Recent Consumer Behavior Paper on Blue and Red Effects on Cognitive Tasks

Blue or Red? Exploring the Effect of Color on Cognitive Task Performances
Ravi Mehta and Rui (Juliet) Zhu*

Existing research reports inconsistent findings with regard to the effect of color on cognitive task performances. Some research suggests that blue or green leads to better performances than red; other studies record the opposite. Current work reconciles this discrepancy. We demonstrate that red (versus blue) color induces primarily an avoidance (versus approach) motivation (study 1, n = 69) and that red enhances performance on a detail-oriented task, whereas blue enhances performance on a creative task (studies 2 and 3, n = 208 and 118). Further, we replicate these results in the domains of product design (study 4, n = 42) and persuasive message evaluation (study 5, n = 161) and show that these effects occur outside of individuals' consciousness (study 6, n = 68). We also provide process evidence suggesting that the activation of alternative motivations mediates the effect of color on cognitive task performances.

More on Red

Red Enhances Men's Attraction To Women, Psychological Study Reveals

ScienceDaily (2008-10-28) -- Psychologists have added color -- literally and figuratively -- to the age-old question of what attracts men to women. Psychologists have demonstrated that the color red makes men feel more amorous toward women. And men are unaware of the role the color plays in their attraction. ... > read full article

The Color Red - More

Research On The Color Red Shows Definite Impact On Achievement

ScienceDaily (2007-03-01) -- The color red can affect how people function: Red means danger and commands us to stop in traffic. Researchers at the University of Rochester have now found that red also can keep us from performing our best on tests. ... > read full article

Color Red Bias

Red All Over: How The Color Red Affects A Referee's Judgment

ScienceDaily (2008-08-10) -- A new study has found that choosing the color red for a uniform in competitive sports can actually affect the referee's split-second decision-making ability and even promote a scoring bias. ... > read full article

Chipotle's Fast Food Facelift

Chipotle's Fast Food Facelift

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Assymetry in Distribution of Single Men and Women...Why?

A little off my usual post but interesting nonetheless, Prof. Dan Goldstein, London School of Economics, blogs at "Decision Science News" and today he featured an interesting mapping website called www.whosyourcity.com. One of the maps showed that the ratio of single men to single women is higher on the West Coast and lower on the East Coast.

The pivotal question Dan asks is what explains this disparity? I'm thinking it might be due to the ratio of ethnic groups such as African Americans where women dominate in numbers and many males are incarcerated or outside the traditional system (homeless, transient, illegal activity) and less likely to participate in a census. Just my guess!

Trial and Error Works! Past Experience Changes Neural Circuitry

Past Experience Is Invaluable For Complex Decision Making, Brain Research Shows

ScienceDaily (2009-05-15) -- Researchers have shown that past experience really does help when we have to make complex decisions based on uncertain or confusing information. They show that learning from experience actually changes the circuitry in our brains so that we can quickly categorize what we are seeing and make a decision or carry out appropriate actions. ... > read full article

IQ Linked to Better Financial Decisions

People With Higher IQs Make Wiser Economic Choices, Study Finds

ScienceDaily (2009-04-28) -- People with higher measures of cognitive ability are more likely to make good choices in several different types of economic decisions, according to a new study. ... > read full article

Jet Lag a Myth?

Since I live with sleep deprivation, I have always wondered, given the severe effect on my cognitive and emtional judgement my lack of sleep causes, how it impacts consumer psychology. This latest post by my esteemed colleague Dan Goldstein at London B School states the case for why jet lag may not exist and that the effect people feel when they travel across time zones is actually sleep deprivation. See more here!

Behavioral Economics/Neuroeconomics Advise

Leading academics like Ariely (MIT), Thaler (Chicago), Kahneman (Princeton), advise Obama on how to motivate and persuade people the right way...by using their natural inclinations and biases...

Color and Behavior!!!

Red Enhances Men's Attraction To Women, Psychological Study Reveals

ScienceDaily (2008-10-28) -- Psychologists have added color -- literally and figuratively -- to the age-old question of what attracts men to women. Psychologists have demonstrated that the color red makes men feel more amorous toward women. And men are unaware of the role the color plays in their attraction. ... > read full article

The Eyes Have It: Face Recognition In 2 Points - Just Left and Center of the Nose

The Nose Knows: Two Fixation Points Needed For Face Recognition

ScienceDaily (2008-10-21) -- Many of us are bad at remembering names but we are very quick to point out that at least we never forget a face. Never mind recognizing a familiar face -- how is it that we recognize faces at all? ... > read full article

Attention and Brand Location

DVR Fast-forwarding May Not Be Fatal To TV Advertising

ScienceDaily (2008-11-21) -- With the advent of digital video recorders and products like TiVo, viewers can fast-forward past commercials while playing back their favorite shows. Researchers found that viewers can retain valuable brand information even from an ad glimpsed for a fraction of its actual length. However, they also found that ads with brand information located on the periphery of the TV screen are of virtually no value. ... > read full article

Financial risk behavior shown in men with higher testosterone levels!

ScienceDaily (2008-09-30) -- Two researchers from Harvard jointly led a recent study in which they showed that men with higher testosterone levels invest more money during a risky investment game. The study associates higher testosterone levels with financial risk-taking behavior. LINK

Risk taking gene isolated!

ScienceDaily (2009-02-11) -- A new study provides provocative insights that relate to the question of the day: "How in the world did so many financial titans take such huge risks with out nation's well being?" The new research pinpoints the roles specific variants of the serotonin transporter gene and the dopamine receptor gene play in predicting whether people are more or less likely to take financial risks. LINK

Material versus experiential gifts and happiness!

An experiential gift is better and more memorable than a material gift unless the experiential gift is negative. http://ucelinks.cdlib.org:8888/sfx_local?sid=google&auinit=M&aulast=Schulte-R%C3%BCther&atitle=Gender+differences+in+brain+networks+supporting+empathy&id=doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.04.180

Women's mirror neurons activate when looking at other's emotional faces but men's do not!

A recent paper (Shulte-Ruther et al. 2008) found that women, when evaluating the emotional expressions in faces, showed higher activation in right inferior frontal cortex where mirror neurons are believed to be, while men did not show this activation.

Color Matters

New research in Science shows how color influences cognitive processes.

Dopamine Uptake and Risk Taking

Risk Takers, Drug Abusers Driven By Decreased Ability To Process Dopamine

ScienceDaily (2008-12-30) -- For risk-takers and impulsive people, New Year's resolutions often include being more careful, spending more frugally and cutting back on dangerous behavior, such as drug use. But new research finds that these individuals -- labeled as novelty seekers by psychologists -- face an uphill battle in keeping their New Year's resolutions due to the way their brains process dopamine. ... > read full article

Men Are From Mars -- Neuroscientists Find That Men And Women Respond Differently To Stress

ScienceDaily (2008) -- Functional magnetic resonance imaging of men and women under stress showed neuroscientists how their brains differed in response to stressful situations. In men, increased blood flow to the left orbitofrontal cortex suggested activation of the "fight or flight" response. In women, stress activated the limbic system, which is associated with emotional responses.