Usage of Colors in TV Commercials: Cross-Industry Analysis of Mass Media Communications

Daria Gunina,Sabina Suldova,Tomas Kincl

doi:10.26552/com.c.2017.4.64-71

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the differences in color schemes in TV commercials across different product categories. The study answers the question of whether advertisers in different industries use specific color schemes to promote their company or products in TV commercials and if they follow the general recommendations for using colors in marketing communications. The research sample consists of 200 video adverts proportionally representing the commercials aired in six major product categories in the Czech Republic in 2016. The results indicate there is no statistically significant difference in the usage of colors between the product categories. Nevertheless, the advertisers in the Czech Republic generally follow the color scheme recommendations suggested by the theory.

Highlights

Color plays an important role in marketing communications
To answer the research question of whether there is a difference in color schemes used in TV commercials across different product categories, we analyzed the selected TV commercials aired in the Czech Republic in 2016 and used two applications: the Movie Barcode Generator [23] and the Color Extraction app provided by MulticolorEngine [24]
The commercials belong to various product categories – based on the monitoring data provided by Nielsen Admosphere, a. s

Summary

Introduction

Color plays an important role in marketing communications. It helps to create a company or product identity, enhances brand recognition [1, 2], its memorization [3] and trust [4], attracts consumer attention [5, 6], shapes consumer perception [7] and initiates purchase intentions [3, 8, 9]. Color affects advertising effectiveness [10, 6] and recall [11]. Color influences human emotions [12] and expresses customer personality [13]. To support customer self-expression, most products are offered in various colors [5]. The color subconsciously shapes consumer behavior and induces different motivations [14] – i.e., if the brand is familiar to the customer, they recall their own experience with the brand; if the consumer does not know the brand, they recall their associations with the color [5]

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Discussion

Conclusion