aparna & James, 2015;Lim et al., 2020;Seo & Scammon, 2017). However, contrary to the results of Study 1 on beverages, young consumers did not think that snacks with cool colors would be less tasty, and they were not more likely to choose snacks with warm colors. ...
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... Interestingly, all three hospitals utilized blue and green as main colours. There is evidence that the colour blue is associated with competence (Labrecque & Milne, 2011) and neutrality (Lim et al., 2020). The colour green signifies eco-friendliness and sustainability (Lim et al., 2020). ...
... There is evidence that the colour blue is associated with competence (Labrecque & Milne, 2011) and neutrality (Lim et al., 2020). The colour green signifies eco-friendliness and sustainability (Lim et al., 2020). By using blue and green as the basis for their strategic plans, the hospitals convey competence, neutrality, and sustainability. ...
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... Afterward, participants were invited to fill out a survey report, including the degree of preference for the target green battery (7-point scale, 1 = "very dislike, " 7 = "very much like"; Lee and Pillai, 2013), to assess the consumer's selfcontrol system (Feng et al., 2016; 1-7 points scale, 1 point = only focus on maximizing all benefits when choosing, 7 = only focus on the importance of the option to yourself when choosing). To exclude other possible mediating effects, participants also reported color appropriateness (Lim et al., 2020), cognitive fluency (Novemsky et al., 2007), emotional state (Pancer et al., 2017; see Table 1). Participants also reported opinions on the product, familiarity with the product, previous buying experience, personal interests, and other confounding items. ...
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... idealized representation of what is natural and real. For example, perceived naturalness has been seen as more pronounced when the color green is present in packaging, as it is directly linked with nature (Lim et al., 2020;Seo & Scammon, 2017). Likewise, when ingredients are presented in a clear manner, perceived naturalness increases, as it serves to reassure that the materials used to make a product are safe, provide health benefits, and may be beneficial to the world (Rozin, 2005). ...
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